SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Chicago Dvořák Festival - Final Program:  Patricia Racette, soprano; Philip Cutlip, baritone; Rachel Barton Pine, violin, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus, , violin, Sir Mark Elder, CBE, guest conductor, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Duain Wolf, Chorus Directory, Symphony Center, Chicago 18.6.2009 (JLZ)

My Homeland Overture, Op. 62
“Ó dovol, ó dovol” from St. Ludmila, Op. 71, Patricia Racette, soprano

Slavonic Dances, Op. 72 : No. 1 in B major ,No. 2 in E minor ,No. 3 in F major
The Jacobin, Op. 84, Introduction and Act 1, scene 1.Patricia Racette, soprano, Philip Cutlip, baritone,Chicago Symphony Chorus
“Song to the Moon” from Rusalka, Op. 114, Patricia Racette, soprano
Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 11, Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Te Deum, Op. 103


The final program of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 Dvořák Festival was a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the world-class event. As Sir Mark Elder stated at the beginning of the concert, the Festival provided an opportunity to perform music infrequently heard, yet representative of Dvořák’s legacy, and the selections for this program not only served this purpose well, but demonstrated the exceptional musicianship of those involved. It was a compelling evening, which would be difficult to surpass for the sheer quality of music alone.

Some of the choices reflected Dvořák’s connection with Chicago, an aspect of his career, which is outlined in the article in the program book, “Dvořák in the White City” by CSO program annotator Phillip Huscher. The overture My Home, Op. 62 is a work from the composer’s maturity in which he makes use of Czech themes. It has a particular resonance for those familiar with the Czech traditions, and was played to acclaim on the “Bohemian Day” of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which Dvořák attended. The Bohemian community of the time was supportive of the event, and Dvořák’s arrival was first-page news. This performance called to mind those days, but also served as the CSO’s first inclusion of the work in a subscription concert since 1901. Elder gave a virtuosic reading of the score, which, demands such careful attention to the balances between sections of the orchestra and the intensive string sound that the CSO offers.

Such national ideas also emerge in Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, and the three selections from the composer’s second set were fine examples of how these stylized pieces make use of folk tunes and ideas associated with that idiom. The overtly popular appeal of the Slavonic Dances also demands the fine and attentive ensemble-playing which Elder brought out keenly. In the first of the three, the inner parts, especially the second violins and violas, played off the melodic lines and figuration above them. As a result, the rich, thick, harmonies typical of the pieces was prominent, as they each added to the overall character. The demands of the work  became clear in the careful writing for timpani, which accentuated the metric intricacies of the score and the finesse needed for a successful execution.

Elder represented further aspects of Dvořák’s style with excerpts from several vocal works. In the first half of the concert, Patricia Racette sang the aria “Ó dovol, ó dovol” from St. Ludmila, Op. 71, an oratorio about the life of the Slavic saint. Racette set the plaintive tone of the aria from the start, and her reading shows how well Dvořák could capture the emotion implicit in the text. Racette was also impressive in the “Song of the Moon” from Dvořák’s late opera Rusalka, Op. 114, avoiding much of the excessive emotion with which some performers infuse this number. While Racette used long lines to express the aria from St. Ludmilla, she used shorter phrases to bring out the more desperate supplication of the title character from Rusalka. Both pieces showed off Racette's mastery of the Czech idiom, a facility that emerged equally well in her portrayal of the character Julia in the excerpt from the opera The Jacobin. This was a more extended extract than the single arias, compprising the music from the introduction and the first scene from the opera, which also involved the baritone Philip Cutlip as Bohuš, as well as the Chicago Symphony Chorus. This excerpt offered a vivid sonic image of The Jacobin, and just as the CSO set the tone of the piece in the introduction, the chorus was equally impressive in evoking the music of a rural Czech church service, an aspect of the protagonist's homeland that eventually confirms his decision to return and so, helps to set into motion the events in the opera. Cutlip has a fine, incisive sound, clear enunciation and precision of pitch, elements which gave fine voice to Bohuš in this excerpt from this  rarely heard opera.

The second half of the program included Dvořák’s well-known Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 11, a youthful work which helped to establish the composer’s reputation very early in his career.  Dvořák reworked the slow movement of his String Quartet in F minor (1873) as an independent work for violin and piano and later scored the piece with orchestral accompaniment. Rachel Barton Pine performed this work exquisitely, with her long lines bringing clarity to the extended melodic lines that comprise the piece. Her fine sense of pitch and even tone contributed much to the overall impact of one of Dvořák’s enduring pieces for solo violin. The lyrical qualities of the work emerged easily tooin her thoughtful performance.

As much as the Romance gave a sense of Dvořák’s efforts to establish himself as a notable composer, his Te Deum, Op. 114, represents his masterful response to an invitation to write a piece to celebrate his residence at the National Conservatory of Music in New York City in 1892. The result is a persuasive setting of the Church’s ancient Latin hymn of praise “Te Deum,” a work that stands well alongside the settings by Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Bruckner, and others. With its assertive opening,  the piece requires the solid choral sound that the Chicago Symphony Chorus delivered perfectly  in Elder’s unequivocal interpretation of the phrase “Te Deum laudamus.” Racette’s solo for the “Sanctus” portion of the opening movement provided some textural and dynamic contrast, and the passages in which the chorus responded to her were very effective. Cutlip was also  impressive in the second movement, “Tu Rex gloriae,” and the music fit his voice well. It sounded effortless for him to bring forth a clear and precise line from the full textures of Dvořák’s setting. The third movement “Aeterna fac cum sanctus” showed the chorus again in fine light, with the section “Et rege eos” most moving. Yet the final movement, “Dignare, Domine” returned to the solo soprano, which Racette delivered fervently, prior to the reprise of the music with which the work opened.  Yet again, the solid performances of the chorus, soloists, and orchestra provided   an intense conclusion to the concert and to the whole Dvořák Festival.

All in all Chicago's  Dvořák Festival was a remarkable event, and the Chicago Symphony deserves to be congratulated for this extended effort. The concert series brought to Chicago audiences,  performances from world-class musicians of music which deserves to be heard more often. The comments of audience members about seeking out this music,  were echoed at many different points before and after concerts, and the sheer numbers in attendance was impressive. Mark Elder brought exactly the leadership that this kind of event needed in music which he clearly knows well and communicates excellently. He leaves the audience wanting more: and perhaps the Chicago Symphony will provide more in future seasons, hopefully many of them, to help audiences recall a stunning three-week festival fondly for years to come.

James L Zychowicz


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