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Chicago Tribune
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: Muti returns to the CSO, principal trumpeter and Verdi's Requiem in tow
For a time, Chicago Symphony music director emeritus Riccardo Muti planned to end the 2024/25 downtown season with Hector Berlioz's 'The Damnation of Faust,' not heard at Orchestra Hall since 2008. But last summer, the CSO announced the Berlioz would be swapped out with a more recent throwback: Verdi's Requiem, which Muti last led in Chicago in 2018. A signature of Muti's tenure here, the Requiem was performed and recorded to wide acclaim, first through a Grammy-winning 2010 album and again via livestream in 2013, back when that technology was relatively novel. Despite missing out on a rare-going-on-rarer 'Faust,' the Muti/Requiem pairing is as sure a thing as they come. Thursday's concert was no exception, clinching a standout performance of the year with a quartet of superbly cast — and superbly matched — vocal soloists, three of whom were making their CSO debuts. Mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa and tenor John Osborn were both cast for the originally planned 'Faust,' but you'd think they were hand-picked specifically for this repertoire. Crebassa didn't just sing the mezzo part — she seemed to live it, from the throaty intensity of 'Liber scriptus' to a grief-stricken 'Lacrymosa,' her vibrato bubbling like tears. Her jewel-toned voice sat well in Verdi's lower vocal writing, but it also easily winged skyward when called for, like a glittering upward climb in 'Quid sum miser.' Crebassa has not sung at the CSO since 2015, at Esa-Pekka Salonen's invitation; her next visit ought to come far sooner. Osborn was every bit as sensitive, living proof that one doesn't need to muscle through this writing to captivate a hall. Between his dynamic and emotional range, and an uncommon transparency of tone — the top of 'Quid sum miser' would have given most sopranos a run for their money in its diamond-bright purity — his every feature cut straight to the heart. Elena Guseva's soprano staggers in its power and control, retaining its hue even at lofty peaks. But much like her colleagues, the soprano was even more astonishing in moments of balance and introversion, like her spick-and-span octaves with Crebassa in 'Agnus Dei' and the tender sendoffs to 'Domine Jesu Christe' and 'Libera me.' The young bass-baritone Maharram Huseynov stepped in last week for Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, also originally a 'Faust' hire. Where many before him have brought big-boned heft to this role — which might have helped Huseynov when he got swallowed by the orchestra's fire in the 'Confutatis' — I'm not convinced that's the point. Huseynov's lighter touch felt closer to the spirit of the text, his voice toned, vulnerable and sympathetically, grippingly human-sized. These performances mark Donald Palumbo's official debut as the new director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. It was an auspicious first outing, the choir sounding sculpted and notably unified in color and timbre. Basses rumbled in the 'Rex tremendae' like a voice from a fissure in the earth; sopranos entered on the final 'Libera me' canon with the precision of a single singer. Any ensemble issues mostly came from disagreement between the orchestra and the chorus. The chorus floated around the beat in the first 'Dies irae.' The 'Sanctus' was the opposite: they followed Muti's more leisurely tempo like a shadow, despite the orchestra itching to default to the sprightly pace of years' past. But these moments were few and brief in an inspired, brilliantly paced Requiem, its orchestral contributions sounding fresher than ever. Violins supported the 'Kyrie' crisply; later, Vadim Karpinos' timpani licked like flame in the 'Dies irae.' Onstage and offstage trumpet quartets drove a terrifying transition into the 'Tuba mirum.' And when Guseva and the chorus sang that 'the earth shall be shaken' in the 'Libera me,' a mighty rumble in the double basses made sure you really believed it. Elsewhere, Muti halted the action with moments of total silence, all to great, hair-raising effect. Deliverance, indeed. A week earlier, also under Muti's baton, principal trumpet Esteban Batallán — returning to the ensemble this fall after a season with the Philadelphia Orchestra and a summer parental leave — made his CSO solo debut on two 18th century concertos for piccolo trumpet, by Georg Philipp Telemann and Joseph Haydn's overlooked brother, Michael. The repertoire frequently played to Batallán's strong points. Both — especially the Michael Haydn concerto and its virtuosic cadenzas, devised by Batallán himself — gave the trumpeter a chance to show off his dazzling upper register. And for all his sheer power behind the horn, Batallán can certainly scale back when called for, balancing chamber-style against the ensemble throughout. Mostly missing, at least on June 12, was a certain sense of phrase and direction in legato sections. From the slow movements of the Telemann to floating refrains in the Haydn, notes felt over-articulated rather than part of a longer line. The CSO sound under Muti is nothing if not refined — everything shapely and in its place, never crass nor unruly. That made for an elegant yet reliable accompaniment in these concertos. But once the orchestra became the main focus for Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 48, 'Maria Theresa,' and Schubert's Symphony No. 4, 'Tragic,' that refinement sounded more like reticence. The stormy fake-out in the Haydn's first movement sounded defanged, and the finale rather polite. The Schubert was even more reined in, the orchestra clean but sounding like it was playing at half-verve. The overall impression was one of an ensemble walking on eggshells: little spark, little levity, little variety, too much weighty reverence. That's not to discount some fine ensemble work. Woodwind contributions in the Schubert from clarinetist Stephen Williamson, oboist William Welter, and outgoing flutist Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson were both impassioned and lucid. Mark Almond, sitting in the hot seat for the Haydn symphony's diabolically high horn part, wasn't always pristine, but he deserves serious kudos for deftly balancing the stratospheric register of his accompaniment so it dusted the harmonies instead of dominating them — all too easy to do. 'Muti Conducts Verdi Requiem' repeats 7:30 p.m. June 20-24 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets starting at $79,
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Irish ports handle 12.9m tonnes of goods in the first quarter
Irish ports handled 12.9 million tonnes of goods in the first quarter. That is 7 per cent ahead of the same period last year, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows. However, the latest numbers include traffic through Greenore, Co Louth, as a main statistical port for the first time. That, the CSO pointed out, skews comparisons with previous data. Greenore joins Bantry Bay, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, Shannon Foynes, and Waterford as one of the State's main ports. Under international guidelines, main statistical ports are categorised as those that have exceeded handling one million tonnes of goods or 200,000 passengers each year for a consecutive three-year period. READ MORE Goods forwarded from Irish ports were up 5 per cent to four million tonnes, while goods received rose 8 per cent to nine million tonnes. Irish ports hosted 2,557 vessels during the period compared with 2,488 during the same months last year. Dublin Port accounted for 1,478 (58 per cent) of those, and for 6,046 (47 per cent) of the total tonnage handled. Britain and Northern Ireland accounted for 3,794 (29 per cent) of the total tonnage handled, while EU countries accounted for 6,208 tonnes (48 per cent).
