with Charles Dutoit, Edo de Waart and Yo-Yo-Ma

BACKSTAGE
AT S Y M P H O N Y C E N T E R
M A RCH
CO N CE R T GU IDE
A Feast for the
Music Lover
with Charles Dutoit,
Edo de Waart and Yo-Yo-Ma
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RICCARDO MUTI Music Director
Global Sponsor of the CSO
BACKSTAGE
MARCH 2015
CSO.ORG
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3
312-294-3000
Thursday, March 12, 8:00
Saturday, March 14, 8:00
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30 UNITED AIRLINES TUESDAYS
DUTOIT
RAVEL
D'INDY
CONDUCTS
AND
Charles Dutoit
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Charles Dutoit conductor
Louis Lortie piano
RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole
D’INDY Symphony on a French Mountain Air
FRANCK Symphonic Variations
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
Brilliant Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit leads the CSO
in a dazzling program filled with urbane Gallic color and
allure. In the opening Rapsodie espagnole, Ravel paints an
enticing portrait of Spain’s mystery, tranquility and white
hot heat.
Guest pianist Louis Lortie then takes the stage to
perform two works he has recorded. Franck’s Symphonic
Variations is a 15-minute masterpiece of improvisational
dialogue between piano and orchestra, more an organic
one-movement discussion than a three-section work.
Franck protégé Vincent D’Indy composed the delightful
Symphony on a French Mountain Air after being enchanted
by the folk songs he heard while hiking in the south of
France. This rarely performed piece has not appeared on
a CSO subscription program in 70 years.
Ravel’s ravishing Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé, which
the self-critical composer considered his most important
score, aptly closes the program. From its sumptuous
opening depicting a wondrous daybreak, to its thrilling,
bewitching flute solo and closing dance of blazing
intensity, this is bravura orchestral writing—daring,
hypnotic and unforgettable.
“Mr. Dutoit led a plush, shimmering performance of Ravel’s
Daphnis et Chloé...capturing the awe and voluptuousness of
the music.” —The New York Times
“A display of staggering, wonderfully intelligent pianism.
Lortie at his finest.” —The Guardian
CSO Tuesday series concerts are
sponsored by:
These performances are made possible in part
by a generous gift from the Arthur Maling Trust.
Louis Lortie
2
4
BACKSTAGE
MARCH 2015
CSO.ORG
/
312-294-3000
Thursday, March 19, 8:00
Friday, March 20, 8:00
Saturday, March 21, 8:00
&
Charles
DUTOIT
Yo-Yo MA
RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales
DEBUSSY Symphonic Fragments from
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
SAINT-SAËNS La muse et le poète
LALO Cello Concerto
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Charles Dutoit conductor
Yo-Yo Ma cello
Robert Chen violin
Originally written for piano, the Valses nobles et
sentimentales are a stylish set of eight waltzes,
penned in Ravel’s singular polished style. These
are sophisticated morsels—chic, occasionally
dissonant and sometimes sad. The last waltz, a
wistful epilogue, retraces dance fragments heard
earlier before slipping away.
The four Symphonic Fragments from The
Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian are the remains of
a colossal theatrical production that involved the
greatest designers, poets, choreographers and
composers of the day. It should have been a hit,
but ended up a fiasco—full of controversy, tense
deadlines and even threat of excommunication
by the Archibishop of Paris. Debussy’s
atmospheric and sensitive music, distilled into
the four-movement suite, probably was the
production’s most enduring and rewarding
element.
Robert Chen
Saint-Saëns called La muse et le poète “a
conversation between the two instruments
instead of a debate between two virtuosos.” In
its first CSO subscription concert performances,
two of our favorite string virtuosos—CSO Judson
and Joyce Green Creative Consultant Yo-Yo Ma
and CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen—will have
this lovely conversation on the Armour Stage. Ma
closes the concert as soloist in Lalo’s lyrical Cello
Concerto, which, like some of the composer’s
other works, draws on Latin-tinged rhythms and
colors.
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BACKSTAGE
MARCH 2015
CSO.ORG
/
7
312-294-3000
Thursday, March 26, 8:00
Saturday, March 28, 8:00
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Edo de Waart conductor
Orion Weiss piano
IPPOLITO Nocturne (CSO premiere performance)
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25
BRAHMS Symphony No. 3
“De Waart led a ravishing
performance, graced by
sumptuous orchestral color…”
Mozart
&
Brahms 3
Edo de Waart
—San Francisco Chronicle
Maestro de Waart leads the CSO premiere
performance of Nocturne by Michael Ippolito. The young
American-born, Juilliard trained composer—inspired by
Joan Miro’s fanciful painting of the same name—describes
his work: “I was first drawn to Miro’s fantastical figures and
swirling lines, and was intrigued by the idea of a ‘nocturne’
with so much energy and whimsy. As I thought about
the tension between the title and the image, the other
approaches to the nocturne came to my mind—from the
Whistler paintings and the dreamy world of Chopin, to the
colorful and diverse Debussy pieces, to the creaking and
sliding “night music” of Bartók. In the end, my piece is
about the different connotations of the title.”
Orion Weiss
6
The three-section Nocturne, originally scored for flute,
violin, and piano, begins dreamily, followed by a spiky,
restless interlude, before drifting back to the peaceful
opening section and a calm stillness.
Gifted young pianist Orion Weiss is soloist in Mozart’s
refined C-Major Concerto No. 25, one of the composer’s
last concertos. More symphonic than operatic, this piano
concerto is the composer’s longest. Along with wideranging harmonies and details, Mozart filled this seductive
work with trademark elegance, touches of mystery, and a
concluding cheeriness.
Brahms was at the height of his powers when he wrote
his triumphant Third Symphony in just four months. The
reviews after its first performance were mostly glowing.
One declared it “artistically the most perfect” of his
symphonies. Another called it a “feast for the music lover
and musician.” Perhaps the letter from Brahms’ dear
friend Clara Schumann summarized its radiant qualities
best: “What a work! What a poem! All the movements
seem to be of one piece, one beat of the heart, each one
a jewel!”
The appearance of Orion Weiss is endowed in part
by the Nuveen Investments Emerging Artist Fund.
“No pianist played…more
effectively than Orion
Weiss, whose work in the
final movement epitomized
sensitivity and poise...”
—Chicago Tribune
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Chicago Symphony
Orchestra
Brahms Symphony No. 3
March 27 & 29
Immerse yourself in Brahms’ triumphant Third Symphony, written by
the great composer while he celebrated his 50th birthday summering in
the town of Wiesbaden. Combining theater, visual images and musical
excerpts, Beyond the Score is an illuminating, in-depth exploration of the
stories and times that informed this masterwork. After an intermission,
hear a full performance of the piece by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Artists, prices and programs subject to change.