scene of the crime: carnegie hall
primary suspects: pierre boulez, mathieu dufour, chicago symphony orchestra
ok, that concept has been exhausted:the first piece on the evening's program was ravel's tombeau de couperin. isakov, chicago's principal oboist, responded poignantly to boulez's delicate direction. morgan, an oboist friend i met at domaine forget this summer, was in from montreal this weekend; we got $10 obstructed view rush tickets - but we still had a view of the wind section. that's all that counts.
second on the program was dalbavie's flute concerto, premiered in 2006. pahud's recording doesn't do the piece justice. i haven't read about or heard enough of dalbavie's music to qualify this statement, but the timbral effects - spectral or otherwise - were spectacular. dufour was in true form.
the second half consisted of one work, which i saw staged in paris: bartók's bluebeard. voiced by mezzo michelle deyoung and bass-baritone falk struckmann, the chicago brass and acting principal clarinet shone brightly. if i shut my eyes, i could envision the minimalist staging in paris, all inky black and resplendent light. the program overall showed the depth of both the symphony's capacity for understatement as well as boulez's command of the repertoire (well, duh, maybe). i've never seen chicago live - and this was an unforgettable concert.
i awoke in the dark to take my friend to penn station dreaming to tombeau - and that, mes amis, is magic.
second on the program was dalbavie's flute concerto, premiered in 2006. pahud's recording doesn't do the piece justice. i haven't read about or heard enough of dalbavie's music to qualify this statement, but the timbral effects - spectral or otherwise - were spectacular. dufour was in true form.
the second half consisted of one work, which i saw staged in paris: bartók's bluebeard. voiced by mezzo michelle deyoung and bass-baritone falk struckmann, the chicago brass and acting principal clarinet shone brightly. if i shut my eyes, i could envision the minimalist staging in paris, all inky black and resplendent light. the program overall showed the depth of both the symphony's capacity for understatement as well as boulez's command of the repertoire (well, duh, maybe). i've never seen chicago live - and this was an unforgettable concert.
i awoke in the dark to take my friend to penn station dreaming to tombeau - and that, mes amis, is magic.
