Orchestra leaders to be soloists for All Brahms concert

Orchestras often invite outside musicians to be soloists, but Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra turned to its own performers for soloists for its latest program.

All Brahms on April 30 at Trinity Christian College’s Ozinga Chapel in Palos Heights features Azusa Tashiro, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s concertmaster and violinist, and Jacob Hanegan, the orchestra’s principal cellist, as soloists on Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” said Hanegan, who divides his time between living in Chicago’s Printer’s Row neighborhood and Milwaukee.

“It’s such a huge honor that Stilian (Kirov) would give us the opportunity to play this piece. Illinois Philharmonic is such a great orchestra. It is an honor to play this concerto with them. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s the first time I’m playing this piece. It’s challenging. The orchestra part is so integral to the music. With Brahms it’s much more intertwined. The orchestra part is conversing with the solo parts.”

Stilian Kirov, music director of Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, conducts the concert.

“It’s been fun to work with Azusa on this. In Illinois Philharmonic we get to play also as a string quartet sometimes,” Hanegan said.

“We did a pretty big project where we played at a Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert. We played String Quartet No. 2 in A minor by Florence Price, which is not performed that much, so we had to spend a huge amount of time working together, which is a great process of exploring. It set up a great dynamic.

“Hopefully we’ll bring some more of that curiosity to our Brahms performance. I like her sensitivity to musical details. She’s lovely to work with. It’s been wonderful.”

“Double Concerto” premiered in 1887 with Joseph Joachim performing violin and Robert Hausmann playing cello.

“The thing that is overlooked and incredible about this piece is Brahms’ use of rhythm and the way he manipulates meter,” Hanegan said.

“You get a feeling. You get a pulse. You have a groove of a piece. What Brahms does is throw a wrench into that. He’s also throwing a wrench into the harmony at the same time. You lose sense of your emotional state and your place in time because he’s messing with your feeling of the meter.

“Then he brings them back together at the same time so you get a harmonic resolution. Brahms will give us a metric resolution that has this tremendous amount of tension and release. He does that masterfully as a compositional tool and successfully in that piece and a lot of other pieces.”

All Brahms also includes Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73.

“The cellos get some really beautiful melodies in that piece, notably in the first movement. It’s just gorgeous, tender and beautiful,” Hanegan said.

“He uses the cellos to express something personal to him where he’s not outwardly upset but maybe inwardly searching for something he hasn’t been able to achieve or get in his life. He’s using the orchestra to express things you can’t express with words. It’s the same in the ‘Double Concerto.’

“Brahms expresses things about the human condition using music in ways we can’t capture in other forms or formats. I would come to really listen and try to be emotionally available to the music of Brahms. Hopefully it will be a beautiful experience where you feel a range of emotions.”

Hungarian Dances Nos. 5 and 6 are also part of All Brahms.

“They were originally piano pieces. That will be a fun part of the program. They’re pieces you’ll most likely recognize immediately,” said Hanegan, who is also principal cellist for Chicago Opera Theater.

He began playing cello at age 11 while attending public school in Seattle and became Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal cellist in April 2019 after his fiancee, Julia Coronelli, suggested he move to Chicago and audition for the position.

Christina Salerno, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s executive director, recently was named 2022 executive director of the year by Illinois Council of Orchestras.

“I love working with Christina because she is creative with her thinking. She makes things happen for Illinois Philharmonic. She’s strengthening the institution and building it,” Hanegan said.

“She trusts the musicians. She is forward-looking and proactive in growing the institution. We’re lucky to have her as the executive director.”