Pierre Boulez builds an intriguing Chicago SO program

By John Dorhauer, 26 February 2014

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Reviewed at Chicago Symphony Center, Chicago on 25 February 2014

Debussy, Jeux

Ravel, Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé

Stravinsky, Three Japanese Lyrics

Stravinsky, Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont

Stravinsky, 3 Pieces for clarinet solo

Stravinsky, Berceuses du chat

Stravinsky, Pulcinella: Suite

Stravinsky, Suite no. 1 for chamber orchestra

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Cristian Măcelaru, Conductor

Sasha Cooke, Mezzo-soprano

John Bruce Yeh, Clarinet

Klaus Mäkelä is speaking... Chicago is listening

Graham Meyer, 19th February

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Music Director Designate juxtaposes his Finnish countryman's music on their shared national epic, the Kalevala, with the heroic life limned in the tone poem of Richard Strauss.

****1

Matthew Aucoin’s Song of the Reappeared premieres in Chicago

Graham Meyer, 4th December

A strong world premiere of Aucoin's evocative and immediate Song of the Reappeared, a concerto for voice written for soprano Julia Bullock which sets vivid imagery by a poet who suffered under authoritarianism.

*****

Manfred Honeck brings his über-dramatic Mozart Requiem to Chicago

Graham Meyer, 20th November

The Austrian conductor's loudest fortes and softest pianos pull together a dramatic arc from the Requiem, other Mozart works and chant. But it's not really a funeral.

****1

Daniela Candillari makes her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut

Graham Meyer, 3rd October

Without a baton, the contemporary-music specialist showcases the Chicago Symphony strings in an intimate program ranging from music of the last decade all the way back to Pergolesi.

****1

Polished Ravel x 2 from Alice Sara Ott with the Chicago Symphony

Graham Meyer, 25th September

Three hands for two concertos: Alice Sara Ott joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Ravel's Piano Concerto for the left hand and the Piano Concerto in G major.

****1

Ravinia Festival opens with bombastic Gershwin, emotional Tchaikovsky

Cameron Kelsall, 12th July

Under Marin Alsop, the Chicago Symphony string players also offered a lyrical reading of Jessie Montgomery’s beguiling Strum.

***11

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John Dorhauer

Aside from writing reviews for Bachtrack, John Dorhauer is a composer, arranger, educator, and performer. He has a Master’s degree in Music Composition from Roosevelt University and is adjunct faculty at Elmhurst College and Roosevelt University. John also writes for his own blog, and you can read this and find out more about his music at his website.