United States Brahms, Boulez, Dvořák: Daniil Trifonov (piano), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Klaus Mäkelä (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 2.5.2025. (ZC)
Brahms – Piano Concerto No.2 in B-flat major
Boulez – ‘Initiale’
Dvořák – Symphony No.7 in D minor
Brahms’s Piano Concerto No.2 is a meaty work. It may not be as imposing as Mahler’s Third Symphony, but it is large enough in musical vision to place great demands on both soloist and orchestra. Thus, it was an appropriate choice for Klaus Mäkelä’s second week with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and an equally fitting farewell for Daniil Trifonov, concluding his season-long role as the CSO’s artist in residence for 2024–25.
No less serious was the second half of the concert: Pierre Boulez’s ‘Initiale’, a compact brass fanfare originally written for septet, followed by Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony. It was a compelling program, following on the heels of Mäkelä’s conducting of Mahler’s sprawling Third Symphony the week prior (review here). Each of the three works had its own magnitude – none perhaps as long as the 100-minute Mahler – but all weighty in expression and execution.
Boulez’s ‘Initiale’ packed a striking amount of musical dazzle into just five minutes. The work, which had been expanded in celebration of Sir Georg Solti’s eightieth birthday, was done here in its original form as a septet. Showcasing the CSO’s muscular brass section, it was both taut and gleaming. With 2025 marking the centenary of Boulez’s birth, the inclusion of ‘Initiale’ was also a meaningful gesture. Boulez, who served as the CSO’s principal guest conductor from 1995 to 2006 and later as conductor emeritus, helped shape the ensemble’s modern identity – and the brass made his demanding music look effortless.
The Brahms Piano Concerto, symphonic in scale and emotional range, spans four movements and nearly 50 minutes. It is a work that challenges soloist and orchestra alike. Trifonov filled the first half of the concert with a performance that was both intensely focused and sharply etched. Staring straight ahead, his body slightly hunched over the keys, he played with matter-of-fact precision. Trifonov’s execution was sharp, displaying technical command time and again, but his interpretation was flexible too. He hurled himself into the music when called for yet brought tenderness and restraint when required – as in the lyrical Andante, where principal cellist John Sharp added a songful and beautifully shaped solo.
Mäkelä and the orchestra provided taut, exuberant support to the soloist. As Trifonov turned inward, mining every detail of Brahms’s score, Mäkelä led a performance which flowed naturally from beginning to end, balancing the orchestra’s raw power with moments of warmth and repose.
Those qualities carried into the second half with Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony. Mäkelä’s leadership was effusive, barely pausing between movements. He kept tempos urgent, the rhythms snapped with vitality and phrases were sculpted and complete. The symphony’s Czech flair remained intact, even as Mäkelä emphasized its architecture and Brahmsian weight.
Brahms’a Symphony No.3 was an inspiration for Dvořák’s Seventh, and while Brahms tends to receive more attention from orchestras, the Dvořák symphony’s perfection is that it, arguably, does more with less. Its immediacy and tight construction make it a standout in the repertoire, especially in a performance as driven and cohesive as this one.
Klaus Mäkelä’s two weeks in Chicago have now come to an end. It felt like a short fortnight. There is still time before his title officially shifts from Music Director Designate to Music Director, but these concerts – last week’s Mahler and this week’s Brahms, Boulez and Dvořák – offered a clear glimpse of what lies ahead.
The CSO is perhaps the most ‘American’ of America’s premiere orchestras – virtuosic, powerful and clean in timbre but with an adaptable style to suit any category of classical music. Mäkelä understands this deeply. More importantly, he has already shown he knows how to guide this extraordinary ensemble in becoming the best version of itself, no matter what the repertoire.
Zach Carstensen