I’ve always thought the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has one of the most insane string sections on Earth—versatile, responsive, laser-precise, and somehow still warm. Tonight, concertmaster Robert Chen led the strings in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and… they’re good. So good. 😙🤌🏻❤️🎶
The Chicago audience really enjoys standing up!
Technically, The Four Seasons is a set of four concertos, but somewhat it works even better without a conductor—especially when Chen is steering the ship. He carried the dual role of leader and soloist like it was nothing. The orchestra was tight down to microscopic detail, the phrasing felt alive. And Chen’s solo lines are GORGEOUS. The kind of sound that makes you forget it’s the 7th week of the quarter and final exams are coming close.
One moment really impressed me is their rendition of the 1st movement of Winter (Allegro non molto). Usually—like in the legendary Anne-Sophie Mutter recording—the soloist dives into that wild scale-arpeggio burst and lands on a big, rough, heroic long C (~45s). Chen… did not do the heroic C. He wobbled it and made it shaky, icy, almost windy—like the note itself had been outside on Michigan Ave in February. A very Chicago interpretation.
Slay