Top Ten Performances of 2016

Fri Dec 23, 2016 at 2:35 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Riccardo Muti conducted the CSO in Verdi's "Falstaff" Thursday night with Ambrogio Maestri in the title role. Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

1. Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti: Verdi’s Falstaff

Even with the continuing disappointment of Riccardo Muti’s repetitive and unadventurous programs, when the current music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is on and in his element, there are few things better.

Such was the case with the April concert performances of Falstaff, the final installment in Muti’s traversal of Verdi’s three Shakespeare operas, which marked the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death almost to the day. No costumes or sets were needed with Ambrogio Maestri–the leading Falstaff of our era–as a larger-than-life Sir John heading up a terrific, largely Italian cast. Muti led a witty, sparkling, wholly delightful performance of Verdi’s comedic swan song, with the CSO musicians at their considerable finest, fully in synch with the quicksilver score. Muti has never seemed happier in his Chicago tenure than leading these concerts, which take the prize as the top musical event of the year.

Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

2. Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen with Yo-Yo Ma: Lutoslawski, Salonen and Shostakovich

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s annual two weeks with the CSO invariably offer season highlights and so it proved again. The apex of last season’s variable retrospective of CSO premieres was the February performance of Witold Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 3, revealed once again to be a work of power, individuality and dramatic intensity under Salonen’s exacting direction. The Finnish conductor and the CSO also put across the joyous sonic fury of Salonen’s own Foreign Bodies, and Yo-Yo Ma offered an uncommonly fresh and probing take on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1.

Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

3. Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit: Stravinsky

In addition to his mastery in Ravel and Debussy, Charles Dutoit has a terrific way with music of Igor Stravinsky, as shown in his May CSO program devoted to the Russian composer. The Swiss conductor drew a performance of the complete Firebird ballet that brought out the iridescent, richly layered colors of the original scoring and showed how much wonderful music exists that is not included in the familiar suites. The bracing performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony in C–a work written for the CSO’s 50th anniversary–was a terrific bonus.

4. Music of the Baroque: Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine

Stepping out of their safe space of populist Mozart, Bach and Handel, Jane Glover led Music of the Baroque in one of their most vibrant and impressive performances of recent seasons with Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers in April. Glover’s arrangements brought out the tangy timbres and varied hues of the period-instrument ensemble and the soloists and MOB Chorus delivered all the myriad riches of Monteverdi’s glorious, ground-breaking score.

Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role and Clementine Margaine as Dulcinee in Massenet's "Don Quichotte" at Lyric Opera. Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

5. Massenet’s Don Quichotte at Lyric Opera

For those who judge opera performances by ambitious scale and good intentions, Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Berlioz’s Les Troyens were the year’s big hits. Granted, they were this fall’s most anticipated and talked-about Lyric Opera events, and while both shows fielded strong casts, neither opera was especially well served by its production.

The most all-around successful opera performance of 2016 was Lyric’s Don Quichotte in November. While Massenet’s intimate take on Cervantes’ Don Quixote may not be a masterpiece of the first order, the opera is vibrant with a touching humanity, rising to moments as beautiful as any in the French composer’s Manon and Werther. Ferruccio Furlanetto etched another unforgettable portrayal as a dignified, charming and ultimately heartbreaking knight of the woeful countenance, a performance to stand with his memorable Boris Godunov of 2011. Clementine Margaine made a most impressive debut as the Don’s beloved Dulcinee, the opera benefited from a picturesque traditional staging, and Andrew Davis and the Lyric Opera Orchestra delivered a glowing, sumptuous performance of Massenet’s score.

Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

6. Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Gennady Rozhdestvensky: Shostakovich

In his first concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 17 years, Gennady Rozhdestvensky led performance of the first and last symphonies (Nos. 1 and 15) of his friend and compatriot, Dmitri Shostakovich in February. While the Russian conductor deftly reconciled the satiric and valedictory elements of the Fifteenth Symphony, it was the performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 that proved most revelatory. Rozhdestvensky uncovered a striking depth and expressive richness beneath the brash, surface energy that made one view this work by the 19-year-old composer in a completely new light.

