Haitink stepping down after Beethoven fest
Bernard Haitink's stewardship of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra podium is ending this month on a triumphant note with a three-week Beethoven festival at Symphony Center/Orchestra Hall.
The Amsterdam-born Haitink has successfully guided the CSO through four seasons as principal conductor, spanning the period the orchestra searched for Daniel Barenboim's successor as music director. That search led to the appointment of the renowned Italian maestro Riccardo Muti, who will begin his inaugural season as the orchestra's 10th music director with a four-week residency beginning Sept. 23.
Any gap between music directors, especially if it lasts two years or more, is often difficult because an orchestra can easily lose its edge without a familiar face on the podium. Fortunately, Haitink and the CSO became a great team right from the beginning of their partnership. In addition to critically acclaimed concerts here and in Europe, last year the CSO made its first visit to mainland China. Also, Haitink's recordings for the in-house CSO Resound label (the eighth under his baton is being released this month) have garnered international praise, including a 2008 Grammy Award for Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony.
Haitink and the CSO planned the Beethoven festival (which began this week and runs through June 20) as the perfect sendoff. Included are all nine symphonies, along with chamber music performances by CSO musicians prior to each concert (free for that night's ticket-holders).
For those of us who have reveled in the special synergy the Dutch maestro has formed with the CSO, be assured he plans to return to Chicago as a guest conductor. Next spring, he will close the 2010-11 subscription season with two weeks of concerts of music by Schumann, Mozart, Brahms and Mahler.
The remaining concerts in this month's Beethoven festival are as follows: at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 5, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, Haitink will conduct the Second and Third ("Eroica") Symphonies; at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 10 and 11, he will conduct the "Leonore" Overture No. 2, along with the Fourth and Sixth ("Pastoral") Symphonies; at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 15, and at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, will be the "Leonore" Overture No. 3 plus the First and Seventh Symphonies.
The grand finale the weekend of June 18-20 will include three performances of Beethoven's Ninth ("Choral") Symphony, featuring the Chicago Symphony Chorus and four vocal soloists.
Tickets for this month's concerts (particularly the Ninth Symphony) are very limited, so visit cso.org or call (312) 294-3000 for availability.
Balanced budget for Lyric Opera: Determined not to follow the red-ink path of other major performing arts organizations, last week Lyric Opera of Chicago announced it was able to balance its budget for the 2009-10 season. Although subscription sales continued to slide likely because of the recession, the season experienced strong single-ticket sales, the third-highest in Lyric Opera history. As a result, 86 percent of available seats were sold for the 77 performances, 238,391 tickets total, raising revenue of $24.3 million. The company also raised more than $16.6 million in contributions.
The final balanced budget of $53 million will be achieved by using $2.7 million from the Lyric's Campaign for Excellence Fund, which was established in 2005.
"Like every other business, Lyric Opera must continue to be vigilant about spending and reduce costs wherever possible," said General Director William Mason. "As has been necessary for the majority of American opera companies, we have reduced the (coming) season to meet current audience demand."
The Lyric's 2010-11 season, which opens Oct. 1 with Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth," will comprise 68 performances, down from 77 in 2009-10. Other economic measures include ongoing administrative savings through wage freezes, attrition and layoffs. Perhaps most importantly, after intense negotiations, last fall the Lyric Opera Orchestra musicians and stagehands agreed to three-year labor contracts reflecting the current economy "as all our unions must do for the long-term health of the company," Mason said.
Total operating expenses for next season are projected at $52.4 million, with the fundraising goal increased to $17.2 million. This season's operating budget was $53 million. Lyric Opera has operated in the black for 22 of the past 23 years - a record among major American not-for-profit music and performing arts organizations.