Historical May 1996 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
It’s very unfortunate to see questions about the hiring of Hans Vonk in our daily newspaper.
I suppose these comments are addressed to devotees of classical music like myself but there is a larger purpose behind these words.
When I chose to accept a job in St. Louis in 1986, a longtime friend who lives in Manhattan said I had made a very good choice. Why? Well, she has never been here but she listens to concerts by the St. Louis Symphony on the radio in NYC and thought that with such a good orchestra, this had to be a good town. Slatkin’s concerts with the symphony at Carnegie Hall this year re; ceived rave reviews in The New York Times.
The Symphony plays the same role in certain circles that our sports teams do in spreading positive words about our town.
In fact, the St. Louis Symphony is one of the top five or six in the United States.
I heard new conductor Hans Vonk lead the orchestra twicethis season and I felt very strongly that we would remain-in very good hands and that our reputation in the classical realm would continue to be strong.
The orchestra had great clarity in these concerts and when someone can make the Pastorale sound brand-new, that’s good news indeed. And, there are indeed more ways to sell the worth of a city than most of us realize.
On another note, let me reiterate that the St. Louis Board of Education could provide increased recreation opportunities for Skinker DeBaliviere youngsters by fixing that second backstop at the Annex on DesPeres and by putting up an outside backstop or two at the school itself. Small gestures at small cost can mean a lot.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, May 1996.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1996_05.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
