Review: Under the baton of James Conlon, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus presented “Elijah” in performances April 11-13, of which I heard the last. Like the oratorio on its surface, which is to say in its entirety, what I heard was altogether above reproach. The only question was why it was undertaken at all.
Read the full story »Holland Taylor’s one-woman show ‘Ann’ gets down with the grit and humor of a Texas star
At Bank of America Theatre. 4 stars!
Glass’ meditative ‘Satyagraha,’ on Gandhi, takes Met’s Live HD series to new ground
Preview: The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD broadcasts throughout the U.S. feature a landmark of American minimalism not to miss — ”Satyagraha” by Philip Glass, Nov. 19 and Dec. 7. Here’s a peek.
Ho-ho-ho! Best bet for giving is the 60-CD Leonard Bernstein treasury
In a quandary about what to give the person you dare not buy for? If that knotty assignment is a music or theater lover, we at Chicago On the Aisle have a garland of happy solutions: concert music, operas, plays and musicals on CDs, DVDs and downloadable recordings. We’ll be stringing our bright recommendations over the weeks ahead, so check back often.
Role Playing: City boy Michael Stegall ropes wild cowboy in Raven Theatre’s ‘Bus Stop’
Interview: Michael Stegall, who looks and sounds every inch a ropin’ cowboy in the Raven Theatre production of William Inge’s “Bus Stop,” grew up in the West. No surprise there. But wait a minute. Not that West. The 6-foot-3, 23-year-old actor hails from Palm Springs, CA, where the buffalo do not roam.
Contempo doubles down on new music, plays matchmaker for separate audiences
Preview: U.S. and Chicago premieres abound in the season opener of the new-music series Contempo, at the Harris Theater Tuesday. The concert is a double bill featuring a second set with Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara and her trio.
French conductor Stéphane Denève scores a triumph in Chicago Symphony debut
Review: The French conductor Stéphane Denève made a thrilling debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Thursday night. Denève, who turns 40 this month, is going to be an international force, and his concert with the CSO amply demonstrated why. *****
Lyric Opera’s powerful ‘Boris Godunov’ recaptures tragedy’s original stark beauty
Tortured soul of a Russian czar. 4 stars!
Da capo al fine, sharply accented ‘Bernstein’ sketches life of a great American conductor
Maestro at the Royal George. 3 stars
CD Review: Invention, finesse of Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets revealed in Emerson’s hands
The last three string quartets Mozart composed, in 1789 just two years before his death, utterly belie the desperate financial straits into which he had fallen. These sunny, and technically brilliant, performances by the Emerson String Quartet reveal Mozart at the zenith of his creative powers.
Motley travelers looking to get their tickets punched at Raven’s snowbound ‘Bus Stop’
Engagingly off-kilter charms. 3 stars
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Role Playing: Brent Barrett’s glad he joined ‘Follies’ as that womanizing, empty cad Ben
Interview: At the center of Stephen Sondheim’s acerbic musical “Follies”stands Benjamin Stone, worldly, rich, the envy of his old acquaintances gathered at this reunion of theater folks. Ben is all of that, and one more thing — miserable. Veteran actor Brent Barrett offers a candid analysis of the self-centered cad and womanizer.
In Handel’s ‘Water Music,’ Labadie and Chicago Symphony provide a splash of Baroque authenticity
What a pleasure it was Thursday night to hear Handel’s vivacious “Water Music” in the hands of a conductor who knows it so intimately that he doesn’t require a score – and who understands what charms it possesses that induced a delighted monarch to command repeated performances at its first hearing.
Calling all composers! Win up to 5 minutes on a Hilary Hahn recital! And be recorded!
No, this is not an appeal on the back of a cereal box, although it’s definitely got that gee-whiz feeling.Leave it to Hilary Hahn, the nimble-witted concert violinist and Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, to announce her Encore Contest in a whisper on YouTube by candlelight.
Review: Pacifica Quartet pairs Shostakovich and Beethoven, showing them as peers
Review: The Pacifica Quartet offered a stunning reminder in its concert Sunday at the University of Chicago that the quartets of Shostakovich stand shoulder to shoulder with Beethoven’s as exemplars of the form, great and deeply personal expressions. *****
In a meeting of grey eminences, Haitink scores a fine first in Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Creation’
Review: Is there an optimal year in one’s life to conduct a masterpiece of Haydn for the first time? In the case of Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink and Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation,” the magical number would appear to be 82. ****
Amid Beethoven and Shostakovich quartet cycles, Pacifica to glimpse both at University of Chicago
The Pacifica Quartet has been playing complete cycles of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets and Shostakovich’s 15 in international venues over the last couple of years. Violist Masumi Per Rostad talks about the enduring importance of both composers.
