Chicago Symphony Orchestra
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It is also not the same thing as just playing together. Just playing together is what happens at pickup gigs like weddings and Christmas Eve services, when groups of singers and instrumentalists are thrown together with only a little bit of rehearsal. The results are usually thoroughly professional and acceptable but seldom approach any ideal of music making. Just playing together is what usually happens in youth orchestras, amateur groups, and choruses in which the personnel change every year. Every member is so involved in making sure that the right notes come out, and come out sounding reasonably good, that he or she has little energy to spare for listening to the rest of the musicians in the way that’s needed for true collaboration.
True collaboration is usually the result of years of working together in close proximity. It’s found most often in chamber groups–whose members are sometimes better acquainted with the mental and emotional workings of their colleagues than those of their own spouses. It’s also found in great orchestras and choruses, particularly when they’ve had the guidance of outstanding conductors and chorus masters, and when the core group has rehearsed and performed together over a long period: continuity is important.
The program notes gave no indication whether Russian compatriots Alexeev and Bychkov have worked together in the past; if not, their musical understanding of each other was nothing short of extraordinary. On Saturday evening Bychkov and the CSO had worked well together, but without the rapport they displayed on Sunday; maybe the intervening 24 hours–and the extra experience of working together– made things slide into place, maybe it was just serendipity. Maybe the collaboration with Alexeev was inspiring. Whatever it was, everyone was in the same groove. For once, the obligatory standing ovation at Ravinia was justified.
