Since at least the late 1950s, the list of the five greatest orchestras in the United States has included the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The list of past music directors includes Rafael Kubelik (1950-53), Fritz Reiner (1953-62), Sir Georg Solti (1969-91), Daniel Barenboim (1991-2006), and Bernard Haitink. (2006-10).
The list of Principal Guest Conductors includes the peerless musicians Carlo Maria Giulini (1969-72), Claudio Abbado (1982-85) and Pierre Boulez (1995-2006).
Overall, no orchestra in America can match this roster. Riccardo Muti (2010-present), current Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is in every sense worthy of this legacy.
The Community Arts and Music Association (CAMA) is now hosting a concert by this wonderful orchestra conducted by Muti at the Granada Theater on Wednesday, January 25th at 7:30 pm.
The program consists of Ludwig Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture, Op. 62” (1807) and “Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93” (1812-14). Anatoly Lyadov’s poem “The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62” (1909). and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1874, arranged by Maurice Ravel, 1923).
The x-factor here is Anatoly Lyadov (1855-1914), if there is one, and I’m not here to disturb the peace. He comes from a family of high-ranking professional musicians, dancers and singers.
His paternal grandfather, Nikolai G. Lyadov, was the conductor of the Petersburg Philharmonic Society. His father, Konstantin Lyadov, was the principal conductor of the Imperial Opera Company. His mother, Vera Antipova, was a pianist. His sister Valentina, a dramatic actress, was married first to a famous opera singer and then to a musician.
Chopin’s influence is evident in his piano music. In his orchestral work, his training under Rimsky-Korsakov, and his quintet (Millie Balakirev, César Kui, Modest Mussorgsky, Korsakov, Alexander Borodin), especially his close relationship with Mussorgsky.
“Enchanted Lake” is a late work, composed in the same year as the famous “Kikimora, Folktales, Op.63”. The music makes it easy to imagine a lake, and the whole of Maxfield Parrish’s Demi Eden is very quiet: the morning mist rising from the clear mirror, the cranes gently leaping out of the water into the air, the willows and ferns resting on the shore. Enchanted by the dream-like silence.
Tickets for this concert range from $36 to $156 and can be purchased in person at the Granada Ticket Office at 1214 State St., by phone at 805-899-2222, or online at https://ticketing.granadasb.org/17008?promoApplied can be purchased at = true.
