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Time Out Chicago's 2009 Classical Recap

By Mia Clarke
December 31, 2009–January 6, 2010
Time Out Chicago original link

Growing Pains and Pleasures

The scene benefited from forward thinking in 2009. Even if relationships did not.

This was a year of thrilling young artists continuing to cut their teeth on the live scene: Hotshot 19-year-old pianist Jeremy Jordan ripped through Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Sinfonietta’s “West Meets East” gig, and youthful mezzo-soprano Liora Grodnikaite nearly stole the show from Finnish superstar Karita Mattila—a rare feat—in the Lyric’s Katya Kabanova. It’s been great to see so many young bucks take center stage. More important, it’s inspiring to see challenging local programming that leaves audiences strongly divided.

At the Symphony Center, Nicholas Kraemer led the CSO in a deeply expressive rendition of Richard Strauss’s tragic Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings. A man sitting in front of me shed a tear, yet two ladies to my left whispered in seething outrage that the German composer’s piece of mourning for his country, written during the closing months of WWII, didn’t “fit in” with the previous Baroque pieces by Mozart and Haydn.

Controversy is nothing new for minimalist mastermind Terry Riley, who had a welcome revival. His groundbreaking 1964 composition In C received the deluxe treatment from Sony in a new reissue, as well as a blistering double-disc set courtesy of Grand Valley State University’s New Music Ensemble, In C Remixed. Anchored by a sprightly, fluid interpretation of the original by the young group across Lake Michigan, remixes from the likes of David Lang, Nico Muhly and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche dazzled.

Another minimalist must-have gem was Arvo Pärt’s stunning In Principio, a hauntingly spacious orchestral-and-choral setting of Gospel verses. The incredible 73-year-old Estonian composer relentlessly evolves. One of my favorite Pärt pieces, “Spiegel im Spiegel,” was featured in Spanish ballet dancer Ana Laguna’s solo performance at the Harris Theater in September—a moving partnership of music and dance.

Local recordings also mixed foresight with hindsight. Sixty-five-year-old Evanston violinist Vincent P. Skowronski resurfaced with Dichotomy, a searing set of breathtakingly intense Ernest Bloch sonatas. Chicago’s classical staple Cedille Records celebrated its 20th anniversary and released The Billy Collins Suite: Songs Inspired by His Poetry, a lovely album that captures the details and playful spirit of the former U.S. poet laureate with a sundry of original compositions, including doozies by Music in the Loft vets Lita Grier and Vivian Fung. Elsewhere, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra did a smashing job of recording Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 under the direction of conductor Bernard Haitink (released on the CSO’s own Resound imprint), while International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) flutist Claire Chase took her instrument on a brave, animated adventure with Aliento.

ICE continued to make its mark on the city’s live scene. Its collaboration with percussionist and conductor Steve Schick illuminated the structural intricacy and raw energy of Iannis Xenakis at the MCA in June. The troupe returned with a concert dedicated to the chamber music of the exciting contemporary Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.

Perhaps my favorite live performance of the year (and the most indicative of the year’s mood) featured two of the city’s brightest and boldest ensembles, eighth blackbird and Pacifica Quartet, as they joined forces for the sizzling Chicago premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s “Knight, Death and Devil.” The musicians snorted, bellowed and howled as if possessed by hogs and demons, glass-filled trash cans were enthusiastically smashed against the floor, and the 70-year-old composer’s quirky gestures and wild tonalities kept listeners on edge. In the elevator after the performance, I listened to a married couple heatedly duke it out before they withdrew in stony silence and stalked down Michigan Avenue in a huff. It’s such dialogue that keeps Chicago’s classical music daring and vital heading into the teens—even as tiffs remain collateral damage.