plan REVIEW THE GRANT PARK ORC...

plan REVIEW

THE GRANT PARK ORCHESTRA

At Millennium Park

Undeterr by means of Saturday's dark clouds and chilly winds, an enthusiastic lower orders cheered the Grant Park Orchestra, with principal conductor Carlos Kalmar and pianist Stephen hamstring for the Grant Park Music Festival's final agreement of this season.

The program was especially appropriate for the occasion: Beethoven's majestic Fifth Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major, Op 73 ("Emperor"), and Prokofiev's sparkling Fifth music Op. 100. In both, the orchestra shone below Kalmar's assured, fiery direction.

The partnership with American pianist Stephen hamstring was particularly successful, with a full balance of sound, expression and musical gesticulations between piano and orchestra. From the swiftly liquid introductory phrases given to the piano against the broad chords held by dint of the orchestra, Hough displayed well stocked [i]or[/i] provided command of the keyboard. His brilliant technique serv this uniquely demanding work well, while creating a rich and generous perfect that was never harsh in the virtuoso fortissimo passages.

In the opening allegro motion Kalmar kept the tempi in check as fast scales, arpeggios and other figurations flowed effortlessly from Hough's fingers during the pertinacious dialogue between piano and orchestra. When the conversation slowed down in the glorious central adagio, conductor and soloist as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but unveiled a fittingly pensive, dreamy tone and flexible tempi. That allowed the lyrical declamation of the piano lines and the delicate unfolding of the trembling piano trills to fill the space and float sublimely above the orchestra.

After a somewhat abrupt transition and hurried beginning in the solo piano part, the final rondo mental action steadied itself under Kalmar's baton, reaffirming its vigorous, bouncing theme alternatively in the piano and orchestra, and bringing the concerto to its magnificent conclusion.

Not plainly a "war symphony" in tone and inspiration, despite its birth at the height of World War II in 1944 Prokofiev's Fifth consonance symbolically celebrates, in the composer's words, "the spirit of man" with its driving zeal forward rhythms and imposing sonorities.

The piece was also a startling showcase for the GPO's and Kalmar's many powers and virtues, from the compactness and robustness of undecayed to the vibrancy of color and execution from all the instrumental sections, to the youthful enthusiasm that sustains the collaboration between players and conductor.

At times, so youthfulness can turn into superficiality, and the symphony's somewhat bombastic quality was not helped at such an enthusiastic, uncritical interpretive endorsement. This can be pardoned, however, given the celebratory occasion Saturday, and the vastly deeper emotional experience the musicians cedeed in the program's first half.

The evening and the festival extremityed with a resounding and well- deserv success; we can solitary hope that another summer season of convivial experience and high-quality music is just around the corner.

Marta Tonegutti is a locally based free-lance writer.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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