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
House building declined in the first three months of 2025
The volume of production was down by 4.3pc compared with the final quarter of last year. The finding will be regarding as all the more disappointing as activity in the construction sector overall was well up, increasing by 6.5pc from the last quarter of 2024 and up 19pc on an annual basis, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office. The focus of activity in the construction industry seems to have moved towards non-residential building, with the volume index for civil engineering, for example, rising by 16.6pc. Shane O'Sullivan of the CSO said: 'On an annual basis, between Q1 2024 and Q1 of this year, production volume in construction grew by 13.5pc. During the same period, in the non-residential building sector it rose by 13.7pc, and was up by 35.9pc in the civil engineering sector, while production volume in residential building showed an annual decrease, down 10.6pc.' It is the latest disappointing set of figures for the Government, which prompted the Housing Minister, James Browne, to say on Thursday that the official target of building 41,000 new homes this year is 'not realistic'. The Central Bank has downgraded its forecast for delivery to 32,500. This follows the publication of figures for completions in the first quarter by the CSO, showing they were only 2pc up on the same period in 2024, a year that finished with just over 30,000 units being completed. Of even more concern was the 2.5pc decline in the number of homes that got planning permission in Q1, which stood at 8.177 units. The Government has responded by introducing legislation to amend the Rent Pressure Zone system, bringing every current tenancy under an RPZ. It is also expanding the remit of the Land Development Agency, and the Tanaiste, Simon Harris, has said further, unspecified measures are going to be announced between now and the Dail recess in July. Ian Lawlor, managing director of Roundtower Capital, said: 'While the volume of production in building and construction is up, the 4.3pc fall in house building activity is hugely disappointing and a further indication that the government is going to struggle to meet its housing targets this year.' 'While the rental reforms recently announced are certainly welcome, the jury is out as to just how effective they will be in stimulating housing supply,' he added. 'Other obstacles to increased supply that need to be tackled if the Government is to get more private investors on board include prohibitive development levies, VAT burdens, inadequate tax incentives, limited Public Private Partnership options, and insufficient state support for builders.'
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Greenore port now included in CSO main port statistics
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish ports handled a total of 12.9 million tonnes of goods in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 7% compared with the same time last year. The CSO said that goods forwarded from from Irish ports amounted to four million tonnes while nine million tonnes of goods were received in the first three months of the year. The CSO said the port of Greenore in Co Louth met the criteria to be included as a main statistical port for the first time in the latest three month period under review. Greenore joins Bantry Bay, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, Shannon Foynes and Waterford, and increases the total number of main statistical ports in Ireland from seven to eight. This is the first time the number of statistical ports in Ireland has increased since this series began in the first quarter of 2017, the CSO noted. Today's CSO figures show that a total of 2,557 vessels arrived in Irish ports in the first quarter of this year compared with 2,488 the same time last year. Dublin Port accounted for 58% of vessel arrivals and for 47% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the three month period. They also reveal that Great Britain & Northern Ireland accounted for 29% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade, while EU countries accounted for 48% of the total tonnage of goods.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish ports handle almost 13m tonnes in first three months of 2025
The total tonnage of goods handled by the eight main Irish ports was 12.9m tonnes in the first three months of 2025. It comes as a new port, Greenore in Co Louth, is included as a main statistical port for the first time. It marks the first time the number of statistical ports in Ireland has increased since the CSO series began in early 2017. "It joins Bantry Bay, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, Shannon Foynes, and Waterford, and increases the total number of main statistical ports in Ireland from seven to eight," said CSO statistician Damien Lenihan. However, Mr Lenihan also noted that its inclusion will affect comparability as the data in for the first three months of 2025 is now based on eight ports whereas previous releases were based on seven. The CSO reported a 7% rise in the total tonnes of goods handled by Irish ports between January and March 2025. Goods forrwarded from Irish ports amounted to 4m tonnes in in the first three months of this year, up by 5% when compared with the previous quarter. Meanwhile, goods received by Irish ports amounted to 9m tonnes at the start of 2025, which was 8% higher than the same period in the previous year. Between January and March, some 2,557 vessels arrived in the main Irish ports compared with 2,488 in the same three months in 2024. Dublin Port accounted for 58% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports in the three months. Main statistical ports are categorised as those ports that have exceeded handling 1 million tonnes of goods or 200,000 passengers each year for a consecutive three-year period. Great Britain and Northern Ireland accounted for 29% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in the first three months of this year, while EU countries accounted for 48% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports.
