Tag: music

Shostakovich’s Fourth

On Thursday, my neighbor and I went to our first CSO concert of the season. Klaus Makela, still a Director-designee, opened it with Sibelius’s 7th and Shostakovich’s 4th. Hearing Shostakovich’s 4th for the first time in my life and being completely unprepared for what I was about to listen to was so shocking that, several days later, I am still processing what I heard.

I didn’t know the story about this symphony, how it was created, and how the premiere was withdrawn (surprisingly so, because I heard so many details about Shostakovich’s reaction to the infamous Pravda editorial), and now I am trying to place in time his phone conversation with Stalin relative to writing and rehearsing of the 4th Symphony.

According to my grandmother, Stalin told him: “You should compose marches, young man, do you hear me? Marches! Our people want to march, and they have to music to march to!” (For the sake of my Russian -speaking friends, the exact wording was: “Марши надо писать, молодой человек, марши! Народ хочет маршировать, а не подо что!”

You can read the story of the 4th Symphony withdrawal, the hiding of the manuscript, and the first performance in Moscow in 1961. What I am wondering is how in the world Shostakovich could think that it would be possible to perform it?! After the above-mentioned article in Pravda. How?! I talked to Boris about it, and he said: and how could the rest of his music be performed? But I still think that the 4th Symphony is something incomparable with any other of Shostakovich’s works. So bold. So powerful. So full of grotesque and bitter irony.

I am now listening to the recording, trying to capture all of the details of Part III, because I definitely missed a lot during the concert, completely taken away by evolving havoc :).

Cultural Events

Last week marked the opening of the new theater season. So far, I attended the following events;

  • The Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas concert at the Guarneri Hall. It was good (the pianist, Adam Neiman, was excellent), but the lecture before the concert was unnecessarily long and not very informative. I have a feeling that everyone was just waiting for the speaker to be done and to listen to the music. Also, because of that lecture, the concert ended later than scheduled
  • Dirty Dancing at Nederlander Theater. I never saw the movie, so I couldn’t appreciate all of the details my neighbor was admiring, but I liked the music, the acting, and how the dances were staged. Not out of this world, but really nice.
This one taken by me
  • Liliom – John Neumeier’s ballet at Joffrey. The libretto is based on the play Liliom, which was also the basis of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. Great, as always 🙂 (well, so far, the only ballet I didn’t like much was Eugene Onegin)

Pictures below were taken by me:

To be continued next week 🙂

Grant Park Music Festival: A Space Odyssey

Yesterday’s concert was another of my favorites: Grant Park Orchestra accompanied Troupe Vertigo. As I have already said multiple times, I shamelessly love circus, even the aspects which are usually considered vulgar, but Vertigo performances are always beautiful, elegant, and breathtaking! This season’s concert theme was Space:

Now that you have an idea about the music, I will just post the photos of the artists. I didn’t take a lot of photos because I didn’t want to take my gaze off the stage, but I think you can still get an impression of how amazing it was!

Continue reading “Grant Park Music Festival: A Space Odyssey” →

Grant Park Music Festival: Broadway Sings America

I have been to two Grant Park concerts in a row, and I absolutely loved both of them! The first one was yesterday:

Since this whole season is dedicated to the USA 250th birthday, that concert featured the numbers from various musicals about different periods of American history (in a loosely chronological order).

I heard most of these songs many times, but all of them presented in one concert made them especially powerful. At the end of the program, the orchestra and chorus performed one more song, which was not in the program: “Keep Marching” from Suffs, which we just recently heard on Broadway in Chicago. And the conductor concluded the concert with a reminder how important is it in the times like this, to “keep marching.”

As I already mentioned, the GPMF series is the only way I feel I can celebrate the America’s 250th…

What a beautiful city we live in!

Opening Of The Grant Park Music Festival Season

Chicago was under a tornado watch for two days, but surprisingly, the opening of the GMF season was not canceled. My neighbor and I were unsure until the very last moment, but at that very last moment, the storm was over, the rain stopped, and the Pritzker Pavilion was open for the concert attendees!

