25 years after Aretha Franklin sang with DSO, her music returns to Orchestra Hall
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As she headed into her first-ever onstage collaboration with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Aretha Franklin was confident about the crossover potential.
"I have very sophisticated fans,” she told the Detroit Free Press in November 1998. "They like good music, just like I do."
Those ’98 concerts — three nights over Thanksgiving weekend — turned out to be the Queen of Soul’s only work with the DSO, a rare meeting of two Detroit musical institutions.
Now, a quarter-century later, the DSO is tipping its hat to Franklin again: In one of the most eagerly awaited events on the orchestra’s 2023 calendar, assistant conductor Na’Zir McFadden will lead four concerts of Franklin’s music Friday through Sunday.
The 22-year-old McFadden promises “25 of her greatest, most famous, timeless hits” in something of a musical biography — “from growing up in the church, to popular music, and back to the church.”
“It’s kind of amazing that she has so many hits — we won’t even have time to do them all,” he said. “But that just shows you how great her discography is.”
The DSO is pulling out the stops for its Queen of Soul weekend, including a 1956 pink Cadillac stationed in the Orchestra Hall lobby and a display of photos from Linda Solomon, the Franklin personal photographer who documented the ’98 event, including rehearsals.
Franklin family members are also planning to attend.
“It’s exciting,” said niece Sabrina Owens. “The fact that her name and legacy are still being kept alive is important to the family because she did contribute so much to the world. We want her to be remembered as long as possible.”
Franklin, whose musical tastes spanned genres including classical, “would be very happy about this,” Owens said.
In November 1998, Franklin was sparkling in a beaded silk gown as she kicked off her stand with the DSO, a 70-minute performance of class, elegance and earthy R&B.
Going into opening night, Franklin had vowed to serve up an evening of “symphonic soul,” and she and the DSO delivered, traversing her catalog with songs such as “Respect” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The night also featured an aria from Franklin, an opera enthusiast, as she delivered a dramatic “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s “Tosca.”
Indeed, the DSO concerts came nine months after Franklin dazzled the world with her impromptu Grammy performance of “Nessun Dorma,” a moment that endures as one of the most iconic in the show’s history.
Franklin was already on her opera kick when she'd attended soprano Kathleen Battle's concert with the Detroit Symphony in 1996 — a night that inspired her to arrange her own DSO collaboration.
Some of those DSO musicians are still with the orchestra today, and they’ll be onstage this weekend for performances that will include contributions from vocalists Tamika Lawrence, Shaleah Adkisson and Blaine Alden Krauss, along with pianist John Boswell.
McFadden, who joined the DSO last year, grew up in a Philadelphia home filled with Franklin’s music.
“It’s crazy to think that (1998) concert happened three years before I was born, but ultimately I feel more connected than ever with that music,” he said.
He said it’s an honor to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul in her hometown.
“This is Aretha’s nest,” he said. “We want to showcase that this was Aretha’s home and Aretha’s orchestra. We want to say thank you and help her legacy live on. It’s like a family reunion, in a way.”
This is the second Aretha Franklin event for the DSO this year, following January's live play-along of the biopic "Respect." Things won't be so precisely synchronized this time, McFadden said: "We’re free to take very drastic tempos, very dramatic fortissimos, and really feel the music."
The conductor will be working with scores arranged for gospel, R&B and rock — and he assures this won’t be some solemn musical affair.
“I invite everyone to have fun,” he said. “This is not a concert where you should sit back to just enjoy beautiful music. You should sing, clap, dance along. I want the audience to be part of the music, as if they were in a congregation at a Baptist church.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
‘Respect: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin’
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m. Fri., 8 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun.
Orchestra Hall
3711 Woodward, Detroit
$29-$119
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DSO saluting Aretha Franklin 25 years after groundbreaking concerts
