Tag: music

CSO Concert

Last weekend, I ended up doing three different outings with my mom. I already wrote about two of them: the Aquarium Member’s Night and the visit to the Christkindle market. The third event – the CSO concert – was on Sunday.

I am glad that this season, there are some Sunday matinee orchestra concerts- last season, they only had piano concerts on Sundays (and that’s the only time I can take my mom to the concerts).

Philippe Jordan was a conductor. It was the first time I heard him, and now, that I read about him, I am wondering how this was even possible!

The program included the original score of Mussorgsky’s Saint John’s Night on the Bare Mountain, Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 2, and Stravinski’s The Rite of Spring – all pieces very emotional and powerful.

After the concert, we attended the Subscriber’s appreciation coffee with musicians. That time, this event hosted the CSO librarian and one of the violas, and we learned quite a bit of interesting things! The librarian explained how they order notes for the whole orchestra for each new piece (it differed whether the music is in the public domain or is still copyrighted) and how they often need to make their own copies of the pages if there is no rest at the end of the page or at the beginning of the next page, and why the music publishers do not pay attention to that (saving paper). Somebody asked about using iPads and the pedal page turner, and both the librarian and the musician replied that it might be good for practicing but that the iPad is difficult to share on the music strand, and anyway, they will always perform in a traditional way.

Remembering the concert we attended in Helsinki in the Church in the Rock, where most of musicians were using iPads with pedal page turner, I am wondering how long will it take until it become a common practice 🙂

CSO For Kids

One one-time participation in the discussion of the CSO youth programs and my readiness to be one of the CSO for Kids ambassadors keeps getting me unexpected benefits.

I had tickets for the “bigger kids concert” for last Saturday’s matinee, and about ten days before that, I received an invitation for the exclusive behind-the-scene tours, for which I happily signed us both. Since Anna is not exactly in a position to travel, on Friday, I took Haiawata to Milwaukee; Anna dropped Nadia off at the train station, and we got on the same train back to Chicago (as usual, the conductor said: hope to see you again soon! and I replied: you’ll see me very soon!

Saturday was the CSO day. We had this amazing backstage tour an hour before the concert:

We all went on stage!
A view form the stage
Continue reading “CSO For Kids” →

CSO Concert

Tuesday’s concert was indeed one of a kind! The program included

  • One composer unknown to me
  • A soloist unknown to me
  • Three pieces unknown to me

… and all of them were so good!

Each of the pieces was a gem, but Gershwin’s Piano Concerto stood out. I wish I would have the right words to describe it! The program said that Gershwin wanted to combine classical musical forms with jazz and blues, and that’s exactly what it was. The music was all around us and filling each corner of the space. I was bathing in the sounds of music, and each next phrase felt absolutely unexpected and at the same time perfectly in the right place.

OK, I just do not have enough words to describe it! The soloist told the audience how he was coming to CSO as a kid, and how happy he is now to perform on that stage. And again, I do not know how to describe how amazing he was!

My pe-concert Amorino 🙂

Grant Park Concert

This summer, Grant Park Music Festival almost didn’t happen for me, with several severe storms ruining performances, me being away twice, me being busy, more storms, and more extreme heat. Yesterday, Boris and I went to the concert, which was almost the last for this season: there will be two more on Friday and Saturday, be we will be away.

And this “first and last” concert was perfect! That was the only time this season I watched Carlos Calmar conducting and listened to his commentary on the program and the composers – always funny and insightful. The program was great, consisting of little-known pieces. The weather was absolutely perfect, just warm and sunny enough not to be too hot and too sunny. And after the concert was over, we headed to Amorino and walked in right before the rest of the audience realized that it would be the perfect ending of the night and crowded the place!

Life is beautiful, and all the stress of the week was lifted :).

Grant Park Music Festival

Finally, after so many bad-weather-rain-too-hot-too-busy – finally, a perfect concert! Cirque Returns presented Troupe Vertigo aerialists’ stunning performance accompanied by classical music. The most extraordinary part was their “Carmen Cirque Spectacular” – a half-hour of extraordinary stuns accompanied by Bizet’s Carmen music.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any videos more than 20 sec long online; if you find some, let me know!!! No words to describe it, something very unique that I haven’t seen before.

Also, after the first number, the conductor announced that Mayor Brendon Johnson was there!

