Hedy Weiss: Theater Reviews

Mäkelä and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Are Ideally Bonded: Review

In September 2027, Klaus Mäkelä will assume the title of chief conductor of both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The 29-year-old Finnish-born musician, who is currently serving as CSO’s Zell Music Director Designate, has already demonstrated his winning connection with the CSO. The proof could be seen and heard in the two different programs he has led in recent weeks. 

First, in late April, he took full command of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 3, a 99-minute work dating from the late 1890s that demanded a huge orchestra, including an immense percussion section, a contralto soloist and both a women’s and children’s chorus.

The work opened to the sound of French horns, big bangs on the timpani and a giant drum — and then the full sound of the French horns, the brass and the strings. Next came a light and lyrical passage and the sudden burst of the winds. There were so many shifts in the orchestra’s voices. So many changes of intensity and moods. And the sounds of the many aspects of nature as we think of it, along with that of human nature.

The sound was dark one moment, and playful, romantic or gentle the next, with mood shifts that ranged from the dreamy to the powerful. All in all, a musical encyclopedia of sorts. And along with all of this came Mäkelä’s exceptional gift for movement. His sister happens to be a dancer, and watching his exceptionally graceful and expressive moves on the podium adds an almost choreographic element to the music.

Meanwhile, this week, Mäkelä returned to the podium for a concert that opened with a feverish rendering of Brahms’ “Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major,” played with intense energy and emotion by the Grammy Award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov, who is currently the artist-in-residence for both the CSO and the Czech Philharmonic.

Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in a performance of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. (Todd Rosenberg Photography)

The second half of the evening opened with Pierre Boulez’s “Initiale” for Brass Septet, a brief (five-minute) winningly “modern” work dating from 1987 and scored for seven musicians. It was performed with zest and wit by members of the CSO’s brass section.

Then, returning to a classical sound, came Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 7 in D Minor” dating from 1885.

It opened in a haunting, powerful, high speed, fiery mood, and then took a turn to a state of calm, lightness and flow before shifting yet again into a grand scale sound. And throughout the orchestra’s vivid performance there were the wonderfully expressive moves of Mäkelä that also captured the emotional flow of the piece.

The work’s second movement began with plucked strings and a certain calm — a kind of lyrical singing that soon built into a full, intensely strong sound until it shifted to a dreamy fade-out. Then, after that silence came a kind of wonderful dance music and a big shift to high energy and intensity. A build with great speed, excitement and fierce energy came next, and was followed by a beautifully graceful energy that shifted to a big, high-speed blast of percussion.

The work’s final movement, also rich in mood shifts, launched into the power of the full orchestra. It moved at high speed, and then with shifting intensities, from intense drama to calm. It was all winningly expressed by Mäkelä’s moves, including those that came with the speed and grandeur of the work’s finale.

This concert will be repeated at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. For tickets, visit cso.org or phone 312-294-3000.

Follow Hedy Weiss: @HedyWeissCritic

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