A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony Under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti - Hardcover

Patner, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 022660991X ISBN 13: 9780226609911

Verlag: University of Chicago Pr., 2019

Inhaltsangabe

“Playing in an orchestra in an intelligent way is the best school for democracy.”—Daniel Barenboim
 
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been led by a storied group of conductors. And from 1994 to 2015, through the best work of Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, and Riccardo Muti, Andrew Patner was right there. As a classical music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and WFMT radio, Patner was able to trace the arc of the CSO’s changing repertories, all while cultivating a deep rapport with its four principal conductors.

This book assembles Patner’s reviews of the concerts given by the CSO during this time, as well as transcripts of his remarkable radio interviews with these colossal figures. These pages hold tidbits for the curious, such as Patner’s “driving survey” that playfully ranks the Maestri he knew on a scale of “total comfort” to “fright level five,” and the observation that Muti appears to be a southpaw on the baseball field. Moving easily between registers, they also open revealing windows onto the sometimes difficult pasts that brought these conductors to music in the first place, including Boulez’s and Haitink’s heartbreaking experiences of Nazi occupation in their native countries as children. Throughout, these reviews and interviews are threaded together with insights about the power of music and the techniques behind it—from the conductors’ varied approaches to research, preparing scores, and interacting with other musicians, to how the sound and personality of the orchestra evolved over time, to the ways that we can all learn to listen better and hear more in the music we love. Featuring a foreword by fellow critic Alex Ross on the ethos and humor that informed Patner’s writing, as well as an introduction and extensive historical commentary by musicologist Douglas W. Shadle, this book offers a rich portrait of the musical life of Chicago through the eyes and ears of one of its most beloved critics.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Andrew Patner was a Chicago-based journalist, broadcaster, critic, and interviewer.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

A Portrait in Four Movements

The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti

By Andrew Patner, John R. Schmidt, Douglas W. Shadle

The University of Chicago Press

Copyright © 2019 The University of Chicago
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-226-60991-1

Contents

Foreword Alex Ross, 
Preface John R. Schmidt, 
Introduction The First Century: A Sketch Douglas W. Shadle, 
I Daniel Barenboim (1991–2006), 
Early Weaknesses and Emerging Strengths, 
Celebrating a Great Trumpeter, 
Taking on Signature Pieces, 
Lightning Strikes with Radu Lupu in Berlin, 
Returning Home to Argentina, 
Reaching New Heights at Home and Abroad, 
A Conversation among Geniuses, 
Going Out on Top, 
Looking Back at His Chicago Years, 
II Pierre Boulez (1991–2010), 
A Visitor Enchants the City, 
Revelatory Analyses from the Podium, 
Ligeti, Ravel, Berio, and Berlioz, 
Tackling New Music, 
A Musician's Evolution, 
Modernism from Mahler to Janácek, 
III Bernard Haitink (2006–2010), 
Taking the Stage in a New Role, 
Impressing with a Wide Repertoire, 
Chicago's Greatest Ambassador, 
Bruckner Beyond Words, 
A Profound Beethoven Cycle, 
Mahler by a Master Interpreter, 
A New "Creation", 
Beethoven's Greatest Mass, 
IV Riccardo Muti (2010–), 
A Musical Romance, 
Triumph in the Verdi Requiem, 
Austria v. Germany, 
Celebrating His Arrival, 
Verdi's Otello, 
Open Hands, Open Heart, 
New Music in Chicago and California, 
A Forgotten Classical Master, 
An Emotional Return to Italy with "His Orchestra", 
Embracing Eclecticism, 
The Challenge of a "Universal" Mass Setting, 
Finding the Sacred in Verdi, Vivaldi, and Mozart, 
Verdi's Macbeth, 
What Makes a Composer Italian?, 
A Musician's Retirement and a Conductor's Teacher, 
Three Russians, 
Afterword: Riccardo Muti Remembers Andrew Patner, 
Acknowledgments, 
Notes, 
Select Bibliography, 
Index of Composers and Works, 

CHAPTER 1

Daniel Barenboim (1991–2006)

