Samuel Wigutow In some ways, I think, it was an overly ambitious program that might have benefited in terms of consistency by being shorter and/or more focused. The rarely-played but engaging late Beethoven overture that opened the program, The Consecration of the House, gave some suggestions of being under-rehearsed:
One cannot help but be tickled pink by this at first, though it is questionable whether it has the lasting power of a 2 and a half hour opera. No orchestra here, just a string quartet, and pianist playing the orchestral reduction; but this actually substitutes rather well. And the company clearly has the voices to put on a greatly scaled down version of the opera. The staging, costuming, and choreography, I’m afraid to say, is another matter.
Muti was more convincing in the Beethoven Fourth Symphony that ended the program. The performance of the Fourth, Beethoven at his most playful, was filled with the same delightfully singing lines and imaginative phrasing heard in the previous pieces – to Muti’s credit, this was clearly a meticulously rehearsed performance – yet there was more real vigor than in the Mozart, even if it was somewhat restrained
La boheme is not the greatest opera ever composed, but it is perhaps the quintessentially atmospheric operatic experience; it justifies its reputation not by overwhelming the audience with dramatic power but by sweeping us up into the many small currents of life and emotion that run through it and depositing us at its heartrending yet intimate conclusion. Such a work needs a really sensitive performance to make its full effect, and that is just what can be heard at Lyric this month (aided by Michael Yeargan’s warmly evocative set).
The Baroque Band, a period-instrument ensemble established in Chicago six years ago by British baroque violinist and conductor Garry Clarke, has entitled the mostly-Corelli program it is bringing around the city this weekend “La Dolce Vita,” after the 1960 film, as part of what appears to be a movie-themed season. While it is unclear exactly what this evening’s concert had to do with the movie in question beyond being (mostly) Italian, the title does reflect the refreshing charm and grace that pervades the music on offer.
This production is recommended for its stellar cast and, of course, Verdi’s music, but not for its excessive and gratuitous sensuality; and those who, like this critic, hope that the latter does not end up as the norm for opera productions are hereby warned.
In short, Brahms’ Op. 99 sonata was the highlight here, but the program was mostly enjoyable throughout; and Mr. Isserlis’ playing in particular was a constant source of delight in itself. Do try to hear him live if the chance arises; he will make anyone love the cello.
On paper, the current CSO program, led by Edo de Waart (substituting again for Riccardo Muti), looked sure-fire: Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, the Jupiter, is arguably the greatest symphony of perhaps the greatest symphonist not named Beethoven; and a case could be made that Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 represents the height of the symphony after Beethoven’s death. However, one would not necessarily register the stature of these great works, the Mozart in particular, from this evening’s often lifeless performances.
This evening’s CSO program marks the second time in the past three seasons that music director Riccardo Muti has had to bow out of a scheduled performance of Beethoven’s legendary Eroica Symphony; Muti developed a case of the flu and was replaced for the duration of his present two-week engagement by Edo de Waart, currently music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Given the short notice on which he took up the program, de Waart led finely polished and alert performances that often lacked the last degree of dramatic intensity.
Sir Mark Elder led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this evening in a generally very enjoyable selection of somewhat lesser-known works by prominent composers from outside the standard Germanic tradition.