Tag: cso

Memorial Day Weekend

I am in the final stretch of the conference prep, and there is not a 30-minute stretch when I wouldn’t need to do something conference-related, mostly answering never-ending emails and telegram messages. Boris arrived Friday evening and immediately jumped in to help me, for which I am immensely thankful. We spent Saturday on preparing the room host kits, ordering what else was left to order, and so on. In addition, I am not yet ready with my own presentation slides for the conference, and I realized I didn’t send the Prairie Postgres flyers to FedEx for printing.

Boris said that FedEx’s cutting of the badges (I printed a sample) was not good enough, and volunteered to print and cut them all. I believe it’s way more work, but I didn’t object.

The two non-conference related activities on Saturday included a med-length bike ride, and finally assembling the new coat rack:

Our plans for Sunday and Monday were the following: we had three tickets for Hillary Hahn matinee recital at the CSO (for Nadia, Anna and myself) and then we were all going to go to Milwaukee to visit (Boris haven’t been to Anna’s new house yet).

Nadia studies violin by Hilary Hahn’s books, and we tried to attend a recital last year, and it was cancelled; we finally made it this time.

(I forgot to get the third ticket until the last minute, so I ended up in the back)

This day was not without calamities: it was raining all morning, and I slipped on the Jarvis station steps. Twice. First time was OK, but the second time I 1) ripped my pants (I know it’s fashionable, but I do not like it!), 2) broke four nails, and 3) broke the iPhone screen, which I thought was unbreakable.

I called Boris from the train and asked him to put an extra pair of pants into my backpack, which he was going to bring to me after the concert, and I had to live with all the rest. (I went to do my nails yesterday, and I still need to find time to repair the screen!)

The concert was awesome, and dinner at Ryo Sushi was great as always, and we also went to Amorino, which probably was a mistake because the wait time ended up being 35 minutes.

Then we went to Union Station, boarded on time, but the departure was delayed due to technical issues, and we arrived in Milwaukee with a 1-hour-and-15-minute delay!

Still, the next day was great! Boris and I had chosen the bikes (Anna collected bikes from several friends so that we could choose the ones we were most comfortable with), and we set off for a 30-mile ride! My only regret is that I couldn’t take pictures along the way, and I hope to take them on my future visits.

All bikes in a row
Custard stop
Caramel apples stop

I hope we will do it again!

CSO Concerts

Last week, I attended two CSO concerts again:). On Thursday, I went with my neighbor to the concert featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is currently the CSO artist-in -residence. I like mezzo-sopranos more than I like sopranos, and I really enjoyed her voice!

After her performance of Neruda songs, the orchestra played Walton’s 1st symphony. My neighbor, who watched a thousand times more movies than I and is very well versed in the history of American filmmaking, had heard many of his works before, and I didn’t even know his name! I think I will be forever discovering authors, artists and musician that “everyone knows,” but I am totally fine with it :).

I am a little bit embarrased to say that I paid attention to Joyce DiDonato’s appearance, especially because I was just ranting about my mom’s obsession of how the performers look, but I am still going to mention it. I figured she should be about my age, and I later checked that she was 57. She does not make attempts to hide her age, and she puts on the reading glasses when she performs, but she also wore an absolutely stanning black dress with giant golden leaves on the front, with opened back and closed neck. I do not know why I find it important to share my feelings; it was somehow empowering and reassureing: yes, wareing extravagant dresses at this age is OK; and not going for a plastic surgery or botox is OK as well.

Saturday was the day of a Family matinee at the CSO. Both Nadia and Kira were spposed to go, but Nadia had a soccer practice and a swimming lesson, so it was Anna, Kira and I. It was Mother Goose and a Cabinet of Wonders show starring Natalie Merchant. She was dancing in the asles, and the kids were taking off their seats and following her along:). It was almost a mess, but a very exciting one! Probably the best family matinee so far!

And More CSO

That was the third CSO concert I attended within one week. This one was last Thursday, and I went with my neighbor, with whom I attend most of the events. The conductor was Andrey Boreyko, and the featured soloist was Evgeny Kissin. I told my neighbor that the first time I saw Kissin performing was when he was nine years old, and I still remember it, because he sounded extraordinary. Well, 40+ years later, he is definitely a great pianist, but I somehow felt like he lost his spark, or just was not at his best.

The technique is flawless as usual, but it didn’t touch me as much as I thought it would, and I attribute that to Kissin not putting his whole soul into this performance. I do not know how to better describe what I felt.

You won’t tell any of that, looking at the pictures below, so I am willing to accept it was just me.

One more note. One of the pieces performed was a Suite from the Tale of Tsar Saltan, and even the program notes stated that the Flight of the Bumblebee is the only music from Rimsky-Korsakov that the world knows. The audience became very enthusiastic with the first sounds of this part of the suite, and even my neighbor pushed my elbow 😂. Well…

Sunday

There was one more CSO concert on Sunday, the one where I took my mom. I used to purchase a separate matinee subscription for her, but I know that no matter what she says, it is becoming difficult for her to attend the events often. Besides, to be completely honest, going with her is not more entertainment for me, but a difficult job.

She used to enjoy the music, but now she always says that she was looking at the musician’s hands rather than listening, and I feel a little bit resentful spending money on the tickets when she is not really engaging in the show. That would be OK, as long as she’s saying she enjoys time with me, but also, she keeps saying unpleasant things about everyone: a conductor, musicians, patrons, and staff. She recognizes many musicians, and she has some opinions on their character, which I have no idea how she got. Most frequently it’s “he always thinks too high of himself, he likes to show off: look at me, I am so great!” I think that most likely it’s because when she sees people on the stage smiling, she does not understand why 🤷🏻‍♀️. She also comments on everyone clothing, body sizes, hairstyles, etc, and always asks “what is the nationality of this artist,” and get upset when I tell her I have no idea.

The concert was very good, and I hoped that the program which contained several smaller pieces will be better for her to stay focused. Unfortunatley, the seats I got where on the side, rather than in the center, so she had trouble capturing the sound, and also she could not see the musicians hands, so she didn’t like it that much. She could see the conductor, which partially compensated for the rest 🙂 .

Nadia And Kira In Chicago

On Friday, I left work earlier to take a train to Milwaukee to pick up Nadia and Kira. I planned to work on the train and at Anna’s house so that I wouldn’t miss more work, but when I walked out of the office and looked at my phone, I saw the email notifying me about the death of my second cousin, and then I had to make calls, send emails, and just process what had happened. And then I had to switch gears completely and be present for the girls.

It was a very good visit. I am glad that I left early and we could take Borealis back; this way, the girls were not super tired when we arrived home, and there were no unnecessary fights.

We had ice cream before bed, breakfast sandwiches in the morning, and then went to the CSO for Kids concert. This time, it was “The Bremen Town Musicians.” I hope that they record these kids’ shows, where the 45 minutes are packed with classical pieces in an amazingly dense manner. The music from the recording below is played in the beginning of each concert, and after a couple of repetitions, the kids know it by heart.

Anna arrived and met us after the concert. We went to Lea Cafe for lunch (I am so glad everyone likes it the way I do!).

Then we headed back to Rogers Park. The girls and I went straight to the beach, and Anna went to my mom’s house, and then they met us there.

Going to the beach playground was a great idea! The girls took all the sand toys from my house and built sand castles.

Being by the lake felt so good, and it felt like summer would actually happen (you might start to doubt the latter one!). Nadia went close to the water almost immediately and stayed there looking at the horizon. Then both of the girls took their boots off and said that they wanted to feel the sand with their feet. It was far from being warm on Saturday, and I could not imagine how one could feel “good” being barefoot in this weather, but they apparently enjoyed it!

That was the highligh of my weekend, the rest was my endless community work and coming to terms with a loss.

CSO Backstage Tour

Since last year, I purchased two tickets for a Millennium Park concert, which was considered a fundraiser, I officially became a “CSO donor” (I think, my subscription is not expensive enough to qualify). With that, I started to receive some exclusive invitations. I know that invitations to the open rehearsals are issued to all subscribers, but I believe that for a backstage tour invitation, you need a higher level. Or maybe they just started to offer them. Whatever the case, this season was the first time I started receiving these invites, and I was sad I couldn’t choose any tour time that worked for me. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I spotted one time that could work and still had openings (it was a last-minute addition). The time loosely corresponded to my lunch break :). I immediately grabbed two tickets and told my neighbor about this opportunity.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the whole tour, because it ended up being longer than one hour (as it was advertised). But funny enough, the last and the best part of the tour – the backstage – was less important for me because I saw it as a part of the CSO for Kids Ambassador tour with Nadia, so it was OK; I just felt bad that I had to ask an usher to escort me out.

The curator who led the tour was exceptionally knowledgeable, and she told us all about the history of the building and the orchestra. I knew some pieces of it: how Theodor Tomas agreed to move to Chicago in 1890 for the promise to have a permanent orchestra (“I will move to hell for that!”). How the orchestra first performed in the Auditorium, and how Daniel Burnham volunteered to design the new orchestra’s home.

