Barenboim's CSO farewell

Just got back from DB's final CSO concert, at least as music director,
and despite all the recent talk of him not planning on returning, I
have to think that what the orchestra did for him today was a direct
plea not to be a stranger. He gave a 14 minute address to the audience
before Beethoven's 9th, talking about conducting and the significance
to him of his 36-year relationship with the CSO, and ending with the
announcement that he was made Honorary Conductor for Life by them
earlier in the day, when he had his 'private' farewell with them.

The Choral Fantasy was a perfect final curtain raiser, letting DB play
solo piano, chamber music with the principles, direct the woodwinds,
and conduct--a fun summary.

The 9th was a rich, romantic performance--the orchestra gorgeous (last
night's Bruckner 9th had some of the best orchestral cello playing I've
ever heard--stunning), the soloists and chorus inspired. Clocked in at
1 hour 14 minutes, followed by a 15 minute ovation that ended only when
DB led concertmaster Robert Chen off the stage. Before doing that, he
worked his way through the orchestra, shaking hands or hugging every
single member of the CSO. Of course, he received a tusche (sp?) from
them.

A moving night, made all the more special by a superb Beethoven 9. He
will be missed. And how many music directors can end their reign with a
series of concerts like he has, including the complete Well-Tempered
Clavier?

Dave Royko

Chew Chiat Naun wrote:
RX-01 wrote:
I can't wait for his next release (whatever
this may be) with the same forces...

I fervently hope we get a recorded Mahler 9th from him before too long.
I heard him conduct it here in Chicago a couple of years ago, and again
in one of his CSO farewell concerts on Thursday night, and it's very,
very special. It's also different: not at all the marmoreal, monumental
piece we hear in most interpretations, but red-blooded and passionate
and loving. He's completely inside the idiom, and it's not backhanded
praise to say that I've never heard the middle movements done better.
All the way through, his interpretative ideas are very specific -- the
phrasing carries a wealth of meaning -- but at the same time sound
completely spontaneous. I can't imagine another orchestra matching the
CSO's performance of it with him, but I really would like to see this
interpretation made available in some form.

Naun.

.

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