DSO's Leonard Slatkin recovering after heart attack

DSO's Leonard Slatkin recovering after heart attack
Lawrence B. Johnson Special to The Detroit News
November 04, 2009 13:22 PM

Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, is recuperating in a Netherlands hospital this morning after suffering a heart attack while conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic on Sunday night.

DSO spokeswoman Elizabeth Twork said Slatkin, 65, experienced chest pains during the performance but was able to finish the concert. He was then taken to a Rotterdam hospital, where he underwent surgery for the insertion of two stents.

A stent is a man-made tube inserted into a natural passageway such as a blood vessel. It is a typical component of early surgical intervention to restore the normal functioning of the heart.

"He's fine and recovering," Twork said. "He has canceled his next conducting dates this weekend with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague and Nov. 10 in Pittsburgh, but he has not canceled his scheduled concerts here. He wants very much to be here."

Those DSO performances are Nov. 19-21, but that would require Slatkin to be rehearsing with the orchestra by Nov. 17. Twork said DSO management was preparing for the possible need to find a substitute conductor.

Lawrence B. Johnson is a cultural writer and critic. You can reach him at lawrencebj@gmail.com.

p. 1/1