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A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti
“Playing in an orchestra in an intelligent way is the best school for democracy.”—Daniel Barenboim
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been led by a storied group of conductors. And from 1994 to 2015, through the best work of Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, and Riccardo Muti, Andrew Patner was right there. As a classical music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and WFMT radio, Patner was able to trace the arc of the CSO’s changing repertories, all while cultivating a deep rapport with its four principal conductors.
This book assembles Patner’s reviews of the concerts given by the CSO during this time, as well as transcripts of his remarkable radio interviews with these colossal figures. These pages hold tidbits for the curious, such as Patner’s “driving survey” that playfully ranks the Maestri he knew on a scale of “total comfort” to “fright level five,” and the observation that Muti appears to be a southpaw on the baseball field. Moving easily between registers, they also open revealing windows onto the sometimes difficult pasts that brought these conductors to music in the first place, including Boulez’s and Haitink’s heartbreaking experiences of Nazi occupation in their native countries as children. Throughout, these reviews and interviews are threaded together with insights about the power of music and the techniques behind it—from the conductors’ varied approaches to research, preparing scores, and interacting with other musicians, to how the sound and personality of the orchestra evolved over time, to the ways that we can all learn to listen better and hear more in the music we love. Featuring a foreword by fellow critic Alex Ross on the ethos and humor that informed Patner’s writing, as well as an introduction and extensive historical commentary by musicologist Douglas W. Shadle, this book offers a rich portrait of the musical life of Chicago through the eyes and ears of one of its most beloved critics.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been led by a storied group of conductors. And from 1994 to 2015, through the best work of Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, and Riccardo Muti, Andrew Patner was right there. As a classical music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and WFMT radio, Patner was able to trace the arc of the CSO’s changing repertories, all while cultivating a deep rapport with its four principal conductors.
This book assembles Patner’s reviews of the concerts given by the CSO during this time, as well as transcripts of his remarkable radio interviews with these colossal figures. These pages hold tidbits for the curious, such as Patner’s “driving survey” that playfully ranks the Maestri he knew on a scale of “total comfort” to “fright level five,” and the observation that Muti appears to be a southpaw on the baseball field. Moving easily between registers, they also open revealing windows onto the sometimes difficult pasts that brought these conductors to music in the first place, including Boulez’s and Haitink’s heartbreaking experiences of Nazi occupation in their native countries as children. Throughout, these reviews and interviews are threaded together with insights about the power of music and the techniques behind it—from the conductors’ varied approaches to research, preparing scores, and interacting with other musicians, to how the sound and personality of the orchestra evolved over time, to the ways that we can all learn to listen better and hear more in the music we love. Featuring a foreword by fellow critic Alex Ross on the ethos and humor that informed Patner’s writing, as well as an introduction and extensive historical commentary by musicologist Douglas W. Shadle, this book offers a rich portrait of the musical life of Chicago through the eyes and ears of one of its most beloved critics.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published April 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2020
When going to “serious” concerts, such as the symphony, ballet, or opera, I have long tried to invest in learning more about what I was going to experience before going to the show. Most of these works are highly complex and it is possible to just listen to the music or watch the dancing, I guess. If I do more preparation, I generally find the effort to be worthwhile and even rewarding.
It was with this in mind that I approached “A Portrait in Four Movements”, which presents itself as a sort of history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) with a focus on its four major principal directors (Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti). This year is a Beethoven year and CSO subscriptions are expensive, so it seemed worth a read, I found the book enjoyable but not the history that I had hoped for. Instead, the book was more of a commemoration of the Chicago Sun-Times music critic, Andrew Patner, who passed in 2015. There is a short history of the CSO at the start of the book, which is quite good. The main focus of the book, however, is from 1991 to 2015 or so. For that period, the book becomes a combination of the assorted reviews of Mr. Patner, in chronological order, along with the transcripts of radio interviews of Mr. Patner with the four conductors.
The individual reviews, each about 1-3 pages long, read well but are targeted either towards those who attended the concert or who might be motivated to attend an upcoming one. They do not read as if they were intended for a book-length volume - which they were not. The interviews are also good, but they serve a somewhat similar purpose and will be of the most value, I suspect, to those who are already familiar with the prospect concert pieces. The reviews and interviews do not help me think constructively about which concerts to attend. The personalities in these short pieces are also fascinating, although there is little about how the symphony works or some of the “inside baseball” that might be going on behind the scenes, which is legendary with the CSO.
I was also hoping that reading Patner’s reviews would help clarify what reviewers do - it is a real question I have for all sorts of reviews from musical events to book reviews. Alas, there were not many hints, although Patner’s writing was quite good.
Overall, I am glad I read it, but will keep hunting for more homework assignments to track down.
It was with this in mind that I approached “A Portrait in Four Movements”, which presents itself as a sort of history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) with a focus on its four major principal directors (Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti). This year is a Beethoven year and CSO subscriptions are expensive, so it seemed worth a read, I found the book enjoyable but not the history that I had hoped for. Instead, the book was more of a commemoration of the Chicago Sun-Times music critic, Andrew Patner, who passed in 2015. There is a short history of the CSO at the start of the book, which is quite good. The main focus of the book, however, is from 1991 to 2015 or so. For that period, the book becomes a combination of the assorted reviews of Mr. Patner, in chronological order, along with the transcripts of radio interviews of Mr. Patner with the four conductors.
The individual reviews, each about 1-3 pages long, read well but are targeted either towards those who attended the concert or who might be motivated to attend an upcoming one. They do not read as if they were intended for a book-length volume - which they were not. The interviews are also good, but they serve a somewhat similar purpose and will be of the most value, I suspect, to those who are already familiar with the prospect concert pieces. The reviews and interviews do not help me think constructively about which concerts to attend. The personalities in these short pieces are also fascinating, although there is little about how the symphony works or some of the “inside baseball” that might be going on behind the scenes, which is legendary with the CSO.
I was also hoping that reading Patner’s reviews would help clarify what reviewers do - it is a real question I have for all sorts of reviews from musical events to book reviews. Alas, there were not many hints, although Patner’s writing was quite good.
Overall, I am glad I read it, but will keep hunting for more homework assignments to track down.
January 9, 2021
When I learned of the publication of the late Andrew Patner's book "A Portrait in Four Movements: The Chicago Symphony under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti" I immediately downloaded it onto my Nook e-reader. I always enjoyed reading Mr. Patner's reviews and listening to his participation on WFMT, Chicago's classical station. While I did not always agree entirely on his assessments, he was nevertheless a lively "read", and is really missed by journalism fans like myself. I wish we had met, but it was not to be.
The book is prefaced by a brief history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra which is appreciated as to date there has not been a recent history published about it. They do have a superb and searchable archive which may be accessed on the CSO webpage which contributed to the publication of this book.
Copies of Mr. Patner's book may be ordered directly from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra webpage. Enjoy!
The book is prefaced by a brief history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra which is appreciated as to date there has not been a recent history published about it. They do have a superb and searchable archive which may be accessed on the CSO webpage which contributed to the publication of this book.
Copies of Mr. Patner's book may be ordered directly from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra webpage. Enjoy!
June 3, 2019
What a wonderful book. I was a regular attendee at Orchestra Hall in the 1970s and 1980s, but then life become complicated and I was not back there until 2013, after retirement. This book fills in much of the interval and gives details and context for conductors and concerts that I only saw in fleeting glimpses. I rarely read Andrew Patner's reviews, as we could not get reliable delivery of the Sun-Times in our neighborhood, but I always enjoyed his programs on WFMT.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews