Ravinia has closed its summer season with an all-Tchaikovsky evening for nearly fifty years. The CSO spoiled us on its 90th summer residency here — four Tchaikovsky pieces in one night that would take four separate concerts to hear during the regular season.
Earl Lee, conductor | Stella Chen, violin
Tchaikovsky — Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, op. 24
Tchaikovsky — Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35
Tchaikovsky — Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
Tchaikovsky — 1812 Overture, op. 49 (with cannons)
The Polonaise from Eugene Onegin opened the evening without the weight of the opera behind it — just the grand, cheerful march on a sunny Sunday afternoon, which is exactly what it should be. The CSO’s brass was the story of the night: full-bodied, bright, locked together in tone, never missing a note. Tchaikovsky writes for brass as if he trusts them completely, and Sunday they earned it.
Stella Chen’s tone in the Violin Concerto was genuinely lovely. The first movement was a bit rushed — one note in the wrong key, some nerves, the outdoor acoustics doing her no favors — but she settled into the second and third movements and they were great. The Canzonetta especially. The Ravinia pavilion is not an easy room for a soloist to calibrate.
The second half was the spectacle. Romeo & Juliet built steadily, the love theme properly expansive in the open air. Before the finale, Earl Lee shared that Ravinia was the first job he applied to after college — as a cellist. He didn’t get it. He stood there Sunday night as the conductor closing the CSO’s 90th summer residency. Not a bad arc.
Then the 1812 Overture — the cannons were brought out, and they did their job.
The cannons. They fired.
The assorted balloons, intended for some festive end-of-concert release, failed to come down.
A packed Pavilion, and the balloons that stayed.