3CR Review: Giancarlo Guerrero Conducts Joshua Bell and the Grant Park Orchestra Through an Outstanding Performance

by Louis Harris for Third Coast Review, August 8, 2025

With violin extraordinaire Joshua Bell headlining, the Grant Park Orchestra gave an outstanding performance at Jay Pritzker Pavillion on Wednesday evening. Giancarlo Guerrero conducted a program of works by 19th Century, European composers who were contemporaries: Franz von Suppé from Austria, Edouard Lalo from France, and Piotr Tchaikovsky from Russia.

That Bell was a huge attraction was evident by the line of people trying to get in. It stretched all the way from the pavilion’s main entry to the intersection of Randolph and Michigan Avenue, roughly two city blocks. By the time I frantically reached my seat in a very crowded venue, Guerrero was already entering the stage.

It was quite a relief to hear quiet, relaxing sounds from the brass playing the charming opening theme from The Poet and Peasant Overture by Suppé. After some interactions between the orchestra’s various sections, cellist Walter Haman played the first of several extended solos with a warm and pure sound. As the orchestra’s other sections came in and out, his sound blended perfectly.

This piece has several moments of intensity, and Guerrero’s brisk style accommodated the contrasting sounds. On the whole, this is a flowing piece of music, and the Grant Park Orchestra captured that feeling well.

Following a quick set change, Joshua Bell entered for Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole. Although scored for solo violin, this piece is not a concerto, and there were no extended solo cadenzas. Rather, the performance challenges were incorporated into the whole work’s fabric. As he discusses in video on YouTube, Bell has been playing it since he was 11 years old, and it was the first major work he ever learned. He knows this piece intimately and it showed on Wednesday.

From the opening measures, Bell demonstrated feisty virtuosity. He has a very clean sound with immaculate fingering techniques and careful bowing. He also plays with total focus and intensity, with facial expressions showing him to be at one with the music.

Precise interactions with the various orchestra sections were everywhere. In the opening movement, there were a couple of instances when he and flautist Jennifer Lawson smoothly passed a rhythmic melody back and forth.

Grant Park’s ambient noises were remarkably quiet on Wednesday, and it wasn’t until the third movement Intermezzo: Allegretto non troppo that a motorcycle’s engine flared. This movement and the following fourth movement Andante allowed Bell to show his full range from fiery intensity to expressive calm.

After several ovations, the concert continued without intermission with one of the greatest musical tear-jerkers ever written, Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy by Tchaikovsky. While not telling the play’s story, Tchaikovsky puts into music the main dramatic interactions, and the tragedy comes out clearly. The somber opening, which represents Friar Lawrence, starts quietly in the woodwinds, soon joined by the strings, horns, and harp. During this introduction, the evening’s only siren sounded nearby, but it actually added to the suspense.

Music like this stretches emotions, and Guerrero really brought out the Grant Park Orchestra’s best sounds. The transitions to the different sections were smooth, from the quiet opening to the intense dramatic section representing the Montague/Capulet dispute, and to the beautiful love theme. The performance of this theme, both at the beginning and toward the end was exquisite, and the sadness flowed at the end.

There aren’t many occasions when I can close the note pad and allow the music to wash over. This was one of them. It was an excellent performance through and through.

Grant Park Music Festival continues tonight and tomorrow night with Giancarlo Guerrero conducting. Chicago violinist Jenifer Koh will be joining the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Jennifer Higdon's The Singing Rooms. Also on the program is Stravinsky's The Firebird, Lera Auerbach's Icarus, and Benjamin Britten's The Building of the House. Friday, August 8, 6:30 pm, Saturday, August 9, 7:30 pm.

Next Wednesday, Giancarlo Guerrero will be conducting the Grant Park Orchestra and pianist Clayton Stephenson to perform Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. The program also features Chelsea Komschlies' Mycelialore and Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, Organ.

Full article HERE