The Chicago Sinfonietta sounds off

TimeOutChicago
By Mia Clarke
Published May 12, 2009
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Last night the Chicago Sinfonietta closed its 2008-09 season with Sound Waves, a program designed to reflect the temperamental character of water. Opening with Handel’s Water Music and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, extraordinary guest pianist Anton Kuerti solidified his reputation as one of the strongest interpreters of Beethoven alive today. Hunched over the Steinway in a midnight blue velvet jacket, tufts of white hair quivering with emotion, Kuerti displayed a masterful intricacy of his performance that led the orchestra boldly as they trickled and surged through movements that sounded like light skipping across a river before cascading into the vicious, salty depths of the unknown.

Of course, no water-centered program is going to escape a rendition of Debussy’s La Mer, which was directed by guest conductor William Eddins. Although every element of the orchestra was on top form, Eddins stole the show with his charismatic conducting, which was both expressive and powerfully moving. The buoyant personality of Debussy’s composition flourished thrillingly under his command, and he departed from the stage shaking his head in humble delight.

The final performance was the world premiere of Michael Abels’s Aquadia, which will be the soundtrack to the new Oceanarium show at the Shedd Aquarium. Having been left somewhat disgruntled by the ostentatious Disney-esque tunes used for the Shedd’s dolphin show, it was a relief to hear that Abels’s animated, crystalline rhythmic elegance gave the music dignified fluidity. Images from the aquarium were projected behind the orchestra throughout, and highlighted the compelling relationship between music and color, as electric pink jellyfish, spiky blowfish, and fetal-looking beluga whales were brought to life.