Giancarlo Guerrero is an outstanding conductor. I first heard him conduct Shostakovich, and his interpretation was so beyond conventional that I inadvertently fell into his style. He is bold, both in music and in words, and this concert was no exception. I am extremely saddened that this year, the year of America’s 250th birthday, the day I was anticipating for so many years and looking forward to celebrating with my children and grandchildren, is completely ruind by the person in the White House; that’s why I chose to be out of the country on this day, and that’s why I am hesitant to participate in any celebratory actions and activities. But Guerrero made all of us feel like that’s our party, and we, the people, are here to stand for our values and for our freedoms. It was so inspiring to watch him conduct the National Anthem and accenting “the land of the free.” Unforgettable,

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!

Another Concert With Mom

I think I will stop taking my mom to the concerts :). On Sunday, I took her for another one, this one was at the CheckOut, a new venue relatively close to where I live. I’ve been there several times, both on my own and with my mom. She is always complaining that the sound is not good enough, and the venue allows her to be super-close to the performer, and see and hear everything.

To be quite honest, this concert was a disappointment for me. To put it politely, it looked like the performer used to be an excellent piano player many years ago, and now is rapidly losing it.

I know that this can happen even with the most outsatnding musicians. I will never forget how I went to listen to Van Clyborn concert at Ravinia many years ago, and he was not even that old, but it was a micerable experience.

My mom didn’t get what was going on, but she was saying that “the movements of his hands were not in sync with the sound,” which was totally her imagination and that “it was bum-bum-all the same over and over,” which was also not exactly the case.

I have another pair of tickets for both of us for the concert on May 3, but I looked at the program and at the performers and realized that it wil be another “what is his national origin,” situation, so most likely I will return these tickets. Actually, than was a replacement for the concert which I could not attend because of my travels, and I knew it won’t be an adequate one, so I do not have big regrets!

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 🙂 .

Helsinki Music Center

On Friday evening, we went to one more concert. Once again, it was in the Helsinki Music Center, which I first visited last time, and loved it. This time, it was Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert was titled “I Want to Be Alive”, and that was the name of the piece which was performed after the intermission, and was composed by Daníel Bjarnason. OK, I know it sounds confusing, so let me say it again. Daníel Bjarnason was conducting, but the first part featured Wagner and Szymanowski, and in the second part, the orchestra performed the piece composed by Bjarnason, which was called “I Want to Be Alive.” And that’s also how the whole concert was called.

Once again, I love this venue!

Once again, sitting on the side when there is a soloist, is a bad idea. Boris said he remembered I said so, but he got the tickets on the side again, and it was a bad idea again/ The orchestra sounds great. The soloist when there is no orchestra, also sounds great. But not together. You have to face both the orchestra and the soloist to get a good sound.

And one more, completely unexpected! We saw Esa-Pekka Salonen in the foye!!! First I thought: no, it’s impossible; it’s just someone looking like him, because otherwise, there would be a big crowd around, and he is just talking with a couple of people. But later, when we passed by one more time, I realized that Finns were just being polite, because other people were turning their heads back after they passed this group :).

Below is some interesting art on display in the foye, and a sculpture in front of the Music Center.

An exhibit in the foye

… and yes, a million years ago, there was such a thing as an ice-cream after going to the movies, right?

A Piano Recital At The Fine Arts Building

I was there on Sunday, because my friend Y started to take piano lessons there, and she really wanted me to come, and I promised her I would.

To say I was impressed with her teacher is not enough. She works with such a diverse student body and has so much patience and love, and offers endless encouragement and support. And all this in that amazing building, where the walls speak of history and great artists of the past!

I deeply regretted that I couldn’t stay after the recital for a small reception, but that weekend, my time didn’t belong to me; I had way too many things to complete. Even today, I feel very bad that I had to leave, because this teacher is doing God’s work, and I should have told her that in person, not through my friend Y.

I will definitely come to the next recital, and I already told Y that she should stay with this teacher and never quit 🙂