It was a very short speech: Brandon Johnson shared that all his three children play musical instruments (viola, cello, and violin) and he should probably learn to play something to be adequate. He reiterated how important is to make art free for everybody, and how this “free” requires a lot of resources, and he said that the city will continue to support the festival.

As usual, a final look at the lawn before leaving:

Helsinki Day 6

On Saturday morning, Anna biked to our place, and we had a two-and-a-half-hours bike ride all over Helsinki. Both Anna and I were tired, but Boris wanted to show us all the best places, so it took a while 🙂

Anna was filming the whole route with her 360 camera, but for now, I only have a couple of pictures:

By the time we were done with this ride, and Boris and I parked our bikes, it was almost eleven, which meant that the ice cream place by the Sibelius monument was about to open!

In the afternoon, Nadia and I went clothes shopping; that was the birthday activity I promised to her many months ago. We also picked up several outfits for Kira and some Moomin toys for both of them. And in the evening, the four of us went to the concert at the Church in the Rock. We sat in the very front row, as close to the musicians as none of us ever sat, and listened to this truly amazing concert!

Another Weather Disaster!

Today was the second time I attended the “American Salute” concert, and the first time ever I paid for the seat to be close to the stage, to avoid the crowds, and to be protected from the elements. And it was the first time that the concert I attended was interrupted because of severe weather! Also, I took my mom to the concert, and she was miserable because her feet were completely wet, and we had to stand for almost 30 minutes (it was so bad I could not even think of walking to the street to get an Uber), the water was everywhere!…

… I am so disappointed! It started great!

Muti

On Tuesday, I went to the CSO concert one more time, and this time, it was with my neighbor, and it was a long-awaited concert with Ricardo Muti!

We were sitting in the first row, and we heard and saw everything, and it was so astonishingly, incredibly good! Jessie Montgomery was present in the audience, and she came on stage after her piece was performed, and the audience exploded with applause!

I realized that I didn’t hear Ricardo Muti conducting for a while, and I realized that I had missed this experience. It continues to surprise me that even going to these concerts after long work days does not make me feel tired, but just the opposite!

***

It happens every year, and every year, it comes as a surprise: winter turns into summer, skipping spring entirely. I know that these balming 70s are not here to stay, and by Sunday, the temperatures will return to normal April mid-50s. But how amazing it feels now! Just getting outside and taking this warmth in!

First time in a long while, I went to the CSO concert alone. I like going to concerts by myself, but recently, it was always either with mom, and then I had to deal with all the unpredictable things she would be upset about or felt compelled to critique. Or with my neighbor, who is lovely, but I realized that sometimes, I need to have quiet time. Just music and me.

It feels differently, and it turned out, I almost forgot the feeling. The music was cripst and fresh, and it was covering me from the outside, and filling inside, to the point when I felt there there is not enough room for music inside me!

The orchestra played four pieces: Liszt Mephisto Waltz (amazing!), Thomas Ades Piano Choncerto (new piece, composed just five years ago, soloist Kirill Gerstein – amazing!); a part from Sibelius’ The Tempest (awsome, but less exciting as the first two pieces) and finally, Janacek’s Taras Bulba, of which I expected a lot, but it ended up being the least interesting piece out of four. When it finished, I was left with the question: is this all? We didn’t even start yet, the topic is not developed! What do you mean, “we are done”?

Still, it was the best I felt after a concert for a long time. And then – out into the warmth of the night under the city lights, and I didn’t even notice when I arrived to my station.

When I got home, I walked into my bedroom, opened the window and let the night in 🙂

Anne-Sophie Mutter

I went to her concert on Sunday – it was a matinee performance, so I took mom with me. It is always hit or miss (I never know whether she will enjoy a performance or start critiquing random things). This time, it was a miss – she said that the music didn’t engage her and then proceeded to criticize the musician’s clothes and other unrelated stuff. But enough about that.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of those artists who are so well-known that it feels like they “always were around,” and you might be unsure whether they are still alive. It was almost the case this time: I knew that she was the most famous violinist for the past twenty five years. The program mentioned her “forty seven years of performing.” So when you see her coming to stage in a bright pink strapless ball gown, it feels surreal :).

She is great. The concert lasted for two hours, and she was on stage all the time, and then did three encores!

The second part of the concert was “The Four Seasons,” and it was as great as on this video: