Denève conducts Thibaudet review- The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs Ravel

On June 6, 2024, in a program to be repeated June 7^th, 8^th, and 11^th, French Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève led The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in a concert of French masterworks at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. It was a clever and thoughtfully curated evening of inspiring music. 

• Lili Boulanger, D’un matin de printemps, 1918

Written shortly before the 24-year-old died, this brief, atmospheric, sparkling piece translates into English as “Of a spring morning”. Imbued with strong rhythm, it opens swiftly and with a lightness of feeling in the strings, when a solo flute conveys the main theme, carried off by the winds. The piece then devolves into a second, dreamy and mysterious motif, and the vibrant work moves back and forth, until the harp brings a flourish to the closure.

• Camille Saint-Saèns, Piano Concerto no. 5 in F major, “Egyptian”, Op. 103, 1896

This colorful and harmonious concerto introduces a simple melody in the opening Allegro which mutates into intricate scales and tempo changes, via urgent rippling piano textures and insistent rhythmic orchestration. Thibaudet is a confident and engaging performer, dexterous and spirited.

The second movement Andante succeeds in strong contrast; it’s filled with drama and exotic percussive piano beats, yet lyrical and melodious as well, subsiding into dance motifs.

The energetic and very brief Allegro brims over with jazzy rhythmic figures complemented by large and colorful effects, concordant and vibrant. The ultra-tricky solo part was at one time used as an examination piece for aspiring pianists at the Paris Conservatory; Thibaudet achieved it in clear phrases and with panache.

• In encore, Maurice Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte, (Pavane for a Dead Princess), 1899

A lush and passionate piece, Pavane has an overarching quiet, slow and dreamy spirit. it has an entrancing quality and evokes strong emotion with memorable melody and striking chords, here under tight artistic control. Romantic and mystifying, it bridges time, seeming at once ancient and modern.

• Claude Debussy, Images, for Orchestra, Ibéria, 1908-09

The segment “In the Streets and Byways,” opens the piece with evocative dancing winds set off by castanets, tambourine and extremely Spanish sounding plucked strings. The melody is reminiscent of haughty grandees, in a languorous mood, followed by various themes descending into a long marching brass segment before seeming to evaporate.

The next segment, “Perfumes of the Night,” conveys a sense of rich and verdant gardens; strings, winds, and tinkling percussion frame a plaintive oboe melody, followed by an exciting and intense set of climaxes.  

Flute, strings and bells then herald in the third movement, “Morning of a Festival Day,” begun attacca. The ensuing celebration is happy, indeed gleeful, bringing back earlier themes and exploding in a musical carnival of finale.

• Maurice Ravel, Bolero, 1928

Composed originally as a commissioned ballet, Maurice Ravel’s orchestral work Boléro is not only this composer’s most famous composition, but also one of the most popular pieces of music ever written, instantly recognizable and always sounding different to the ear, developed over an unchanging simple rhythm set off by a tantalizing snare drum. The dramatic, sensuous, distinctly Mediterranean air starts out very delicately and grows in textural dynamics utilizing repeated rhythm.

The glorious piece is conceived with a strong sense of building tension, is built via that driven rhythm and two distinct melodies in syncopation, constantly reorchestrated with very different feelings. The 2 melodies are repeated 8 times, with a fancifully eclectic choice of instrumentation, including flute, clarinet, bassoon, tenor saxophone, trumpet, horn, etc.  The various sounds of these instruments give each repetition of the melody a new interest and a new intention.

The finale has the unified orchestra exuberantly proclaiming the melody, with the rhythmic underpinning doubly sung by the percussion instruments. The trombones announce with  dramatic force and the great 15-minute piece ends in a strategic descent of chords.

Denève, a graduate and prize-winner of the Paris Conservatoire, now Music Director of the Saint Louis Orchestra, as well as Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, among other appointments, is a refined, elegant and controlled master at the podium. He has a special affinity for the music of his native France, as was displayed in this concert program, and has won critical acclaim for his recordings of Debussy and Ravel. A boxset of his complete Ravel recordings with Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra was released in 2022 by Hänssler Classic.

All photos by Todd Rosenberg

For information and tickets to all the fine programming of The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, go to www.cso.org