Twenty years ago, with his baton in hand, Stéphane Denève stepped onto the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra stage at Powell Hall for the very first time – a debut that made such an impression on the French-born maestro that over the years, he would return to perform as guest conductor again and again – until deciding to stay and make St. Louis home for good.
This month marks Denève’s fifth season as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO). On Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m., he and the SLSO will open the 2023-2024 season with a free concert at Forest Park, a St. Louis tradition that draws approximately 15,000 people to Art Hill every year.
Earlier this week, Denève performed two sold-out concerts in Japan alongside his longtime friend, composer John Williams. Next, Denève will be performing before another capacity crowd at New World Symphony in Miami.
The maestro, who says he’s “impatient to start the season” with SLSO, recently joined Gazelle editor-in-chief Trish Muyco-Tobin for a preview, as well as to take a walk down memory lane for his first impressions of St. Louis, which he and his family now officially call home.
GAZELLE: You made your debut with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as a guest conductor almost 20 years ago, on Sept. 19, 2003. How do you remember that day?
STÉPHANE DENÈVE (SD): I was very impressed with the quality of the orchestra, especially the finesse of the music-making in this fabulous hall that is Powell Hall. It really surprised me how great it was, the sound. In the program, we did Tchaikovsky’s Fourth (Symphony). I could feel the power of this orchestra. We also did – I remember very well – a Haydn piano concerto, and I thought it was the best classical playing I heard in the U.S. They just had a flair for playing in the idiomatic classical way and I was in heaven. So, it was a very nice debut!
Another souvenir is that I was at a hotel that had a real barbecue on the rooftop at the time. We had a pianist, and we both bought at Whole Foods some very, very good steak and barbecued under the blue skies of St. Louis. So that was my memory from that week – great music-making and the beautiful barbecue on the rooftop.
GAZELLE: And we’re thrilled that you’ve officially made St. Louis your home this past year! What sealed the deal for you?
SD: It became very logical. I felt so welcome by the community and I realize how important the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is to St. Louis and to the greater St. Louis community. I really thought it would be wonderful to be a part of the community. And my daughter was very excited to go to an American school – she goes to a wonderful school! So, it made a lot of sense to just move. We were able to buy a very nice house in nature and we enjoy a lot of green (space) and all the quality of life that St. Louis offers. I’m happy to tell the world a different narrative about St. Louis. It’s a very cultural city, it offers a lot of culture and a lot of wonderful institutions.
GAZELLE: Speaking of institutions, let’s talk about the free Forest Park concert on the 21st. For many, it’s their chance to enjoy the orchestra in the great outdoors. For others, it’s their first time ever to see you and the SLSO perform. What is it like for you to welcome the crowd every September?
SD: This is really my favorite event. It’s just pure joy! What I find incredible is the feeling you play for the entire community, for everybody. It’s a huge crowd, it’s over 15,000 people there and it’s gloriously beautiful. The place is great, I love to see the statue of the king and the beautiful museum, the gardens, the water – it’s just enchanting, to start. And for the concert, I see this sea of people, I find it mind-blowing!
You know, when I perform at the Hollywood Bowl, a very big, open-air venue in Los Angeles, I feel that people are kind of far. For a beautiful, strange reason, here in St. Louis, I don’t have that feeling. I feel like I’m inside the crowd. I feel very, very close. I feel extremely at ease, the energy of the audience I receive is so friendly and so warm that I usually speak to the people as if they were all my friends in my own salon. It’s a feeling of proximity and warmth that is wonderful.
I’m delighted that in two weeks, the full family will be there, the two choruses and the orchestra. I’m so looking forward!
GAZELLE: What can you tell us about this year’s concert?
SD: We will certainly reflect and invite people to learn what we did this year: We did a huge tour in Europe, we went to Vienna, Brussels, Madrid, Amsterdam and Eindhoven and the orchestra shined! The orchestra was so brilliant – they had huge success everywhere! So, I will take the audience on a little journey, as well as to remember how proud ambassadors we were of the St. Louis community throughout Europe, thanks to music.
GAZELLE: What about the rest of the season, what are some of the highlights for you?
SD: You are asking me to choose between my children here! Every program is crafted very strongly. I’m happy that we will offer all that we usually do, music from the classical era, from baroque, the big romantics of the 20th century, the music of our time and some premieres. We have music with the chorus, which is very important to me. It’s a treasure that we have two magnificent choruses, the IN UNISON Chorus and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. We have great vocal music, as well. We have music from films, from John Williams. We will have great soloists; Yo-Yo Ma will be here.
Of course, we’re starting with (Grammy Award-winning violinist) Hilary Hahn. The first program of the season is about magic. We do “The Magic Flute,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” and “Don Juan,” all very colorful exciting narrative music and in the middle of that, the gem will be the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn. It will be at Stifel Theatre and I hope that all our loyal audience and also new people join us (on opening weekend) just to see that the magic continues, that we can offer the sound of the SLSO in Stifel during the Powell Hall renovation.
We have this this world-class hall that we are renovating. What is incredible is we are able to do the full season as usual and offer the same offerings in different halls, our homes away from home: Stifel, The Touhill, The Sheldon, Lindenwood University – they’re all really fantastic venues. Even if we’re not in Powell Hall, we can give our full season to the community in these beautiful halls.
Denève will conduct the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s opening-weekend concerts featuring Hilary Hahn and pianist Jonathan Biss Sept. 23 and 24 at Stifel Theatre. For tickets and a full concert calendar, visit the SLSO website.
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