Lahav Shani and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra review-The conductor/pianist dazzles

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 in Chicago. Chicago Symphony Orchestra Lahav Shani, Conductor and piano Beethoven, Overture to Egmont Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 2 Brahms, Symphony No. 1 (©Todd Rosenberg 2024)
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On December 19th, 20th , and 21st, 2024,  at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Israeli Conductor, double cellist and pianist Lahav Shani  led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performed with them at the piano in a classical/modern classical themed concert comprised of the music of Beethoven, Brahms, and Shostakovich. 

  The Egmont OvertureOp. 84, (1809-1810), opens a set of music Beethoven was commissioned to write for the play of that name by Goethe. Count Egmont was a hero who struggled to liberate Holland from the oppressive Spanish rule and died a martyr. The political similarities to this segment of Beethoven’s own time, when the Napoleonic wars had France dominating Europe, can be felt within the tensions in this sonata form 8-minute piece. The beginning is dark, presented by dense strings, with an unsteady feel.  Next, a dynamic energy races through the orchestral ensemble; the strings whirl in various melodic themes. Then light woodwinds and harsh strings oppose each other, bringing forth a proclamation of horns and bassoon. Finally, a tympanic roll introduces the brass fanfare of triumph.

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 in Chicago. Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Lahav Shani, Conductor and piano; photo by Todd Rosenberg

Shani, Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic, and Chief Conductor designate for 2026 of the Münchner Philharmoniker, played and conducted with a charming insouciant brilliance. At the podium, he is an elegant, super-confident maestro. At the keyboard, he is dexterous, with fluid, exacting fingering. Performing both functions in tandem, in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major,Op. 102, (1956-57), he was mesmerizing- Orchestra and audience were riveted. The uncannily beautiful playing of the CSO, their intense focus on conductor and each other was thrilling to behold and to hear.

The 20-minute Concerto, written for the composer’s 19-year-old son, Maxim, displays a muted lyricism in the middle Andante, and an almost whimsical yet technically vibrant animation in the outer 2 movements. The string tones of the CSO were sensuous, the woodwinds clear and directed, the percussion precise and athletic- a storied interpretation!

The second half of the program was consumed by Brahm’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 68, (1856-76), a 52-minute complex piece said to be the composer’s “most emotional and personal”. There is a brooding intensity to the opening movement, a dense, carefully constructed series of atmospheric developments. In distinct contrast, the Andante that follows is sweet and soft, made up of dialogues between orchestral sections, ending with a duet for horn and solo violin. The third movement Allegretto features lilting themes for woodwinds and strings, yet in a relaxed pace, a departure from the typically almost frantic scherzos of Brahms’ predecessors. The finale concludes in confidence with a hearty and satisfying motif in the strings.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Lahav Shani, Conductor and piano
Beethoven, Overture to Egmont; Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No.2.; Brahms, Symphony No. 1; December 19, 2024; photo by Todd Rosenberg



For information and tickets to all the fine programming of The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, go to www.cso.org

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