Five curtain calls for Boulez after “Amériques” - multiple bows and thunderous ovations for the expanded C.S.O. percussion section after “Ionisation” - an emotional expression of gratitude from Maestro Boulez to the musicians of the Chicago Symphony for their commitment to the music - the magnificent resonance of Carnegie Hall - a fitting finale to two weeks of music making at the highest level.

 Here are Anthony Tommasini’s words as published in his New York Times review on March 11: “By opening Monday’s program with Janacek’s Sinfonietta and concluding Tuesday’s with two Varése scores, Mr. Boulez may have been trying to shake up assumptions about music from the 1920s . . . On Tuesday Mr. Boulez turned to a true renegade, the Paris-born Varése, who arrived in America in 1915 as an autocratic, shaggy-haired, self-proclaimed messiah of modernism.  Yet Mr. Boulez had two raucously hard-core Varése scores sounding infectiously exuberant, almost festive. For all its rawness “Ionisation,” an eight-minute work for some three dozen percussion instruments, came across like an exhilarating jam session. And in “Amériques,” a 20-plus-minute din of abrasively dissonant harmony, fractured melodic bits and brutally gnashing orchestra noise, driven by sledgehammer rhythms and wailing sirens, Mr. Boulez embraced the glorious craziness of the music.”

 The icing on the cake this day was the news that Cynthia Yeh had received tenure as the C.S.O. Principal Percussionist, a true cause for celebration.  Her snare drumming in the Varése pieces was clear and perfect, as was her xylophone playing in the very exposed passages of the Elliot Carter piece. The entire C.S.O. percussion section - Jim, Patsy, Vadim, and Don on timpani - was likewise fantastic from the first rehearsal to the last fermata of “Amériques” at Carnegie Hall.  My fellow ‘extras’ - Michael B., Michael K., She-e, Gordon, Greg, Keith, Shannon, and Dan - were totally ‘there’ throughout.  The positive energy of these two weeks will stay with me forever.