Chicago Symphony Orchestra
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What gives conductors their superhuman stamina? Some of it’s the aerobic quality of their work–a two-hour concert or three-hour opera exercises all the major muscle groups. More of it’s the continued intellectual activity of reviewing scores and, in the case of the better conductors, rethinking their interpretations. Science confirms that such things are important to attaining a vigorous old age. Science is silent about a couple of other factors that almost certainly have a bearing: the ego kick of having large numbers of musicians obey your every eyebrow twitch, and the working out of hostilities through insulting large numbers of musicians and issuing occasional ultimatums to administrators and record-company executives.
Solti, undoubtedly blessed by nature with a healthy constitution in the first place, has maintained his mental vigor by taking new looks at music he recorded decades ago–as with the upcoming concert and recording project of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg–and by taking a serious look at composers he largely neglected in the past. One of those is Dmitry Shostakovich, whose music Solti has lately given considerable attention. It’s a good fit. Shostakovich’s music is filled with acerbic wit, rich orchestrations, melodic inventions, and some bombast–all things Solti understands.
That aside, it’s a pleasure to have Solti back, with his clear, crisp direction and firmly articulated ideas. You can disagree on occasion with his interpretation, still knowing that he’s thought everything out carefully and has reasons for each decision. It’s also a pleasure to have the orchestra in its traditional seating–violas in the center, cellos to the right–making it easy to pick out each section’s voice in the ensemble. The CSO was in fine form, with only a few sour notes here and there–mostly in the form of rough entrances by someone in the trumpet section–to remind us that it was a live performance.