I didn’t know that Theodor Thomas specifically wanted to have a ballroom in the building for more intimate gatherings, and that it’s because of him we have Grainger Ballroom.

The Rotunda was a later addition, similar to the Arcade, and was built to house the CSO offices, the libarary and the archive
Another thing we learnde on the tour: the first female member joined the orchestra in 1940, and out of all instruments you would imagine, she played a French horn!
I didn’t know that the ceiling can be moved up and down to create a different effect, depending on who is on stage (the full orchestra, the Chamber orchestra, or a soloist)

Backstage:

The harpsichord (I remember seeing Melody Lord playing it)

As I said, I didn’t take a lot of pictures backstage because I took them on a previous tour. My friend messaged me later that it was a very special experience, and she loved it. She was able to sty till the end, and I had to run back to work!

I Knew It!

Honestly, when I saw this piece. in WBEZ newsletter, that’s what I wanted to scream: I knew it! I knew that Makela would love our Art Institute! And I love the concept of “music pairing.”

The story.

Continue reading “I Knew It!” →

Mäkelä Conducts Sibelius

On Thursday, I was at the CSO again, and it was another exceptional program. I am still in the process of familiarising myself with our new future Musical Director, but I am getting to know his style more and more.

During the first part of the Thursday concert, Mäkelä was conducting Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen, and the program book was full of the Helsinki pictures, so I overloaded my neighbor with extra information about the Sibelius Monument, Kelevala, kantele, Larin Paraske, and Akseli Gallen-Kallela (his Lemminkäinen’s Mother was in the program book). In short, lots of unsolicited information :). I think she barely survived :).

Mäkelä was fantastic (and also, as I said, I am slowly “growing into him.” I can’t find a recording of Mäkelä conducting Lemminkäinen, so here is the only one I found. I am sure I will have more opportunities to listen to Mäkelä conducting in the years to come, and hopefully I will be able to share more videos.

A Thomas Club Dinner

I rarely post pictures of food these days; for a change, these are the pcictures of the dinner my neighbor and I had before the Thursday concert. She turned 75 earlier this month, and we wanted to have a nice dinner together. The Thomas Club on the 9th floor of the CSO building is always a good idea, and there we went.

In addition to the occasion itself, there were two things I wanted to mention. First, I could never imagine the stuffed shells being an exquisit dish, but here they were! Unbelivably delicios! And second – just a thought – why all of sudden a tiramisu has bunny ears:)? Let it stay a mystery!

The CSO Concert

The CSO Concert on Thursday was one of the best I ever attended! It started with the composition “To See the Sky: an exegesis for orchestra,” by Joel Thompson.

Composer Joel Thompson credits the inspiration for his orchestral work To See the Sky to a single line from the song “Thunderclouds,” written by jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant: “Sometimes you have to look into a well to see the sky.” 

To See the Sky, which had its world premiere in March 2024 by the New York Philharmonic, under Jaap van Zweden, is Thompson’s longest orchestral work to date. “It gives an indication of his future music,” said Patrick Summers, artistic and music director of the Houston Grand Opera, where Thompson is composer-in-residence through 2027. “With no hyperbole, To See the Sky is music of extraordinary beauty and deep content. To hear an orchestra of such dazzling quality as the New York Philharmonic bring Joel’s imagination to full life was a very moving thrill.”

Commissioned by the American Composers Forum, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and Bravo! Vail Music Festival, To See the Sky will be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Jaap van Zweden, in concerts Feb. 12-15. 

Thompson has said of his work: “The movements outline a non-linear journey toward healing.” “He has achieved this in every possible way,” said Summers in a video interview posted by Houston Grand Opera. “The listener’s emotional journey of To See the Sky is more than simply satisfying; it is cathartic and self-realization. Quite an achievement. 

“Primary among his many gifts is an ability to juxtapose several musical styles simultaneously, forming a melodic and colorful musical narrative that anyone can understand, but which also challenges virtuoso musicians like these,” Summers said. “To See the Sky was 20 minutes in length, and the musical material could easily have been twice that. One wanted it to last longer. Large-scale structures like opera are clearly in his DNA, based on a work like this. 

The composer himself was in the audience and came up on stage!

And next was an absolutely stunning performance of Himari, a fourteen-year-old prodigy, and I don’t know what to say, because no words can describe her! Fortunately, I just found on YouTube the Max Bruch concert she was performing on Thursday, an

I completely agree with one of the comments on YouTube: There are violin prodigies then there is Himari.

I can’t believe I was there, in the first row, experiencing her magic!