84: Mäke America Great Again

Our correspondent in Chicago weighs in on Klaus’s big night

Name That Tune

This week’s Name That Tune was submitted by Listener Eric. Here’s your hint, and it’s a big one for certain people: this composer wrote a famous double bass concerto (“famous” being a relative term, of course). No Googling!

As always, your goal is to provide as much accurate analysis as possible. First try to get the nationality, year, and genre, then make educated guesses about the composer and — if possible— the piece. If you know the piece immediately, send us an email at toneprose@substack.com instead of commenting so the rest of us can have fun guessing. 

Last Week’s Results
Tone Prose 83
Bartók, Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano

This one was an easy layup for both Listener Kevin and Listener Jeremy. Jeremy noted that he was “just listening to a recording of this piece yesterday,” which confirms everyone’s suspicions that he literally just sits around and listens to clarinet music all day. Listener Kevin felt that the clarinet submissions were “getting out of control.” (He’s not wrong.)

I (Will) also recognized the piece, though it took me a second.

Think you can stump your fellow Listeners? Go ahead and try!

Head to our Google Form to upload a 30-second clip of an unidentified piece of classical music for us to try to identify.

Prima Nocta

I (Will) and Joey (Joey) are taking a well-deserved week off from Tone Prose after an exceptionally busy weekend making music together. Thankfully, Listener Jeremy is here to fill in the gap with a report from Klaus Mäkelä’s first concert since being named music director of the Chicago Symphony.

There was palpable excitement in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center on Thursday, April 4th as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra audience gathered to welcome newly announced Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. The hall was all but full, with only a handful of empty seats I could see. The ladies behind me were discussing the hire with fawning tones (“we’ve been waiting so long for this…they couldn’t have made a better choice.”) When Mäkelä appeared, Chicago attempted to give him a standing ovation, but he was all business and rushed to the podium, turning to the orchestra before more than half the audience made it to their feet and had to sit down again.

The program began with the US premiere of Batteria by Mäkelä’s fellow Finn Sauli Zinovjev. The piece is 10 minutes of non-stop rhythmic energy that I’d be happy to hear again. Mäkelä matched the energy of the piece from the podium. He is a very enthusiastic conductor, but very focused and clear. None of his movements are wild or casual and nothing seems out of place. He is a tall man in a sharp suit (tall shirt collar, tail-less coat). Perhaps because he is so tall, he spends much of the time on the podium with deeply bent knees. At times, it almost looks like he’s sitting on a non-existent chair, and his use of his knees gives him an up-and-down bounce when he’s leading the orchestra. It’s a striking visual contrast to the shorter Music Director Emeritus Riccardo Muti who, at 82, understandably moves much slower about the stage & podium. Everything about Mäkelä makes it clear Chicago is in for a change.

Following Batteria, Sol Gabetta came to the stage to perform Shostakovich’s 1st cello concerto (a last-minute replacement for Bartók’s 2nd piano concerto after Yuja Wang pulled out.) Gabetta was wonderful, but my focus here is Mäkelä, who led a very compelling accompaniment, engaging both the soloist and the orchestra with ease. He seems to already have a comfort with the orchestra that allows him to play, but then almost instantaneously switch into a clear control when needed. After cheering Gabetta’s performance, Mäkelä sat discreetly on steps at the side of the stage with his head down while she performed her encore (with lots of fluttering harmonics and some wordless vocals accompanying herself), as engaged in her performance as anyone else in the audience.

The real display of Mäkelä’s arrival on the scene, though, was in Shostakovich’s 10th symphony after intermission. It was an incredible performance, powerful and intense, with the orchestra sounding as wonderful as ever. The musicians were clearly putting in that extra effort for their new leader. Everything was tight but not so perfectly controlled that any of the symphony’s fire was lost. The audience was rapt, with one person’s breathy “wow” filling the hall in the silence following the 2nd movement scherzo speaking for us all. It showed how Mäkelä, who clearly has the goods, is already improving. When Mäkelä led the orchestra in Mahler’s 5th last year I had nits to pick with the interpretation (though it was still great), and while this Shostakovich wasn’t absolutely perfect, there was nothing really for me to pick at this time. And since he’s only 28, we can presume he’s only going to get better.

The standing ovation after the concert was long, and in a true sign that the audience loves Mäkelä, no one tried to rush out to get home a little earlier (a sadly too-common occurrence). Mäkelä was very thorough and clear in his singling out of individuals and sections during the ovation, and I unbiasedly report that principal clarinetist Stephen Williamson received the loudest and longest applause, and deservedly so. The ovation would’ve lasted longer, but Mäkelä waved goodbye letting us know it was time to go. After all, he’ll be back. The CSO is in good hands, and Chicago knows it.

Tone Praise

Ferde Grofé, On the Trail

Even though I (Will) had a hectic week with a concert and multiple houseguests (hi Mom!) I found the time to sub for a conductor colleague on Monday, and the main item on the agenda was this absolute classic of Pops Americana, which apparently was used to advertise Philip Morris cigarettes from 1934 to the mid-60’s.

Tone Prose is a co-production of William White, Joseph Vaz, and the Listeners (i.e. you.)