I was apprehensive about reviewing the Chicago Philharmonic’s Sunday concert at Northwestern’s Pick-Staiger Auditorium due to a multitude of conflicting interests. My mother is on the orchestra’s board; I had given a talk about the performance; I’ve written grants for the group; my parents are donors; orchestra members are personal friends and former teachers of mine; I even played with the group once. I was concerned that if the concert were sub-par, I would have to figure out a way discreetly to suggest as much. Fortunately, that unenviable task was not to be mine, as the concert was thrilling. All that said, given these conflicting interests, you are cordially invited, as always, to ignore every last comment I might have about the performance.

The CPO opened the evening with the undeservedly underperformed Sixth Symphony of Antonin Dvorak. The piece itself sounds somewhat self-conscious. When Dvorak wrote it he had recently made the acquaintance and enjoyed the endorsement of Johannes Brahms. The work in question was composed three years after Brahms’ 2nd Symphony, is in the same key of D Major, and I’d say has an almost identical spirit. One can’t help thinking this came from the pen of a man anxious to please.

The Chicago Philharmonic delivered an assertive performance of this loud Brahmsian echo. Most striking was the unity of the ensemble, which plays together (unfortunately for listeners) just four times a year. Enviable intonation, a coherence of sound and phrasing, and more energy than anyone has a right to expect from performers on a Sunday night were trademarks of the evening. Many of the group’s players are members of the Lyric Opera’s orchestra, which no doubt contributes to its stamina to give top-notch performances at odd hours. They also displayed a marked flexibility under conductor Larry Rachleff’s direction, and to each other—things also often learned in the always unpredictable realm of an opera pit. The work’s many short woodwind commentaries on longer melodies were elegantly handled, the brass section achieved power within the confines of taste, and the string section dispensed a rare sonic unity.

The second half of the concert featured pianist Vladimir Ovchinnikov in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Mr. Ovchinnikov did more work to dispel Nickolai Rubenstein’s (the work’s initial dedicatee) original assertion that the work is unplayable. His interpretation was frank, neat, and clean; it lacked the pedal-induced “fuzz” that so often accompanies live performances of this piece. This particular performance had the singular quality of the orchestra matching the virtuosity of the pianist with the 8 million notes he has on his hands (hehe!). The orchestral playing was robust, and smartly enhanced Ovchinnikov’s refined performance.

All in all the evening was more than enjoyable, and was only enhanced by a talented flute quartet, the Lewis Weinberg Flute Quartet, that serenaded the audience in the foyer during intermission.