Last Night's Concert
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After a long drought of no concerts, last night D2 treated me to a date. She bought tickets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. The program consisted of two works, a piece by Polish composer Grazina Bacewicz (1909 -1969) for strings, brass and percussion, and the Brahms Detaches Requiem.
But first, the evening.
Since D2 lives in the Milwaukee area, it’s about an hour’s drive for her to get to Highland Park. I caught the BNSF train to Union Station, and then the UP northbound to Highland Park. The timing was perfect. I had a 40 minute layover in Chicago, and arrived at Highland park at 5 PM.
We found a Thai restaurant, and we enjoyed some FABULOUS pot stickers. I had basil chicken, and D2 had some curry chicken. The main courses were okay, but I would have liked a little more heat in my dish.
We drove down to Ravinia Park, and the parking is very well organized ($10 to park). It’s a bit of a hike to the park, where we were scanned for explosives, guns etc. We had about 90 minutes to kill, so we found a bar in the restaurant and enjoyed a drink. I had some Johnny Walker (rocks) and D2 had a glass of red wine - $34.
Now, on to the venue.
I never cared for the concept of “concert in the park.” If I want to sit in grass, listening to music over loudspeakers, well, there’s the backyard for that. So, D2 bought seats in the pavilion. We were in row EE, off to the left about ¾ of the way. We were quite distant. However, being far away wasn’t that much of a problem because there are two HUGE screens on either side of the stage. Well-posiitioned cameras give an “up close and personal” view of the performance. It was obvious that the director knew the music, because he would cut the camera focused on the musician that seemed to be of most interest. It was kind of fun to see a top-down view of the tympanist and the xylophone player. I even forgave the fact that the tympanist (who didn’t seem to be the usual for the CSO) had a man-bun.
I was surprised to see that the pavilion was only about half full at the opening of the performance. There was no one around us for at least 10-12 seats. There were lots of empty seats in better locations than ours, presumably at the same price. Perhaps it was subscribers who were a no-show.
Now a brief look at the music. First of all, as I said, I am always skeptical of live orchestral music over speakers. I’m unsure of how much I heard last night, even in the pavilion was because of speakers and how much was actually the orchestra projecting its sound into the pavilion. At any rate, the sound was “flat”. I’m so used to having the reverberations and echoes of the concert hall be a part of the experience, and there was none of that in the wide-open space of the outdoor pavilion.
The first piece was, charitably put, forgettable. It was typical early 20th century stuff, with no real direction of the music. It was thankfully pretty brief (about 20 min), and uninspiring. Fortunately, the camera work made it fun to watch, as I mentioned earlier. It was difficult to tell the musicianship of the CSO, perhaps because of the acoustics being very unfavorable.
Last night was the 4th time I’ve heard the Brahms Requiem live. I’ve mentioned that it’s my favorited piece of choral music. The first movement always brings a shiver to my spine, and the “Death where is thy victory” always brings a tear to my eye.
Once again, I was struck by how “flat” the orchestra sounded. I don’t know if it was Alsop’s lack of attention to dynamics or the venue. I found it disappointing. The problem was exacerbated by it almost seemed that the chorus overpowered the orchestra (!). I can only surmise that it was the acoustics of the outdoor pavilion that made it an issue. However, even during the non-singing parts, Alsop didn’t seem to convey a lot of dynamic range in the music. Her approach to some of the endings of the music was to exaggerate the ritardando, to the point of being TOO obvious.
The soloists: Matthias Goerne is magnificent. What a voice! He commanded his movements with emotion and power. “Herr, lehre doch mich” was poignant and powerful. My only criticism was when, in a later movement, “Ich sage euch ein Geheimnis” didn’t have the power and sense of mystery I’ve heard before. It got lost. Again, I’m not sure if it was Alsop or the acoustics.
The other soloist was Korean soprano Yeree Suh. Though she has a wonderful voice, it just didn’t seem to be the type of voice suited to this work. Her voice is sweet, kind, and she hit all the notes well, but it was just “too sweet.” It wasn’t the voice that would sing “You now have sorrow, but I shall see you again.” Also, her articulation of the German seemed vague, despite the fact that she finished her studies in Berlin.
Final thought on the venue.
It’s certainly a “relaxed” atmosphere. Ushers seated people for the first minute after the work had begun - fortunately there was no seating between movements. There was the typical, forgivable, applause between movements. However, between the fourth and fifth movements, someone let out a cowboy yell - a really loud “whoop!” that sort of broke the moment.
Not a fan of Ravinia, and last night reaffirmed why.
Oh, and the sound of the trains in the background, the airplanes overhead, and the really loud locust... The one cool thing was the weather was threatening, and during the “Tod, wo ist dein Stachel?” there was lightning visible in the overcast sky to the west.
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After a long drought of no concerts, last night D2 treated me to a date. She bought tickets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. The program consisted of two works, a piece by Polish composer Grazina Bacewicz (1909 -1969) for strings, brass and percussion, and the Brahms Detaches Requiem.
But first, the evening.
Since D2 lives in the Milwaukee area, it’s about an hour’s drive for her to get to Highland Park. I caught the BNSF train to Union Station, and then the UP northbound to Highland Park. The timing was perfect. I had a 40 minute layover in Chicago, and arrived at Highland park at 5 PM.
We found a Thai restaurant, and we enjoyed some FABULOUS pot stickers. I had basil chicken, and D2 had some curry chicken. The main courses were okay, but I would have liked a little more heat in my dish.
We drove down to Ravinia Park, and the parking is very well organized ($10 to park). It’s a bit of a hike to the park, where we were scanned for explosives, guns etc. We had about 90 minutes to kill, so we found a bar in the restaurant and enjoyed a drink. I had some Johnny Walker (rocks) and D2 had a glass of red wine - $34.
Now, on to the venue.
I never cared for the concept of “concert in the park.” If I want to sit in grass, listening to music over loudspeakers, well, there’s the backyard for that. So, D2 bought seats in the pavilion. We were in row EE, off to the left about ¾ of the way. We were quite distant. However, being far away wasn’t that much of a problem because there are two HUGE screens on either side of the stage. Well-posiitioned cameras give an “up close and personal” view of the performance. It was obvious that the director knew the music, because he would cut the camera focused on the musician that seemed to be of most interest. It was kind of fun to see a top-down view of the tympanist and the xylophone player. I even forgave the fact that the tympanist (who didn’t seem to be the usual for the CSO) had a man-bun.
I was surprised to see that the pavilion was only about half full at the opening of the performance. There was no one around us for at least 10-12 seats. There were lots of empty seats in better locations than ours, presumably at the same price. Perhaps it was subscribers who were a no-show.
Now a brief look at the music. First of all, as I said, I am always skeptical of live orchestral music over speakers. I’m unsure of how much I heard last night, even in the pavilion was because of speakers and how much was actually the orchestra projecting its sound into the pavilion. At any rate, the sound was “flat”. I’m so used to having the reverberations and echoes of the concert hall be a part of the experience, and there was none of that in the wide-open space of the outdoor pavilion.
The first piece was, charitably put, forgettable. It was typical early 20th century stuff, with no real direction of the music. It was thankfully pretty brief (about 20 min), and uninspiring. Fortunately, the camera work made it fun to watch, as I mentioned earlier. It was difficult to tell the musicianship of the CSO, perhaps because of the acoustics being very unfavorable.
Last night was the 4th time I’ve heard the Brahms Requiem live. I’ve mentioned that it’s my favorited piece of choral music. The first movement always brings a shiver to my spine, and the “Death where is thy victory” always brings a tear to my eye.
Once again, I was struck by how “flat” the orchestra sounded. I don’t know if it was Alsop’s lack of attention to dynamics or the venue. I found it disappointing. The problem was exacerbated by it almost seemed that the chorus overpowered the orchestra (!). I can only surmise that it was the acoustics of the outdoor pavilion that made it an issue. However, even during the non-singing parts, Alsop didn’t seem to convey a lot of dynamic range in the music. Her approach to some of the endings of the music was to exaggerate the ritardando, to the point of being TOO obvious.
The soloists: Matthias Goerne is magnificent. What a voice! He commanded his movements with emotion and power. “Herr, lehre doch mich” was poignant and powerful. My only criticism was when, in a later movement, “Ich sage euch ein Geheimnis” didn’t have the power and sense of mystery I’ve heard before. It got lost. Again, I’m not sure if it was Alsop or the acoustics.
The other soloist was Korean soprano Yeree Suh. Though she has a wonderful voice, it just didn’t seem to be the type of voice suited to this work. Her voice is sweet, kind, and she hit all the notes well, but it was just “too sweet.” It wasn’t the voice that would sing “You now have sorrow, but I shall see you again.” Also, her articulation of the German seemed vague, despite the fact that she finished her studies in Berlin.
Final thought on the venue.
It’s certainly a “relaxed” atmosphere. Ushers seated people for the first minute after the work had begun - fortunately there was no seating between movements. There was the typical, forgivable, applause between movements. However, between the fourth and fifth movements, someone let out a cowboy yell - a really loud “whoop!” that sort of broke the moment.
Not a fan of Ravinia, and last night reaffirmed why.
Oh, and the sound of the trains in the background, the airplanes overhead, and the really loud locust... The one cool thing was the weather was threatening, and during the “Tod, wo ist dein Stachel?” there was lightning visible in the overcast sky to the west.
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@George-K said in Last Night's Concert:
the Brahms Detaches Requiem.
It's a quite detached requiem indeed.
@Klaus said in Last Night's Concert:
@George-K said in Last Night's Concert:
the Brahms Detaches Requiem.
It's a quite detached requiem indeed.
Damn you
Germansautocorrect! -
We haven't been to Ravinia in a few years - and perhaps will never go again - for the reasons you cited. When we did go, we used to have dinner at the Mirabelle which provided a very decent meal before the concert. It was also possible to attend chamber music concerts prior to the main event which was also enjoyable. One should NEVER get lawn seats as the sound is barely adequate. My living room provides a better opportunity to hear the music without mosquitos, noisy neighbors and other distractions. Typically, the orchestra is supplemented by non CSO musicians so you're not hearing the first tier people. Add to that the parking madness.... There are easier ways to spend a few hundred dollars that provide more joy.
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@George-K As Always, a great review! Thanks!!
