CD: CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Soloists Of The Orchestra III Double CD Classical

This is Volume 21 in a comprehensive series of recordings of Chicago Symphony performances recorded by the CSO's radio ally, WFMT, released on the CSO's own label. The CSO was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891 with the notion that everyone in the orchestra should be a star performer in their own right and therefore able to step up to the plate and take the lead spot in a concerted work when need be. While this policy hasn't stopped the CSO from taking on prominent touring artists as an integral part of its season, it insures that the orchestra is not absolutely dependent on such artists to insure top flight performances of concerted works. The "Soloists of the Orchestra" series provides a little face time with some of the CSO's talented principals, who elected to choose the steady work of being a section leader over opting for the unpredictable vagaries of a touring artist's life. The first disc deals mainly with wind players: trumpeter Adolph Herseth, flautists Walfrid Kujala and Donald Peck, clarinetist Larry Combs and oboist Alex Klein. The second disc concentrates on string players: violinists Samuel Magad and Victor Aitay, cellists Frank Miller and John Sharp, the latter being heard in Pierre Boulez' Messagesquisse, scored for seven cellos and therefore encompassing much of the orchestra's cello section.

The standout performance among these two generous discs is a stunning reading of Miklos Rozsa's Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello and orchestra, Op. 29, dating from 1966 and featuring Hungarian-born violinist and (then) associate concertmaster Victor Aitay with legendary cellist Frank Miller. Miller had spent 15 years under the baton of Arturo Toscanini in the NBC Symphony before arriving in Chicago. They appeared as joint soloists only in this one work, which was given twice; this is the earlier occasion. Miller is memorialized in 1986 through the inclusion of a rare pre-concert talk given by Sir Georg Solti and a run-through of the "Nimrod" variation from Elgar's Enigma Variations. It's all very touching, although one wonders if Miller's memory might have been better served with a short selection devoted to his own playing; perhaps such a selection was not available for inclusion. Miller was a representative of the grand old manner of classical music making, steeped in romantic tradition; Boulez' Messagesquisse, which follows Solti's tribute straightaway and is conducted not by Boulez himself, but by Daniel Barenboim, is in immediate, stark contrast to the Elgar and makes one wonder if we are better off by virtue of moving on from artists such as Miller. As a short ensemble piece, Messagesquisse doesn't really provide much of an insight into the capabilities of cellist John Sharp; on the other hand, Samuel Magad's reading of the Korngold Violin Concerto is strong and dedicated, even if the 1994 recording seems a little less full bodied than most other things in this collection. …