CD review: Guitarist David Russell’s Albeniz displays mastery of instrument, style
The American guitarist David Russell got my attention a few years back with a CD of Renaissance music that included some very fine readings of works by John Dowland. That same technical finesse and artful musicianship grace this wide-ranging collection of pieces by Isaac Albeniz.
Profiles’ ‘Behanding in Spokane’ bundles laughter and terror in the same dark bag
Sardonic, but clear-sighted. 3 stars
Role Playing: Sadieh Rifai zips among seven characters in one-woman ‘Amish Project’
Interview: Actor Sadieh Rifai thought Jessica’s Dickey’s play “The Amish Project,” at American Theater Company, would be a pretty straight-forward one-woman show. The plays is based on the 2006 shooting of 10 school girls in Pennsylvania. Rifai would be switching among seven characters, but she didn’t see that as a big deal. She was in for a big surprise.
Bernard Haitink charms Chicago Symphony with twin beauties from Schubert and Mahler
Review: Conductor Bernard Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra summoned performances of exceptional clarity in Schubert’s chamber-size Fifth Symphony and Mahler’s grand-scaled Fourth Symphony. *****
The Doyle & Debbie Show: Singin’ hits that’ll warm you up like hog rasslin’ in the July sun
At the Royal George Theatre. 4 stars!
Chicago Symphony MusicNOW opens season with ping-pong balls and rhythms a-tumble
Review: MusicNOW, the contemporary series of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, began its 2011-12 season alive with the music of ping-pong balls, marimba, country fiddle and eerie vocals. Composers converged from Dublin, Connecticut, Minnesota and London to hear their works performed.
What’s under that skirt? Chicago Lyric Opera’s coloratura Anna Christy kicks Olympia into top gear
Lyric Opera close-up: We had to know. How is it that soprano Anna Christy is able to zip around like a hovercraft while pinging those sparkling high notes as Olympia, the mechanical doll, in “The Tales of Hoffmann”?
Role Playing: Kirsten Fitzgerald inhabits sorrow, surfs the laughs in ‘Clybourne Park’
Interview: Actor Kirsten Fitzgerald portrays two very different characters amid the hurlyburly of “Clybourne Park, the double-edged drama by Bruce Norris now playing at Steppenwolf Theatre through Nov. 13. She’s a grieving mother in 1959 and a self-interested lawyer 50 years later.
It’s a theatrical tour de force that Fitzgerald likens to acting in two different plays the same night.
Finnish conductor answers every question in CSO debut
Susanna Mälkki, the 42-year-old music director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 13 with a program of Charles Ives and Richard Strauss that, in every way, placed her among the most important conductors of her generation.
Sondheim’s ‘Follies’ at CST: Broadway glitz and glamour, with all the endearing bruises
At Chi. Shakespeare Theater. 5 stars!
Riccardo Muti receives Birgit Nilsson Prize of $1M
Video: In acceptance speech, he stresses social commitment thru music.
With new honors falling like autumn leaves, Riccardo Muti reflects on the conductor’s art
In Part 2 of an interview with Chicago On the Aisle, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director extols Italian training, calls Toscanini his hero and admits impatience with routine effort – and prima donnas.
Lyric Opera’s ‘Lucia’: New production casts a shimmering light on tale of love and madness
Donizetti’s bel canto dazzler. 5 stars!
From ‘naughty’ composer, young Baroque troupe gets a nice boost
It’s the phone call all struggling musicians hope for — the announcement of a competition prize complete with recording contract. For Wayward Sisters, a Baroque ensemble specializing in 17th-century music, the news lit up lines in Chicago and three other locales where its four members reside.
Worth A Visit
Recent Posts
- CSO and Chorus offer Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’: Polished sound, but scant fury, signifying little
- Klaus Mäkelä is named CSO music director; Finnish conductor to succeed Muti in 2027
- Baroque bounty: Haymarket revives oratorio, Bella Voce turns spotlight on its band Sinfonia
- As Lyric Opera emerges from challenging era, Anthony Freud winds up 13-year run at helm
- With word waiting on next CSO music director, Jakub Hrůša leads a spectacular ‘Zarathustra’
Most Commented
- Role Playing: Janet Ulrich Brooks on nailing the style of a wily Russian in 'A Walk in the Woods'
- Role Playing: City boy Michael Stegall ropes wild cowboy in Raven Theatre’s ‘Bus Stop’
- Role Playing: Sadieh Rifai zips among seven characters in one-woman ‘Amish Project’
- Role Playing: Kirsten Fitzgerald inhabits sorrow, surfs the laughs in ‘Clybourne Park’
- Role Playing: Brent Barrett’s glad he joined ‘Follies’ as that womanizing, empty cad Ben