 SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019 | 89

A hallmark concert, running 
Oct. 4-6, restages the first 1919 
program. Michael Francis will 
conduct Weber’
s Overture to 
Oberon, Mozart’
s Double Piano 
Concerto in E-flat Major with 
pianists Christina and Michelle 
Naughton, Bach’
s T
riple Piano 
Concerto in C Major with 
the Naughtons and pianist 
David Fung and Beethoven’
s 
Symphony No. 5.
Violist Glenn Mellow, who 
is beginning his 40th season 
with the DSO, enthusiastically 
joined in as the orchestra began 
rehearsals in September for the 
commemorative programs.
“I deeply love music and can’
t 
imagine my life without it,” 
says Mellow, who moved from 
violin to viola while attending 
Northern Illinois University and 
before earning a master’
s degree 
from Indiana University. 
“
After we played the first 
movement of Beethoven’
s fifth 
symphony, I knew that it still 
thrills me beyond words as a 
benchmark piece. 
“While it is exciting to be 

in the center of that sound, it’
s 
been just as exciting to play 
other great music among people 
for whom I have great respect. 
Orchestra Hall is extraordinary, 
and the sounds come out clear 
and warm; it’
s like another 
instrument.”
Mellow, a 
member of the 
Birmingham 
Temple in 
Farmington Hills, 
can recall many 
special concerts 
and looks back on one attended 
by his mother, who traveled 
from Chicago to see him on 
stage with Itzhak Perlman. 
To recognize the many pops 
concerts held over the years, 
another commemorative pro-
gram, “
A Century of Pops,” will 
feature assistant principal cellist 
Abraham Feder as a soloist. The 
free concert, to be held Oct. 
23 and requiring reservations, 
is on the anniversary date of 
Orchestra Hall’
s 1919 grand 
opening. 
The program, which also fea-
tures conductor Leslie Dunner 
and mezzo-soprano Danielle 
Wright, includes selections from 
the first pops program and 

moves into later DSO perfor-
mances to highlight Broadway 
and film favorites.
Feder, marking his first anni-
versary with the DSO, says, “I’
ll 
be playing Kol Nidre by Max 
Bruch and Symphonic Variations 
by Leon Boëllman to recreate 
two pieces played by a solo cel-
list in that first year. 
“The Boëllman piece is a 
wonderful showcase for the 
cello and features variations on a 
beautiful theme. I’
m most excit-
ed about Kol Nidre. I’
ve played 
the piece at synagogue for Yom 
Kippur, many times with organ, 
so it will be such a thrill to per-
form Bruch’
s gorgeous orches-
tration with the DSO.”
Feder, who holds degrees 
from the Curtis Institute of 
Music and Rice University’
s 
Shepherd School of Music, 
joined the orchestra after posi-
tions in the Dallas Symphony 
Orchestra and the Sarasota 
Orchestra. He currently holds 
the Dorothy and 
Herbert Graebner 
Chair with the 
DSO.
“My parents 
are coming from 
Chicago to hear 
Abe Feder

Glenn Mellow

details
To get complete
programming information for 
the 2019-20 season of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 
go to DSO.org or call
(313) 576-5111.

continued on page 92

DSO

A view of 
Orchestra Hall, 
May 1920
Orchestra Hall
and Its Early 
Performers

THE BUILDING
Orchestra Hall, with an approx-
imate 2,000-seat capacity con-
tinuing over the years, closed 
between 1939 and 1941 because 
of financial problems resulting 
from the Great Depression. From 
1941-51, the building became 
the Paradise Theatre, featuring 
jazz, blues and R&B performers. 
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra 
used other venues — Masonic 
Temple Theatre, Music Hall, 
Ford Auditorium — from 1939, 
throughout a dormancy and until 
a restoration was completed in 
1989. In 2003, it became part of 
the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher 
Music Hall.

ACOUSTICS
The outstanding acoustics have 
been attributed in part to a shoe-
box structural style, allowing for 
a balance of direct sound and 
indirect sound. Its mid-size also 
was important. A tower above the 
stage and an empty room below 
enhanced the warmth of the 
music. The hardness of the plaster, 
joined with the ornamentation, 
additionally contributed to the 
quality.

OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH
Ossip Gabrilowitsch, who 
studied at the 
Saint Petersburg 
Conservatory, record-
ed many pieces for 
the reproducing piano 
before becoming 
conductor of the 
Munich Philharmonic. 
Political problems caused his 
move to the United States in 
1914, and he worked as a pianist 
and conductor before joining the 
Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In the 
1919-20 season, Gabrilowitsch 
hosted many famous musicians, 
such as violinist Mischa Elman, 
cellist Pablo Casals and pianist 
Arthur Rubinstein. 

DSO

Ossip 
Gabrilowitsch

