Slatkin cancels Nov. DSO appearances after heart attack

Lawrence B. Johnson / Special to The Detroit News

Conductor Leonard Slatkin's doctors have ordered him to cancel both of his scheduled appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this month as he recuperates from a heart attack he suffered on Nov. 1.

Douglas Sheldon, Slatkin's personal agent at Columbia Artists Management Inc. in New York City, said Slatkin, the DSO's music director, has been advised by his doctors to rest until the beginning of December.

At that time, Sheldon said, Slatkin will undergo further tests to determine his fitness to resume work.

Slatkin, 65, in the first full year of his DSO directorship, was scheduled to conduct concerts at Orchestra Hall on Nov. 19-21 with jazz pianist Michel Camilo and on Nov. 27-29 with pianist Joseph Kalichstein.

The conductor is still scheduled to lead performances of Holst's "The Planets" at Orchestra Hall on Dec. 10-13. The DSO has not yet announced substitute conductors.

Asked if Slatkin might be facing a second procedure to repair damage to his heart, Sheldon said, "Nothing is scheduled at this time."

The agent said Slatkin has returned from The Netherlands, where he suffered his heart attack during a performance with the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

"He is in America," Sheldon said. He declined to be more specific.

Slatkin suffered chest pains while on the podium in Rotterdam. He was able to finish the concert, but then was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery for the insertion of two stents to permit normal flow of blood to the heart.

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.

Lawrence B. Johnson is a cultural writer and critic. lawrencebj@gmail.com.