Violinist James Ehnes, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, violist Tabea Zimmermann and cellist Clemens Hagen performed Brahms' complete piano quartets Sunday at Symphony Center. Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

7. Leif Ove Andsnes and friends: Brahms piano quartets

Performing just one of Brahms’ mighty piano quartets is a daunting task for even the finest musicians. But pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and three colleagues tackled all three of Brahms’ works in the genre in an April marathon concert at Orchestra Hall. Andsnes, violinist James Ehnes, violist Tabea Zimmermann and cellist Clemens Hagen displayed extraordinary stamina, ensemble teamwork, technical polish and fizzing virtuosity, without neglecting the composer’s lyrical vein and stoic melancholy.

James Levine gives thumbs up to the audience at Thursday night's Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

8. Chicago Symphony Orchestra and James Levine: Berlioz and Schoenberg 

James Levine’s homecoming to Ravinia this past summer may have been the more emotional event, but it was the conductor’s November return to lead the CSO downtown that delivered the more successful performances. Just when one thought there was nothing new to say about the Symphonie fantastique, the Met’s former music director led a fresh, thrilling performance that brought out all the brilliance, weirdness and Dionysian fervor of Berlioz’s singular score. The knife-edged performance of Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra was just as memorable.

Photo: Jasmine Kwong
Photo: Jasmine Kwong

9. Chicago Chorale: Rachmaninoff Vespers

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers--or All-Night Vigil–is an outlier in the Russian composer’s oeuvre, an hour-long choral work consisting of Russian Orthodox chants and monastic themes of Rachmaninoff’s own invention.  Bruce Tammen and the Chicago Chorale made an eloquent case for this dark-textured score in March with a moving, beautifully sung and scrupulously rehearsed performance.

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10. Javier Camarena at the Harris Theater

Javier Camarena made his belated Chicago debut in March to a packed house at the Harris Theater. The program may have been on the light side–with the second half devoted entirely to Tosti songs–but no one was complaining as the high-voiced Mexican tenor threw out top C’s effortlessly and charmed the audience with his glorious singing, ebullient personality, and some old-fashioned showmanship.

Honorable Mentions

Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov playing Beethoven violin sonatas at Mandel Hall. Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust and Martinů’s The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Ferris Chorale’s performance of Arvo Part’s Berliner Messe. Richard Goode’s Bach recital. Christopher Trapani’s Waterlines at MusicNOW. David Fray’s program of Boulez, Bach and Schoenberg. Music of the Baroque’s Purcell program led by Paul Agnew. Contempo’s wild night of theatrical 20th-century avant-garde works at Mandel Hall.

With CSO: Jonathan Nott’s program of Strauss’s Heldenleben and Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C with Johannes Moser; Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky 6; Susanna Mälkki’s Scheherazade; Riccardo Muti in Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette; Michael Tilson Thomas’s Sibelius Second; Mozart and Beethoven concertos by Till Fellner and Martin Helmchen, respectively.

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Under Joshua Bell, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields’ playing was of the highest order at the Harris Theater. Their readings of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony and Beethoven’s Eighth teemed with vitality, and Bell also delivered a dynamic performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s superlative performance of Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony under Mariss Jansons at Orchestra Hall was a symphonic highlight of the past year. (Tim Sawyier)

The Ashman Cometh

Roger Kaiser created a panic at the Metropolitan Opera in October when the Dallas opera fan sprinkled a white powder in and around the Met orchestra pit. It turns out Kaiser was distributing the ashes of an opera-loving friend, but the bizarre event led to the evacuation of the house, police and terrorism investigators being called in, and the cancellation of two Met performances.

Rumors arose that Kaiser had sprinkled his friend’s ashes in other major opera houses, including Lyric Opera. Repeated queries to the usually responsive Lyric press office were completely ignored–which sounded like, “He did it here too, but we really don’t want to talk about it.”

