arts & entertainment
Cellist Frederick
Zlotkin will
perform
conducted by
his brother, DSO
Music Director
Leonard Slatkin
at Orchestra Hall.
Frederick Zlotkin regularly performs at annual remembrances of 9-11 victims at Ground Zero.
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
F
amily history — with a large
measure of Hollywood glitz
— energizes preparations for
an essentially classical concert featur-
ing cellist Frederick Zlotkin and Music
Director Leonard Slatkin with the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra.
Zlotkin, the younger brother of Slatkin,
changed his last name years ago to keep
in line with the Russian spelling found
through an interest in genealogical
research. The original idea was to track
down more family history, perhaps con-
nected to music.
The brothers, sons of violinist and con-
ductor Felix Slatkin and cellist Eleanor Aller
Slatkin, grew up surrounded by music and
celebrities associated with their parents'
projects for stage, films and recordings.
The Detroit concert, scheduled May
3-4 and 6 at Orchestra Hall in the Max M.
Fisher Music Center, reflects childhood
experiences in their California home. Also
spotlighted will be Kimberly Kaloyanides
Kennedy, acting concertmaster of the
DSO, on violin, and Cameron Smith, a
Farmington Hills native who made his DSO
debut at age 19, on piano.
While the concert's title work, Modeste
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, was
inspired by a display of Viktor Hartmann
paintings, the other concert selections relate
to motion pictures: Erich Korngold's Cello
Concerto, heard in the 1946 film Deception
with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid (who
also portrayed anti-Nazi leader Victor
Laszlo in 1942's Casablanca); Paul Dukas'
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, used in the 1940
Walt Disney animation Fantasia; and
Richard Wagner/Franz Waxman's Tristan
and Isolde Fantasy, played in the 1946
movie Humoresque.
Korngold's Cello Concerto was premiered
by Zlotkin's mother when she was preg-
nant with him. She dubbed the music for
the film soundtrack as the cello strings
were "played" by Henried, coached in his
faked technique by her father and Zlotkin's
grandfather, cellist Gregory Aller.
"I think my brother has done an interest-
ing job of integrating the idea of pictures
into this concert:' says Zlotkin, 65, antici-
pating his Detroit debut and recalling his
background during a phone interview from
his New Jersey home.
"I had known about the motion picture
Deception for many years before I got
around to performing the Korngold piece.
Although my mom had passed away by that
time, I listened to and studied her perfor-
mances, which I consider to be second to
none for this concerto.
"Korngold and Waxman were Jewish
movie composers who came to this coun-
try from Europe and settled in California.
Recording soundtracks for motion pictures
was a huge part of their musical lives, and
their interests remind me of my family's
involvement with music"
Zlotkin, a fourth-generation cellist on
his mother's side whose solo engagements
reach from the Orchestre de la Suisse
Romande to the St. Louis Symphony, has
worked with the New York City Ballet for
some 35 years, has recorded for motion
pictures and numerous contemporary
artists, and has been on the faculty of the
Manhattan School of Music, Queens College
and Hoff-Barthelson Music School.
"My parents formed the Hollywood
String Quartet, which was in existence for
about 13 years:' Zlotkin recalls about his
early introduction to professional musi-
cians outside his family.
"The quartet rehearsed regularly in our
home, and I can remember times when
Leonard and I creeped to the edge of our
staircase so we could listen and get a peek
during practice, which often was at night
because there was studio work during the
day"
Zlotkin recalls that his early instincts
moved him in the direction of the violin,
which his brother favored and was learning
through lessons from their dad.
The younger son's preference changed
during a rehearsal break of the quartet.
After asking if he could pluck the differ-
ent strings, Zlotkin immediately became
captivated by the resonance of the cello and
soon began lessons with his grandfather.
"My parents nurtured my interest;' says
Zlotkin, who recalls frequent visits from
Frank Sinatra, a longtime professional
colleague and personal friend of his folks.
Cellist Eleanor Aller Slatkin and violinist
Felix Slatkin with their children, Leonard,
left, and Frederick, circa 1951
Frederick Zlotkin and his mother, Eleanor
Slatkin, foreground, perform Concerto for
2 Cellos, which Leonard Slatkin wrote for
the St. Louis Symphony, circa 1979
"I can remember practicing the cello four
hours a day"
Zlotkin, who has performed Kol Nidre at
Temple Emanu-El in New York City for the
past 30 years, decided to move east when
he was 20. He studied at the Manhattan
School of Music and moved on to the
Juilliard School, where he earned his doc-
torate.
"Very early on, I started working," he
says. "I was principal cellist for the New
Jersey Symphony Orchestra and then got
the post of principal cellist for the ballet
company.
"I like working with the dance troupe,
and it's a responsibility that affords me
lots of freedom to do other musical activi-
ties."
Those activities are as diverse as par-
ticipation in the somber annual remem-
brances of 9-11 victims at Ground Zero
and appearances with the band in comical
segments of Saturday Night Live.
Zlotkin, the only present-day cellist who
performs Bach's Six Suites for Solo Cello
with full ornamentation, also is a member
of the Lyric Piano Quartet.
The chamber music group includes vio-
linist Glenn Dicterow, a friend since child-
hood as the two joined together in a youth
ensemble coached by Felix Slatkin.
Zlotkin, married to school administra-
tor Virginia Cowen and the father of two,
doesn't restrict his musical focus to cello.
He has studied double bass, flute and
French horn and now is taking piano les-
sons.
Other participatory interests, besides
a continuing exploration of genealogy,
involve ham radio, bridge, crossword
puzzles, marathons, boxing and cooking,
the last also enjoyed by his brother.
More related to music and family is a
new interest being pursued independently
by both men. Each is writing a memoir.
"We're very close, and Leonard likes
my change of name says Zlotkin, whose
other links to Michigan involve recording
tracks for Aretha Franklin and Madonna.
"He had established his reputation with
the name `Slatkin' and thought it would
confuse people if he changed it.
"Still, when Leonard and I work togeth-
er, its totally a professional relationship. I
sit down with him as I would any conduc-
tor and go over the part I will be playing.
He'll make some suggestions, and I'll
make some suggestions.
"In the movie Deception, only six min-
utes of the Korngold concerto is heard, but
our version will not be the same. The ver-
sion we're going to play is 12 minutes, and
the sounds of the concerto have moments
that are sublime." 0
Frederick Zlotkin will perform with
the DSO May 3-4 and 6 at Orchestra
Hall in Detroit. Performance times
are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 10:45 a.m.
Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets
start at $15. (313) 576-5100; www.
dso.org.
April 26 • 2012
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