Finally a post: some catching up
I have been swamped lately, and thus left little time for blogging. This post will be brief, even though there is much to write. The last two weeks the news went from lighthearted articles such as the Washington Post’s story about Joshua Bell performing in a subway station and earning little more than pocket change, to the headline gripping tragedy in Virginia, where we see unnecessary finger pointing and the bad side of public relations come to daylight.
Among the many reasons why I have been swamped, was the two-week residency of Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, highlighting the yearlong Silk Road Chicago celebration. Last week, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Silk Road Ensemble joined forces in a spectacular program of “world classical music.” Highlight of the program was the world premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Rose of the Winds, which starts with a bagpipe playing an Arabic melody and ends with 10 members of the brass section playing shofars (a shofar is a ram’s horn). Here’s the news release, describing the composition and more Silk Road Chicago events. (Guess who wrote that!)
I had a chance today to talk to Mr. Golijov, as I was bringing him to an Arts Club of Chicago chat with former Sun-Times classical music critic Wynne Delacoma. I told him that the piece, oddly enough, reminded me of Shostakovich, because of its dramatic changes through emotions and its heavy artillery sound. I was happy I stayed for the chat, because it was certainly an enlightening 45 minutes with great questions by Ms. Delacoma and even greater answers by Mr. Golijov.
It will be busy here for another while, as the CSO Resound recording of Bernard Haitink conducting Mahler’s Third Symphony will hit stores on May 8. I have been fortunate enough to hear the recording already and it’s quite spectacular.
The CSO’s radio broadcasts have also resumed. And thanks to the ever-growing enthusiasm for the Internet, broadcasts remain available for two weeks on the CSO Web site. Right now, I am listening to my favorite work of classical music, Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. This was recorded in September during the Opening Night Gala. I wonder if Yo-Yo Ma was performing with Jacqueline du Pre’s cello… Her recording of the concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim is probably the most gorgeous music I have ever heard.
Anyway, this post turned out quite long in the end. Just go and listen to some of the music I was writing about.
Dutch native Marc van Bree is a well-rounded marketing communications professional with more than 7 years of experience strategically communicating—on and offline—in a rapidly changing media environment. 
[...] Free CSO Broadcasts Lately, I can’t stop posting about music, it seems. But this is time-sensitive. Via Marc van Bree, I discovered that the CSO has free broadcasts of its concerts up on its website. Yo-Yo Ma playing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and Betti Xiang playing the Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto (on gaohu instead of violin) are still available for listening until Apr 24. I am not a fan of the Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto, but it does sound good on the gaohu. With the violin it sounds like some Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto wannabe, with pretentious Orientalism thrown in to boot. The gaohu makes it sound much more natural. If a recording of that performance is released, it’ll be the first “Chinese” music I’ll actually consider purchasing. The Dvorak concerto is a competent performance, but I still prefer Rostropovich’s. [...]