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Riccardo Muti directs the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Todd Rosenberg
At the marvelous Stern Auditorium, on the night of Tuesday, January 21st, I had the exceptional privilege to attend a superb concert presented by Carnegie Hall featuring the extraordinary musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the magnificent direction of the revered Riccardo Muti, one of the greatest living conductors.
The event began splendidly with a sterling account of Vincenzo Bellini’s pleasurable Overture to his brilliant opera, Norma, from 1831. In a useful note on the program, Phillip Huscher provides some background on the work:
Bellini was paid an unprecedented sum for the 1830 commission of Norma for Teatro alla scala in Milan, which suggests his preeminence in the operatic world at the time. Although the premiere was only a modest success, beginning with a run of performances in Bergamo the following summer, Norma grew to be revered more than any of the other crowd-pleasing Italian operas of the period, partly for the stately seriousness of its musical style and the elegance of Bellini’s expansive melodies.
Also rewarding was an impeccable performance of The Four Seasons, enjoyable ballet music from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, I vespri siciliani, which is especially famous for its remarkable Overture. The annotator records that:
Verdi’s grand opera—it was translated into Italian in 1861 and has since become better known as I vespri siciliani—is set at the time of the French occupation of the island of Sicily in the 13th century and the subsequent uprising by the people of Palermo on Easter Sunday of 1282. (The bells that ring for vespers signal the start of the uprising.) In Act III, Montforte, the French governor of Sicily, and Arrigo, a young Sicilian who is Montforte’s son and sworn enemy, proceed to the great hall, where a ballet is staged for the entertainment of the governor’s guests. The ballet of the Four Seasons has no direct connection, either musically or dramatically, to the opera itself—the composer later said it could be omitted without harm [ . . . .]
He adds:
Verdi begins with Winter. A young woman, wrapped in furs and representing Winter, steps out of an ice-covered basket. Three friends, all shivering in the cold, arrive and light a fire, but Winter prefers to dance to keep warm. Soon, the ice melts to reveal bunches of flowers, from which rises the spirit of Spring, who begins to dance. Eventually, the flowers are replaced by ears of corn; Summer and her companions gather the ears. Too hot to dance, they choose to swim instead, until a faun chases them away. The basket is now covered with vine leaves and fruit. Autumn and her companions dance in celebration of Bacchus.
Each of the seasons is treated as a series of varied dances and tuneful episodes.
Berlioz praised the music, “particularly the pieces for Spring and Summer, which give the virtuosi of the opera orchestra a chance to display their talents,” he wrote, the adagio for Spring and the siciliano from Summer were especially beautiful.
The summit of the evening, however, was its dazzling second half, a glorious realization of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s stunning Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36. He wrote to the composer Sergei Taneyev, a former student, saying, “Of course, my symphony is programmatic, but this program is such that it cannot be formulated in words.”
The initial, Andante sostenuto movement opens with dramatic fanfares that recur throughout it; the primary theme—marked in movimento di valse—is expressive and Romantic. The music increases in intensity but then becomes more subdued, although eventually building to a powerful climax. The second movement, marked Andantino in modo di canzona, is indeed song-like and full of charm but nonetheless somewhat solemn, closing quietly. The relatively brief Scherzo that follows is sprightly but even more playful in the ensuing Trio-like section; the music then becomes march-like before recapitulating the beginning of the movement and continues on to end softly. The Allegro con fuoco Finale starts forcefully and a more dance-like interlude ensues; the movement becomes more urgent and then jubilant, concluding triumphantly. Exceedingly enthusiastic applause elicited a fabulous encore: Giuseppe Martucci’s exquisite Notturno, Op. 70, No. 1, from 1891.
Muti returns to this venue on February 28th and March 1st and 2nd with the Vienna Philharmonic, which promises to be three outstanding evenings of orchestral music.
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Midas Man |
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Ada—My Mother the Architect |
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The Spoils |
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The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka and the Art of Survival |
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Blind at Heart |
Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima
At the superior Alice Tully Hall, on the night of Friday, December 13th, I was unusually fortunate in attending a wonderful concert—presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center—devoted to the magnificent Brandenburg Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach.
In useful notes for this program, Ellen Exner provides some background on these works:
In 1721, Bach compiled this set of highly individual, and in many ways unusual, chamber pieces for all different combinations of instruments and sent them in score format, with a humble letter of dedication, to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg (1667–1734). It is thought that Bach must have played for the Margrave in 1719, on a trip to Berlin to pick up a new double-harpsichord. Bach's dedication states that the concertos were sent at the Margrave's request, based on his delight in Bach's talents.
The event started strongly with the Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051, featuring violists Paul Neubauer and Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, cellists Jonathan Swensen, Inbal Segev and Dmitri Atapine, and with double-bassist Blake Hinson and harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss, both of whom performed on all the works in the program. An ebullient, initial Allegro is followed by a slow movement marked Adagio ma non tanto that is graceful and serious but not grave, while the Allegro finale is delightful and even livelier than the first movement.
The Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046, was played by Aaron Boyd on the violino piccolo—“a violin tuned a third higher than usual,” according to the annotator—violinists Daniel Phillips and James Thompson, Pájaro-van de Stadt and Segev again, oboists James Austin Smith, Randall Ellis and Stephen Taylor, bassoonist Marc Goldberg, and on the hunting horns (corni da caccia), Julia Pilant and Stewart Rose. The opening Allegro is enchanting and ingenious, preceding a solemn, song-like Adagio and another, exuberant Allegro. The finale begins with a charming minuet with a modest Trio and a more urgent Polonaise; a second Trio is more energetic.
The Concerto No. 5 in D Major (BWV 1050) was performed by Phillips, flautist Tara Helen O’Connor, violinist Chad Hoopes, Neubauer and Atapine. The Allegro first movement is vivacious and brilliant, featuring an unusual, extended, and virtuosic keyboard solo. A sensitive and emotional slow movement marked Affetuoso precedes a dance-like, Allegro finale with an intricate, even dazzling, fugue.
The Concerto No. 4 in G Major (BWV 1049) was executed by Hoopes, flautist Sooyun Kim, O’Connor, Boyd, Thompson, Pájaro-van de Stadt, and Swensen. It starts with a bravura, sparkling Allegro, while the ensuing Andante has an almost elegiac quality, and the also effervescent Presto finale is an incredibly complex and awesome fugue.
The Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048, featured Boyd, Thompson, Hoopes, Pájaro-van de Stadt, Philips, Neubauer, Atapine, Segev and Swensen. The beginning Allegro is energetic and engrossing and, after an exceedingly brief Adagio, the Allegro finale is dynamic and propulsive.
And at last, the Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047, was played by Thompson, Kim, Smith, trumpeter David Washburn, Phillips, Hoopes, Neubauer, Atapine, and Goldberg. The opening Allegro is winning and sprightly, succeeded by an exquisite, reflective Andante anda jubilant, irresistible Allegro assai finale.
The artists deservedly received an enthusiastic ovation.