Good Intentions Award

The inaugural Ear Taxi Festival, curated by Augusta Read Thomas and Stephen Burns, served up dozens of world premieres over its weeklong run in October. While this ambitious and laudable enterprise spotlighted numerous local composers and ensembles, it was hard to avoid the thought that much of the new music performed simply wasn’t very good.

Maybe the issue isn’t a lack of performance opportunities for new music so much as the dearth of good music being written.

Just Declare Victory Award

Lyric Opera posted a $22 million loss in 2016 in what the company CFO called a “break-even year.”

Buddy, Can You Spare a PR Director?

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra administration used to be one of the most stable enclaves in the business but virtually the entire artistic and top managerial staff has headed for the exit since Riccardo Muti arrived in Chicago. Most conspicuous is the revolving door at public relations where the orchestra has burned through three PR directors in as many years and is currently looking for a fourth.

Suggestions: Have a more reasonable expectation as to what a PR director can accomplish in a time of declining audiences and drastic media downsizing. Also draw a firm boundary that will limit a mercurial music director’s hiring and firing authority strictly to orchestra personnel.

When Budget Cuts Show

Wagner’s music was well served by Lyric Opera’s Das Rheingold, the first installment of the company’s new Ring cycle, which delivered strong singing by a largely excellent cast. Unfortunately, the production wasn’t on the same level with some striking visuals but far too much jokey, postmodern sniggery. Most disappointing was the anticlimactic, decidedly cheesy Rainbow Bridge finale. Note: If you have to cut a production’s budget, don’t do it with the gods’ ascent to Valhalla.

Artists Taking Themselves Way Too Seriously Award

Joyce DiDonato brought sensational singing of Baroque opera arias to the Harris Theater in December in an artsy and pretentious staged show that was equal parts diva camp and a self-consciously grandiose “plea for peace.”

Best Conducting Debuts

Edward Gardner in Lyric’s Der Rosenkavalier; David Afkham with CSO; Enrique Mazzola in Lyric’s Lucia di Lammermoor.

Most Exciting Female Opera Performance

No contest. Tatiana Serjan as a sexy, dangerous, magnificently sung Abigaille in Lyric Opera’s Nabucco.

Most Exciting Male Opera Performance 

Piotr Beczała delivered a bel canto seminar in Lyric’s Lucia with elegant, sensitive and dramatically incisive vocalism.

Most Exciting Instrumental Performance

Denis Kozhukhin’s barnstorming keyboard fury in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the CSO.

Same Old, Same Old

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced a 2016-17 season where the spotlighted composers would be Beethoven, Brahms and Prokofiev. Is that different from any other CSO season?

Not So Same Old

Financial issues apart, Lyric Opera broke out of the humdrum repertory and uneven casting of recent seasons and is acting like a first-tier international company once again under Anthony Freud. In this fall alone, the company launched a new Ring cycle with Das Rheingold, mounted superb revivals of Lucia di Lammermoor and Don Quichotte, and presented the belated Chicago debut of Berlioz’s epic Les Troyens with a sensational cast and superb conducting by Andrew Davis.

Exits

Pierre Boulez’s passing in January marked the end of an era for a towering 20th-century musical figure who enjoyed a close and artistically important relationship with the CSO for over four decades. David Danzmayr departed the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra after raising the orchestra’s profile, repertory reach and performance standard over his four-year tenure. Paul French left the William Ferris Chorale after 11 seasons of excellence, leaving the venerable chorus’s future uncertain. And it was the final season for the long-troubled Baroque Band.

Best Continuing Local Development

The ongoing contributions of Chicago’s storefront opera companies, which continue to present intriguing works in mostly impressive performances. Chicago Fringe Opera gave us a riveting staging of Philip Glass’s In the Penal Colony in May and an excellent local premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar in October. Also in October, Third Eye Theatre Ensemble presented the local debut of Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters.

