HARP STRINGS ETERNAL
Timeless instrument gets turn in spotlight as Bullen shines in Debussy, Tchaikovsky program
Unlike the much more frequently heard violin, cello or piano, the harp rarely gets a turn in the solo spotlight. So, it was nice to see the instrument front and center Thursday evening in the first of the Chicago Symphony’s latest set of concerts with music director Riccardo Muti.
Making the appearance more special was the orchestra’s choice of soloist— its own principal harpist Sarah Bullen, who is one of the finest practitioners of the instrument in the country, if not the world.
That standing was reinforced with Bullen’s expressive, sure- fingered solo turn in one of the best- known harp vehicles— Claude Debussy’s “Sacred and Profane Dances,” a short but substantial work that debuted in 1904.
As its title makes clear, the 10- minute piece consists of two short dances, the first more solemn and the second a bit livelier and more sensuous. Bullen could hardly have been more at home in this music, which she last performed with the orchestra in 1999— two years after she took over her post.
She brought a feathery touch and sparkling command to the two dances, ably conveying the subtle musical hues of Debussy’s coloristic writing. The only downside was that from certain vantage points in the hall it was difficult to see the soloist behind her ornate Lyon & Healy harp, which ismore than 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
Accompanying Bullen in this work was a stripped- down chamber orchestra, which played with all the delicacy and sometimes even sparseness that this work demands. Muti made sure that the balances were just right and the harp was never overshadowed.
Several themes ran through Thursday’s tightly knit, well- chosen program— tortured love, lively dances and atmospheric writing. The last of these infused the allDebussy first half, with “Sacred and Profane Dances” seeming like a continuation of the opening “Nocturnes for Orchestra.”
Rather than offering any kind of musical progression or narrative, these three distinctive Nocturnes plunge listeners into kind of timeless sound pictures.
Muti and the orchestra brought restraint to the hushed opening section, “Clouds,” with its mysterious, lonely English horn solo handsomely performed by Scott Hostetler. Things then revved up with an aptly spirited take on the rhythmic “Festivals.”
The highlight of the three Nocturnes was arguably “Sirens,” evoking the mythological creatures that lured seafarers with their singing. Joining the musicians were 55 female singers from the Chicago Symphony Chorus, who provided airy, almost otherworldly vocalizations that ebbed and flowed like gentle ocean waves.
As effective as the orchestra was in the Debussy pieces, it seemed a bit more comfortable on the second half in the two more muscular selections by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky that allowed the ensemble’s signature brass to strut its stuff.
The first, “Francesca da Rimini,” Op. 32, was a programmatic symphonic poem about Francesca, a figure in Dante’s “Divine Comedy” who has been cast into the second circle of hell for defying a forced marriage and giving in to her true love, Paolo. This tale of forbidden love struck a sharp chord with the composer, who was dealing with his own broken marriage and repressed homosexuality.
Although this piece tells a story, it also offers its share of musical atmospherics. Emphatic, Wagner- inspired brass and roiling timpani propel the agitated opening section, which gives way to the soft voice of Francesca — a questioning solo entrancingly realized by principal clarinetist StephenWilliamson.
Muti and the orchestra dialed up an appealingly rich, full- bodied take on this work with punch and drive. The same could be said of their performance of the final— and most popular— work of the evening— Suite from “Swan Lake,” Op. 20a.
The conductor adroitly captured the varying mood and feel of each of the eight ballet sections, from the evocative, opening theme, with its haunting oboe solo poignantly rendered byMingjia Liu, principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera, to the swirling, intoxicatingWaltz to the fire and spice of the Spanish Dance.
While Bullen was directly in the spotlight in “Sacred and Profane Dances,” she was featured virtually all evening. She and harpist Lynne Turner played a significant role in “Sirens” and Bullen had another lovely solo in ‘‘ Scene,’’ the fourth section of the suite, alongside concertmaster Robert Chen.