Chen brings fine tone to once-’unplayable’ concert
By Bryant Manning

On any given night in America, it is likely that one of the hulking Romantic violin concertos is getting its hour in dank school auditoriums, community centers or in the case of this week at Symphony Center, a plush concert hall. In recent weeks in Chicago, the Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky concertos have received indomitable performances from major ensembles featuring distinguished guest soloists from various Austro-German locales.

But the lesson learned Thursday night Orchestra Hall is that these warhorses don’t require advocacy from abroad to stay fresh, and the best options are often right under our nose.

Robert Chen, the veteran concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, has provided no shortage of memorable passagework these last few years, whether in local premieres of Lutoslawski’s seemingly improvisational “Chain 2″ or in renewed arguments for Strauss’ popular “Ein Heldenleben.” His singular account of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Thursday capped an evening that truly belonged to him.

The appeal of Chen’s delectable tone comes from not being too large or slender. This helps move Tchaikovsky’s episodic score away from a swashbuckling free-for-all to a more dignified narrative account. Maybe violinists have gotten better, but if this 1881 concerto was once thought to be “unplayable,” Chen’s athletic but graceful pursuit of these note clusters appeared effortless. (Although the sweat he frequently wiped from his brow proves it was not.) Here was a performance that understood peasant conviviality and high Russian lyricism on equal terms.

Somewhat overshadowed by Chen’s wizardry was the return of conductor Ludovic Morlot, the fabulous 36-year-old Frenchman who’s fast become a welcome face here. He opened with a persuasive case for Bohuslav Martinu’s symphonic sketch “The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca” (1956), a richly scored three-movement work, which made its CSO debut Thursday night. The music playfully draws on a series of iconic images from the early Renaissance Tuscan artist Piero della Francesca, and it was a buzz to hear the brilliant colors of these paintings reappear in Martinu’s own handiwork. (It was also written for former CSO music director Rafael Kubelick.)

The Bohemian composer, who was exiled from Europe during World War II, had a gift for turning what sounds like the familiar on its head; it’s often as if two distinct compositional voices are yelling at each other: 19th century traditionalist and reluctant modernist.

Morlot excelled with these contrasts and received standout performances from many key contributors: English horn player Scott Hostetler, acting principal clarinet John Bruce Yeh and assistant concertmaster David Taylor. Maybe “Frescoes” doesn’t need to be immediately brought back to Orchestra Hall, but many of Martinu’s other works should.

Just before intermission, Debussy’s “La Mer,” which will receive the “Beyond the Score” treatment Sunday at Orchestra Hall, was at times magically undulant under Morlot’s direction. But if this un-French orchestra didn’t always capture the sensuous and mutable curves of the music, they made up for it in crashing intensity.

Bryant Manning is a locally based writer and critic.