Slatkin and Stravinsky: stimulating

The close of the year is a traditional time to hand out awards,and after hearing Leonard Slatkin's Stravinsky concert with membersof the Chicago Symphony Thursday night, I give him the metaphoricalgold medal as the guest conductor who has brought the moststimulating programs to Orchestra Hall this year. This was thesymphony doing what it ought to do, delighting us and opening newhorizons.

Stravinsky wrote music well into his 80s, and the volume of workhe left is extraordinary for its size, quality and variety. But muchof this music reflects the Stravinsky of the American period, the manwho rejected the idea of being an exotic Slavic composer but whosefame rested on early scores written from an exotic Slavic viewpoint.The music he was writing in this country in the 1940s was verydifferent, as if Tchaikovsky in middle life had decided he wanted tobe Bach.

Slatkin divided the program between three religious works fromthe late period and five works inspired by popular music, especiallyjazz, dating between 1918 and 1945. They demonstrate thatStavinsky's craftsmanship was such that he could do just aboutanything he felt like doing and do it well. His mass is a landmarkwork, all the more effective when you hear it with adults from theCSO Chorus and children's voices of the stature of the Glen EllynChoir. The five soloists were excellent. The Choral Variations and"Requiem Canticles" are new to Chicago. They are major Stravinsky,and their stature was always evident in these performances. Slatkinhad them beautifully prepared.

Stravinsky was deeply religious. It is no surprise hisreligious music is full of conviction. But he loved popular music aswell. His little essays in jazz and ragtime are wonderfully crafted, and in the "Ebony Concerto" he wrote WoodyHerman a complete three-movement classical clarinet concerto thatlasts about 10 minutes. John Bruce Yeh played it with real verve,supported by the CSO big band sound.

Can the CSO swing? Slatkin can make it do whatever the musicrequires. When it had to be jazzy, it was really hot. The "Scherzoa la Russe," heard this time in the scoring intended for the PaulWhiteman band, had the bright, firm pulse and the sure sense of funit required. The Tango and Rag-time were as light and open aschamber music.

This was the second concert underwritten by the Hope AbelsonArtistic Initiative Fund, one of the most imaginative gifts thesymphony has received in many years. Chicago Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting, with soloists, membersof the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorusand John Bruce Yeh, clarinet. All-Stravinsky program: choralvariations on "Von Himmel hoch," "Requiem Canticles," Mass,Preludium, Tango, Rag-time, "Scherzo a la Russe," "Ebony Concerto."To be repeated at 8 tonight.