Hometown Pride

The Cubs won the World Series and three Chicago chamber ensembles–The Lincoln Trio, the Spektral Quartet and Third Coast Percussion—were nominated for classical Grammys.

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10 Responses to “Top Ten Performances of 2016”

  1. Posted Dec 23, 2016 at 5:48 pm by Steve

    This year’s concert performance of Falstaff was undoubtedly the greatest musical event of the year. Everyone should give more credit to Muti for bringing world-class attention to CSO, regardless of other programming and/or administrative decisions that are referenced here.

  2. Posted Dec 24, 2016 at 7:08 am by Tod Verklärung

    It does no disservice to Mr. Muti to credit his achievements and discuss his flaws. The CSO promotes him to the point that some members of the audience wonder whether they should bother coming to concerts for the 20 or so weeks he is absent. Large swaths of empty seats testify to his limitations, as does the fractiousness behind the scenes to which he contributes, and the provincial programming he offers.

    The possible appointment of a principal guest conductor is ignored by Mr. Muti, a position that has been filled by the likes of Giulini, Abbado, and Boulez in the CSO’s past. Such a person might permit more interesting programs, another face for the organization, and a potential heir or heiress.

    The Music Director’s job is to do more than maintain the CSO’s quality and give good concerts. The finest music directors expand the repertoire with well-chosen, little-played music old and new. They bring in new audiences. And, even today, they make records frequently, as do conductors like Alan Gilbert in NY, Michael Tilson Thomas in San Francisco, Andris Nelsons in Boston, Gustavo Dudamel in Los Angeles, Franz Welzer-Möst in Cleveland, and even Ludovic Morlot in Seattle.

    Like it or not, the door is expected to close on the Muti Era in 2020, at which time the CSO will do what it always does: anoint a new savior and forget about its past. We can only hope for the best.

  3. Posted Dec 24, 2016 at 2:20 pm by Sara Neilson

    I’m curious why this list is 1/2 CSO performances? Do you not send reviewers to Constellation Chicago or other venues? Harris Theater? Is it because the Chicago symphony is subsidizing this website with ads? Some clarity would be nice, but so would inclusion of the many Grammy nominated ensembles in Chicago, which include ensemble dal niente, spektral quartet, etc.

  4. Posted Dec 24, 2016 at 5:30 pm by Bellagio

    To Tod Verklärung,

    It is naïve to suggest that the “large swaths of empty seats” can be attributed solely to Muti and his decisions. In this case, the fault surely lies with the administration of the CSO Association, which, of course, is headed by Jeff Alexander. Additionally, what proof and evidence do you have to claim that he contributes to the “fractiousness behind the scenes”? Is there some internal conflict within CSO that you just happen to know so much about – please enlighten the rest of us with your all-knowing wisdom!

    From what I personally know, the orchestra has an incredibly positive and robust relationship with Muti, and that is clearly evident in the beautiful concerts they continue to produce together.

    I disagree with your characterization of Muti’s programming as merely “provincial.” I would think that a repertoire, ranging from Scriabin to Martucci to Gluck to Hindemith, is exactly the opposite of “provincial”! Indeed, Muti does focus on core pieces of his repertoire, which has been steadily built in a career spanning more than 40 years. However, considering he is one of the greatest conductors in the world (people here don’t seem to realize his reputation abroad; he practically is Karajan’s successor at the Salzburg Festival), we all should respect his programming decisions. Let a legend do what he wants, for crying out loud!

    Additionally, new music should never be programmed simply for the sake of performing new music. As mentioned by Mr. Johnson above, regarding the Ear Taxi Festival, a lot of new music today just doesn’t sound good. What’s the point of programming music that doesn’t sound good (especially when ticket prices are expensive)?

  5. Posted Dec 25, 2016 at 12:14 pm by Tod Verklärung

    Dear Bellagio,

    Thank you for conferring on me the honor of owning “all knowing wisdom,” but I will gratefuly decline. The fractiousness does not apply to Muti’s relations within the orchestra, which, as far as I know, are as you characterize them. And, indeed, they continue to produce a beautiful sound. The Music Director deserves credit for maintaining the CSO’s high estate.