Daniel Barenboim was no stranger to the Chicago Symphony when he took the reins in 1991. He made his Orchestra Hall debut as a pianist in 1958, soloed with the group repeatedly in the 1960s, and directed his first subscription concert in 1970. After his conducting debut, Tribune critic Peter Gorner remarked that the orchestra "could not have sounded more glorious," while his colleague Tom Willis gushed, "Mr. Barenboim can conduct anything he likes and count on my listening." The profundity of Barenboim's readings were strengths in the late Germanic repertoire Chicago craved, but his aura faded before he became director as some listeners disliked the restlessness of his interpretations across the stylistic spectrum. Noting a distinct lack of precision, John von Rhein of the Tribune complained that he "seemed willing to sacrifice just about everything to surface dynamism, sweep, and lyrical underlining." This approach was far different from the disciplined, crisp, and clean Solti sound. By 1981, though, listeners had acclimated to Barenboim's unorthodox approach, with von Rhein observing that he "substitutes a fervent spontaneity for the clockwork virtuoso response that sometimes passes for making music." His infrequent guest appearances over the next several years, especially when he directed Mozart or Beethoven from the keyboard, reminded the city of his idiosyncratic style and sparkle.

Barenboim's positive aura shattered abruptly in 1987, when Solti announced his retirement. In a moment reminiscent of Claudia Cassidy's notorious attacks on several of the orchestra's conductors, writers for the city's major newspapers led a fierce campaign against Barenboim. Robert Marsh of the Sun-Times insisted that the orchestra should hire a distinguished American like Leonard Slatkin or James Levine, but the board and orchestra president Henry Fogel really considered only two choices: Barenboim and Claudio Abbado, Solti's former principal guest. Marsh and von Rhein openly supported Abbado while panning Barenboim's appearances. "If this is the future of the CSO," von Rhein groused, "this reviewer wants no part of it." Barenboim, who had directed the Orchestre de Paris since 1975, also raised the ire of those who felt he might be spread too thin after he accepted a position leading the Opéra-Bastille in 1988. To everyone's surprise, however, the leader of the Opéra fired the outspoken maestro just weeks before executive director Henry Fogel named him as Solti's successor. Fogel faced immense backlash in the press, while the players, who had supported Barenboim far more than the critics, welcomed his charisma on the podium and relaxed rehearsal demeanor despite his occasional erratic interpretations.

The dust didn't exactly settle in Chicago as controversy continued to follow the new director. In one of his first press conferences, he assured reporters that he planned to direct tremendous energy toward integrating the city's arts institutions, revitalizing the Civic Orchestra, and scheduling chamber concerts as part of the CSO season. He also supported the orchestra's engagement with contemporary music by continuing the composer-in-residence program with Shulamit Ran and Augusta Read Thomas and by enlisting the eminent Pierre Boulez as principal guest conductor. Despite these positive steps, critics wondered if Barenboim would ultimately fulfill his promises. In the summer before he began, he signed a ten-year contract with the Deutsche Staatsoper, guaranteeing that his schedule would remain as limited as Solti's. Then the orchestra went on strike, delaying his first season by several weeks. Barenboim stayed out of the fray, but the dispute gave relations between management and the musicians a sharp edge at the very outset of his tenure. The rift was slow to heal.

Like others of its caliber, the CSO faced significant financial pressures during Barenboim's tenure, such as declining audiences, rising guest artist fees, and the requirement of maintaining world-class compensation for the players. Management also announced in 1993 that it was embarking on a much needed $105-million renovation of Orchestra Hall. The acoustical changes generated substantial improvements, the stage itself and backstage accommodations for musicians were enhanced, and patrons heartily approved of other amenities like expanded lobbies and restrooms. Criticism of Barenboim's performances nevertheless continued in certain quarters. After a Mahler performance, for example, one CSO player claimed that he "ripped the engine out, took it apart, and then couldn't figure out how to put it back together again." Making matters worse, nationwide contractions in the recording industry and shrinking grant funding did not spare the CSO.

The orchestra hired Deborah Rutter (then known as Deborah R. Card) to steer the ship after Henry Fogel became president and CEO of the American Symphony Orchestra League in 2003. With the help of longtime artistic administrator Martha Gilmer, who oversaw the immense tasks of the orchestra's programming and scheduling, she initiated innovative ventures designed to attract new audiences, such as "Friday Night at the Movies" and "Afterworks Masterworks." Rutter's internal controls on spending also led to a balanced budget by Barenboim's departure in 2006. During a period that saw orchestras in Houston, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh on the brink of...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: University of Chicago Pr.
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 022660991X
• ISBN 13: 9780226609911
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272
• Herausgeber: Schmidt John R., Shadle Douglas W.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland