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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
University Musical Society
Hill Auditorium
8:30 p.m., Thursday, April 14
By David Martinez
W ILL THE FINAL challenger sign
in please? With the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra concert on April
14, the 104th Annual Choral Union
Series comes to a close; a series which
has brought about the importation of
six world-class ensembles into the
warm acoustics of Hill Auditorium.
(The flood of orchestras won't nd here
however, as the Philadelphia Orchestra
makes its annual appearance during
the May Festival, from April 27-30).
According to University Musical
Society President Gail Rector, "By of-
fering these concerts, the world is
coming to their (the students) feet,"
and indeed, this has been the case.
Audiences this year witnessed the in-
vasion of three European Orchestras -
the 435 year-old Dresden Staatskapelle,
the highly disciplined Prague Sym-
phony Orchestra, and the Leipzig
Gewandhaus Orchestra under the
"batonless" leadership of Kurt Masur.
Two ensembles from this side of the
Atlantic have also made local ap-
pearances, those being the Los Angeles
Philharmonic and Boston Symphony
Orchestra. These two domestic or-
chestras were perfect reflections of
their respective conductors. The Los
Angeles Philharmonic was memorable
for its emphasis on the projection of a
singing melodic line, characteristic of
Maestro Carlo Mario Giulini and the
"Italian School", while the BSO played
with an (Seiji) "Ozawan" brilliance -
in both sonority and precision.
Likewise, ticket holders for the
Chicago Symphony concert will cer-
tainly be approaching the April 14th
performance with pre-conceived
opinions and high expectations.
Perhaps the community's eagerness
to hear the CSO (the concert has been
sold out for several months) is
heightened by the fact that the or-
chestra has not appeared in Ann Arbor
since the Fall of 1968. Previous CSO
tours to the Detroit area in recent years
have not featured director Solti, and it
was the Society's decision to wait until
the two could be scheduled together
before bringing the orchestra back to
Ann Arbor.
The wait has been justified, judging
by the success of the "marriage" bet-
ween the Orchestra and Solti. Under
Solti's reign as Music Director since
1969, the Orchestra has made five ac-
claimed foreign tours (four to Europe
and one to Japan), and stockpiled twen-
ty Grammy Awards from the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Scien-
ces, just winning most recently the
"Best Classical Performance-Choral,"
for the Berlioz The Damnation of Faust,
conducted by Sir Georg.
Ever since Solti's arrival (he was
previously director of the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden, where he was
knighted by the Queen in 1972), the
Chicago Symphony has increased its
performance broadcasts via television
and radio .- to such an extent that
current figures estimate that "more
people hear the Chicago Symphony on a.
regular basis than any other orchestra
in the world," according to findings of
the Public Relations Department of the
CSO.
Assisting Solti in the conducting
chores are Claudio Abbado - the young
Principal Guest Conductor, and the
famous Margaret Hillis - founder and
director of the Chicago Symphony
Chorus.
While much credit is given to Solti
and his assistants, as well as General
Manager John S. Edwards, just as
much, if not more distinction must be
bestowed on the players - the
musicians themselves.
Besides the obvious prerequisites of
technical command of an instrument,
and natural "musicianship," members
must have the endurance to play
through a 31-week indoor season at Or-
chestra Hall, followed by an outdoor
season of six weeks at the Ravinia
Festival, the summer home of the CSO.
In addition, the year is sprinkled with
This fact is confirmed locally by the
record sales at Ann Arbor's Discount
Records. Manager Jim Leonard com-
mented, "Brass players do tend to buy
CSO albums."
Leading the brilliant horn section is
Dale Clevenger, while Herseth watches
over the trumpet section. The low brass
principal players are Jay Friedman,
with the legendary Arnold Jacobs on
tuba, also a teacher of respiratory ap-
plications for brass players.
The other sections of the orchestra
are also filled with their stars, in-
cluding Ray Still on oboe, Larry Combs
playing clarinet, and Walfrid Kujala on
piccolo, arguably the best piccolo
players in the world, performing on an
instrument that requires the refined
ability to blend perfectly with the sec-
tion, as well as the rest of the orchestra.
The picture in Chicago has not always
been quite so rosy, however. Just last
fall, the opening of the new concert
season was delayed when the sym-
phony went on strike. After one tense
day on the picket lines, though, a new
agreement was reached.
In the Chicago press, furthermore,
music critics have been quick to point
out trends toward "conservative"
programming of repertoire, meaning a
predilection for the late Romantic
works (especially Brucker and Mahler)
at the expense of the contemporary and
"early music" repertoires.
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sojurns during touring season, and
greuling recording sessions - all per-
formed under a variety of conductors,
in varying acoustics, and sometimes
with precious little rehearsal time.
Like any World Champion team, the
CSO is a mixture of veterans and newer
initiates; of superstars and up and
coming players. A prime example of
the "musical super-star" is Adolph
"Bud" Herseth, who is "generally
recognized as the world's greatest
symphonic trumpeter," according to
The Instrumentalist. Musicians such as
Herseth achieve such a high degree of
musicianship, that a cult of followers
begins to crop up, at first locally, even-
tually worldwide.
In the same way that athletic teams
become known for their "tough defen-
se," or "explosive offense," the
Chicago Symphony's trademark has
been its "brass section." In the minds
of. many listeners, no other orchestra
has compiled a group of horn, trumpet,
trombone, and tuba players equal to
Chicago's.
The conservative approach to
choosing the Orchestra's repertory (in
which Solti has considerable influence),
might be partly due to the fact that any
new score Solti learns, regardless of
style, he learns slowly and
methodically.
In an interview with The Instrumen-
talist, Solti was asked about his "ap-
proach" to a score. He responded, "I'm
very slow, I'm a sort of fly walking on
the score. I learn tone by tone, up to
down, bar by bar, very slow."
Rather than learning many- scores
fairly well, Solti seems to be satisfied
only by absorbing totally, the entire
fabric of selected compositions, making
the music a complete part of himself.
His intense study of scores has also had
its rewards for musicologists.
During his work at the Budapest
Opera, Solti frequently observed the,
work of his teacher, Bela Bartok. In
preparing his recent recording of the
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Solti
said, "I was determined that the tempi
be those used by Bartok." During
6 Weekend/April 8, 1983