Lucky 7

Welcome to Fine Arts Corner, a service provided by Elisberg Industries in our proprietor's ongoing, uphill effort to make it seem like, on occasion -- and on the surface -- that, in addition to our regular yammering, we supposedly have good taste.

It’s unclear, but possible that this video will only be available through May 10, so I figured it was posting something this gorgeous now or never.  And even though most people won’t  watch all of it, some may watch at least part of it – if only because it’s great music to work to.

It’s video from 2010 of a Great Performances episode on PBS of when Pierre Boulez conducted the Chicago  Symphony in Mahler’s epic 7th Symphony.  (In fairness, pretty much every Mahler Symphony is "epic"…)  Boulez had been the principal guest conductor of the orchestra, and this video is posted online in honor of this being the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Here’s what they write on the CSO website --

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra joins the music world in celebrating the centennial of Pierre Boulez (1925–2016), one of history’s most consequential composers and conductors and a beloved member of the CSO family. As principal guest conductor — and later Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus — Boulez worked with the Orchestra and Chorus across many decades, leading them both at home and on tour and making a number of landmark recordings, including several Grammy Award winners.

As we remember Boulez’s legacy, enjoy an encore presentation of Mahler’s enigmatic Seventh Symphony performed by the CSO under his baton — recorded in Orchestra Hall in October 2010 and featured on a PBS Great Performances telecast. The concert is available exclusively on CSOtv through May 10.