Harpist Sarah Bullen, Chicago Symphony Orchestra shine in Debussy’s ‘Dances’

SHARE Harpist Sarah Bullen, Chicago Symphony Orchestra shine in Debussy’s ‘Dances’
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Maestro Riccardo Muti conducts harp soloist Sarah Bullen and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in concert at Symphony Center, April 19, 2018. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2018

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.

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Riccardo Muti, conductor Sarah Bullen, harpist Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus ★★★1⁄2 When: 1:30 p.m. April 20; 8 p.m. April 21 Where: Orchestra Hall, 220 S. Michigan Tickets: $36-$250 Info: cso.org

That standing was certainly reinforced with Bullen’s expressive, sure-fingered solo turn in one of the best-known vehicles for harp – Claude Debussy’s”Sacred and Profane Dances,” a short but substantial work that debuted in 1904 with Lucille Wurmser-Delcourt as soloist.

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 is more 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.

Riccardo Muti conducts the CSO in a program of Debussy and Tchaikovsky on Thursday, April 19, 2018, at Symphony Center. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2018

Riccardo Muti conducts the CSO in a program of Debussy and Tchaikovsky on Thursday, April 19, 2018, at Symphony Center. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2018

Several themes ran through Thursday’s tightly knit, well-chosen program – tortured love, lively dances and atmospheric writing. The last of these infused the all-Debussy 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 (the title was possibly inspired by an impressionistic series of paintings by American painter James McNeill Whistler) plunge listeners into kind of timeless sound pictures.

Muti and the orchestra brought appropriate 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 other-worldly 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 Stephen Williamson.

Muti and the orchestra dialed up an appealingly rich, full-bodied take on this work with punch and drive. Much the same could be said of their performance of the final and easily best-known 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 by Mingjia Liu, principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera, to the swirling, intoxicating Waltz 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 long, including a lovely solo in Scene, the fourth section of the suite, alongside that of concertmaster Robert Chen and Principal Cello John Sharp.

Kyle MacMillan is a local freelance writer.

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