Give thanks for the beautiful world of music By Erik Eriksson News-Chronicle A whirlwind trip to Chicago last week gave Nancy and me much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving time. In three days, we heard the Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in prime form and Wagner's "Siegfried" with a sturdy cast and the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra playing sumptuously. At Symphony Center, the Sara Lee Orchestra Series presented the Berlin Philharmonic under its chief conductor and artistic director, Sir Simon Rattle. The 48-year-old Englishman has long since passed from Wunderkind stage (his first important orchestral appointment came when he was in his teens) to a position among the top half dozen or so conductors in the world. What he has already achieved in Berlin makes every other orchestra in the world envious. Take a poll of critics in the major centers of the world and the Berlin will be at the head of the list. There is little argument to deny the BPO stature as the world's finest orchestra. Through its 120-year history, it has enjoyed immense prestige, especially during the years Wilhelm Furtwängler was its director and, even more so under the charismatic Herbert von Karajan. Karajan, arguably the most brilliant young conductor in the post-WW II era, moved ever closer to the kind of cold musical perfection that rendered his interpretations pieces of statuary, not living things. The conductor's position, bestowed for life, became imperiled when the orchestra he had largely remade, rebelled. Karajan compromised a little and held on a lot before his death. When the orchestra (a cooperative and therefore self-governed) looked for a new chief conductor, they chose the Italian, Claudio Abbado, and dispensed with making it a lifetime appointment. When ill health led to Abbado's decision not to renew his contract, the orchestra made a bold choice in calling Sir Simon. As one principal player put it, "We voted for the future." With no hyperbole whatever, I can state that the Berliners played better than any other orchestra I've heard to date (and I've heard most of the world's major orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Berlin in previous incarnations). Indeed, Berlin surpasses its former self by a substantial margin. For all Karajan's preoccupation with ultrarefined sound and execution, Sir Simon's players are that much more elegant - and they are equally committed to offering vital interpretations. Sir Simon has won the full cooperation of the, as he calls them, "tall poppies" in the orchestra, the high-powered principals who enjoy significant solo careers on the side. Not by intimidation or terrorizing demands does he enjoy such unanimity among his players. The martinets of the past wouldn't have a chance with a major orchestra today and Sir Simon knows this: collegiality is the key and the BPO members play their hearts out for their leader. The program began with a late Haydn symphony, his No. 90, the first of the evening's bookends in C major. Such rhythmic buoyancy, such glistening beauty of sound, such whiplash accuracy in quick turns, such a bold range of dynamics - such freedom of expression. Notwithstanding Sir Thomas Beecham's ingratiating way with Haydn and Antal Dorati's fine approach to him, this was Haydn to set new standards. No wonder the Berliners went on to win raves in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Few post-Romantic age conductors have so purposefully honored the music of their own time as Sir Simon. For his second work of the evening, he chose a new orchestral song cycle by French composer Henri Dutilleux (born 1916) called "Correspondances." Excerpts from letters by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Rainer Maria Rilke and Vincent van Gogh are complemented by a poem of Indian writer Prithwindra Mukherjee. Scored for soprano soloist and large orchestra, "Correspondances" holds the vast, dissonant sonorities that are among the composer's hallmarks. Canadian soprano Valdine Anderson (substituting on this tour for Dawn Upshaw) sang her difficult music withexpression and firm tone while Sir Simon shaped the aching music with utmost mea ning. The evening's second C major work, Schubert's Symphony No. 9 (the "Great") was illuminated in stunning ways by Sir Simon's energizing pulse and unfailing sense of structure; his incredible players leaned into the score as though initiating the wave. Erik Eriksson writes about classical music and jazz for The News-Chronicle. A member of the Music Critics Association of North America and the Jazz Journalists Association, he may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].