    As to evidence for fractiousness, please refer to Mr. Johnson’s essay above. My own sources have not given me the liberty of giving you their names.

    I have not suggested that one should play new music (or old music that is not familiar) if it is poor. Fortunately there exists much very fine and some great music that we never hear at Orchestra Hall.

    Nor am I willing to give Muti carte blanche to keep performing his old favorites year after year. If you deny the programs are provincial you might consult past seasons of other orchestras like San Francisco, Seattle, NY, or the CSO under its previous Music Directors. Instead we get, as you say, Martucci, a composer who has had no champions beyond Mr. Muti since Toscanini. More Hindemith and Prokofiev would be welcome if only Mr. Muti would look beyond the small parts of their output he favors.

    Whatever pedestal Muti might stand on in Salzburg, a look at the reviews of his recordings over the years will not find him in the first rank whenever it comes to Beethoven, Brahms, and other German symphonic standards. I mention these because the issue of an orchestral conductor’s greatness usually depends on this area of the repertoire, no matter how wonderful he might perform Verdi. In the opera house it might be a different matter. And, if some of us do not accept your belief that he is “one of the greatest conductors in the world,” perhaps it is because we have heard better (think Abbado, Bernstein, Giulini, Solti, Reiner) and still have the recordings of Walter, Furtwängler, Toscanini, and others to use as comparisons.

    As to the failure to fill the seats, the absence of imagination surely can be a criticism assigned to others within the orchestral world. Muti is not alone, but nonetheless is a part of the problem.

  6. Posted Dec 25, 2016 at 12:34 pm by Matthew

    To Bellagio:
    Tickets to the Ear Taxi Festival events were not expensive.
    The festival was a financial success. If you do not like the programming, that’s fine. I don’t like Cherubini or Hindemith or Verdi, which is why I don’t buy the TRULY EXPENSIVE tickets to hear Muti conduct the orchestra.
    There is room for more than one kind of music in Chicago, isn’t there? Isn’t there????? Maybe not. Talk about provincial.

  7. Posted Dec 25, 2016 at 3:24 pm by Steve

    Tod is just an annoying whiner who knows nothing about the classical music business because if he really did know anything of value, he would actually go into the business and implement the changes that he constantly talks about here. Muti and the CSO could not care less about what Tod has to say, and rightly so.

  8. Posted Dec 25, 2016 at 5:26 pm by Bellagio

    Tod, if you have so many great ideas about how to run an orchestra, why don’t you just become a music director yourself? Oh, I forgot, you’re not an accomplished conductor like Maestro Muti! If you don’t like the concerts and the programming here in Chicago, then simply don’t attend. Better yet, if you love other cities like San Francisco or New York so much, why don’t you just go move there and rid all of us here in Chicago of your petulance? You’re not contributing anything valuable to the orchestra by constantly complaining.

    Also, you say that Muti should be compared to Toscanini, in addition to a wide number of other distinguished names who I also greatly admire, and yet, you disregard Toscanini’s championing of Martucci? Now that’s real logic there. The fact that Toscanini did champion Martucci says a lot about the brilliance of this composer and we should all appreciate that Muti follows suit, lending credence to Muti’s reputation as a great symphonic conductor, in addition to his work in opera (which I did not refer to in my previous reply).

    What I’m saying is that if you consider the great conductors of today, Muti is honestly one of the only few worthy enough to enter the esteemed echelon of conductors you’ve mentioned, which is why I think he’s one of the greatest conductors in the world. But, besides his musicianship, what sets Muti apart from all his colleagues and predecessors is his genuine commitment and desire to give back to the community, specifically to students. His teaching and mentorship of young people are beyond any of the likes that I’ve seen before from someone of his stature. Anyways, this is simply a matter of preference and is no use discussing here.

