Haven’t posted here in a while…and can’t believe that September has already come to a close and we are now well into October! Now, this time of year marks the beginning of the new CSO season, which usually brings an exciting and festive atmosphere back into the city, especially when Maestro Muti is back on the podium to lead the orchestra. But…things felt rather bittersweet this time around, considering that this fall residency was the last time this ’23-’24 season that Maestro Muti will be in Chicago to conduct the orchestra… 🥲😭
To open the season, Maestro Muti led a program featuring Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. After a summer without hearing any live classical music performances (and indeed, there were plenty of reasons why that was the case…), it felt really good to be back in the hall learning such great music (especially the Brahms!) with the best conductor today. From the impressionistic tranquility of the Liadov to the underlying sadness throughout the Brahms (I had no idea that Brahms himself wrote to his publisher (Simrock) that this symphony was the saddest thing he had written thus far, even going as far to say that this music should appear with a black border…), Maestro and the orchestra really plumbed the depths of the music, allowing for all these varying colors and moods to shine through. And to hear that famous Firebird finale…absolutely befitting for opening week!
Right in the midst of opening week was the annual Symphony Ball, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (w/ Leonidas Kavakos), three Italian opera intermezzi (e.g., Fedora of Giordano, Manon Lescaut of Puccini, and Pagliacci of Leoncavallo), and the overture to Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco. This had to be my favorite program of the entire residency! The way that Maestro Muti can get the whole orchestra to really sing and breathe (con anima!) when performing these Italian opera pieces is seriously unlike anything you will ever witness. And how he got the strings to just play their hearts out in the Leoncavallo, or how the dramatic contrasts of Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco were made manifest from the deep, rumbling tremolissimi of the strings/timpani to the peaceful melodic lines of the winds, was incredible. And then to kick things off at the beginning of the program with the beloved Tchaikovsky violin concerto with Kavakos, who plays with such incredible speed and virtuosity — you couldn’t ask for more! (Although I do wish the audience didn’t interrupt the cadenza…)
The third program in Chicago featured Philip Glass’ new composition, The Triumph of the Octagon, along with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 (Italian) and Strauss’ Aus Italien. It was pretty cool how all three pieces of the program had the theme of Italy, as the Glass piece was actually inspired by a photograph in Maestro Muti’s office of the octagonal Castel del Monte, located in Andria of Apulia, Italy—a place which I have yet to visit (definitely on my bucket list though!)—whereas both the Italian symphony of Mendelssohn and Aus Italien of Strauss were inspired by the respective composers’ own travels to Italy. I was amazed at how Maestro Muti got the strings to all play an absolute pianissimo during the fourth movement Saltarello of the Italian, which is already such a difficult movement considering the speed and all the repeating scales (so many notes to play!!). And of course, the Aus Italien: from the lush melodies of the strings in the first movement (“Auf der Campagna”), to the shimmering strings to convey the moonlight on the waters of Sorrento and the sighing clarinet in the third movement (“Am Strande von Sorrent), to that famously recurring quote of “Funiculì, Funiculà” throughout the fourth movement (“Neapolitanisches Volksleben”))—the picturesque evocations of Italy from Strauss’ orchestration were just splendid to hear live.
Then, from Chicago to New York for Carnegie Hall’s opening night! It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve visited NYC (since elementary school I think?…), so it felt like visiting a brand new city for the first time! And why make the trek to NYC? Well, the last time that Maestro Muti and the CSO opened the Carnegie Hall season was in 2012…and to be honest, I’m doubtful that this special occasion is bound to happen any time soon again, so the fact that it was happening this autumn meant that I had to make the quick trip to the Big Apple! And the featured program: Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto w/ Kavakos (like the previous week’s Symphony Ball!) and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which is always a great showcase for Maestro Muti and the orchestra.
Now, I’ve long heard about Carnegie Hall’s famed acoustics, but I didn’t expect to be as blown away as I was! As soon as I entered the hall, the atmosphere just felt different compared to other halls. And as the orchestra began to play, you could immediately hear every detail from the seats so clearly, and the sounds of all the instruments just became much more burnished and resonant — the difference, compared to the drier acoustic of Orchestra Hall, was like night and day! Don’t get me wrong, I love Orchestra Hall…but Carnegie Hall is just another level.
I was also excited to see how opening night at Carnegie Hall is such a big deal in the NYC cultural scene. As soon as I got to the hall later that evening for the (sold-out) concert, there was a phalanx of photographers snapping pictures of the gala patrons on the red carpet outside, and when I got inside, I did happen to spot a couple of music legends just walking throughout the hall (e.g. Yo-Yo Ma!). The hall was filled to the brim, and you could just feel how special of an occasion this was. Super cool stuff.
All in all, what a whirlwind of a trip to NYC and an absolutely unforgettable Carnegie Hall opening night (topped off with an encore of Giordano’s intermezzo to Fedora!). And what a phenomenal three weeks to kick off autumn and this year’s classical music season…a huge thanks to Maestro Muti for always making these residencies in Chicago (and abroad) the best learning experiences, filled with such amazing music that is always prepared and performed at the highest level — no one does it better. Since there aren’t any other concerts in Chicago that I’ll be going to for the rest of this season (maybe one or two exceptions, but who knows…), that only means one thing……travel! In the meantime though, I’ll be reminiscing about the live acoustic marvels of Carnegie Hall with the opening night radio broadcast 🙂
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