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For the second time in two days, a national publication based in Manhattan salutes Detroit's world-class cultural attractions.
First came an extensively illustrated travel section cover story in The New York Times on Albert Kahn's strong architectural legacy in and around the city. Now The New Yorker applauds the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a treasure that "deserves to be chronicled."
The Midtown music center has "exceptional acoustics," the visiting writer says. (DSO photos)
Alex Ross, in his 22nd year as the magazine's classical music writer, came two weeks ago to hear visiting violinist Augustin Hadelich and was impressed by the city, by the Max and by its orchestra:
Detroit . . . is recovering from a grim past and undergoing a startling transformation. . . .
After the labor crisis [a 2010-11 strike], musicians and management found common ground in a mission to reconnect with the city. They anointed themselves the "most accessible orchestra on the planet," and have gone some ways toward justifying that superlative.
Tickets are cheaper than at other orchestras; my press seat, on the left orchestra aisle, would have cost $25. Neighborhood concerts reach into underserved communities. Most strikingly, the Detroit offers free Webcasts of its concerts—an initiative that seems obvious but that few other orchestras have tried. . . .
Anne Parsons, the Detroit’s president and CEO, told me: "We’ve gone from 3,000 viewers on average to around 7,500—in one case, 35,000. It's brought great young musicians to us—they can see what we’re doing. I was sure that, by now, everyone else would be doing it."
Ross also praises the Midtown concert hall's "exceptional acoustics—a near-ideal balance of clarity and warmth."
♦ Webcasts: Next performance is Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m. (Leonard Slatkin conducts; Yoonshin Song is a guest soloist on violin.)