  9. Posted Dec 26, 2016 at 2:36 pm by Yige

    I really hope, when complaining, one can be more realistic. Muti is about the best CSO can get for now. And he’s truly “one of the greatest conductors in the world,” as I recall none of Abbado, Bernstein, Giulini, Solti, Reiner, Walter, Furtwängler or Toscanini is in this world anymore.

    If I must choose between maintaining the orchestra’s quality and more adventurous programs, I would always choose the previous. It’s easy to expand the program whenever getting a right guest conductor, but it would take years to re-build the quality if it’s lost. NYPO under Alan Gilbert is a disaster. My friends in NY would report it as a surprise whenever NYPO is not bad (And remember, they have Carnegie where they can enjoy almost every top orchestra in the world. Thus, a not-so-good NYPO wouldn’t cost them too much, while in Chicago, we cannot afford the lost of quality of CSO). And Gilbert cannot give a good performance even with a better ensemble, as I had some bad surprise hearing the MET orchestra played with almost the quality of NYPO under his conducting.

    Andris Nelsons in Boston is still working on putting back the orchestra that had lost some quality after James Levine’s health issue. Gustavo Dudamel is a conductor booed in Vienna. One of the best ensemble in the States, MET Orchestra, benefiting from Levine’s constant contribution for decades, is also suffering of dropping quality, as affected by Levine’s health issue. He’s still a great conductor able to deliver top performances, but doesn’t have the strength any more to maintain the quality of an orchestra. I’ve been to some of his performances every season since his “coming back” from injury. And, I can tell you, the best performance he gave was the CSO concert mentioned in the above article not the ones with MET (either in opera or in concert at Carnegie), who definitely has a closer connection with him. I think maestro Muti should have credit for this. (To make it clear, the sound of orchestra was purely in the style of Levine. Muti, while maintaining the quality of the orchestra, didn’t rob its flexibility.)

    I agree the issue of an orchestral conductor’s greatness usually depends on Beethoven, Brahms, and other German symphonic standards, no matter how wonderful he might perform Verdi. First, I think Muti’s work of these music is on a very high level. Then, if we want to talk about great, really great, really really great ones in this area who are still conducting, two names come into mind–Barenboim and Thielemann. Neither has conducted ANY US orchestra for years. Plus, do you really want a conductor with the program range like Thielemann’s to be the music director of CSO?

    And though Verdi would not be the core repertoire of symphony orchestras, one cannot deny that, in this field, no one today can match Muti. When he was conducting Falstaff this April, I saw music lovers from Europe and Japan traveling to Chicago especially for these concerts. Can you name even one other symphony orchestra in the USA having program that can attract people traveling from overseas?

    I also agree CSO would benefit from having a principle guest covering repertoire that Muti doesn’t conduct. But then, who do you think can take this position? I would love to have Salonen, though I don’t believe for one second that he would accept this position (as we all know his willingness to leave more time for composing). Is CSO really ignoring the possible appointment of a principal guest conductor or they just could not find a proper one? I believe the later being the reason.

    And finally, about the empty seats and “provincial” programming. Let’s be honest. There are almost only two kinds of concerts can sell very well–either with “provincial” programs, or with Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, or Kissin (with some strange exceptions: I still don’t understand why Muti conducting Verdi’s 4 Sacred Pieces was sold out, given that Macbeth and Falstaff wasn’t). That’s it. And it’s not only what happens in Chicago, but also the situation of almost everywhere in USA. If we want to blame, it’s the whole society to blame. It makes no sense to single out CSO for the situation.

    To summarize, CSO is not ideal, but in this tough time, it has done a fairly good job already.

  10. Posted Dec 26, 2016 at 3:54 pm by Matthew

    Commenters here do an excellent job slinging their personal preferences around as Incontrovertible Truths. As long as we’re doing that, I’ll announce that I traveled to NYC specifically to hear Alan Gilbert conduct the 2nd symphony of Ives, and it was one of the most spectacular and memorable orchestral performances I’ve ever heard.
    Chicago’s just a small town and it’s probably got more great music than it deserves. Boom.

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