Review: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its music director for the last 13 seasons have come to a conclusion and a consummation of that long and distinguished relationship, but not an ending. After a sublime account of Beethoven’s monumental Missa Solemnis with the CSO and Chorus at Orchestra Hall on June 23, Riccardo Muti was invested as Music Director Emeritus for Life in a presentation by Jeff Alexander, president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and Mary Louise Gorno, chair of the board of directors.
Read the full story »Light the lights! Lyric Opera stirs a musical into the mix
Eight operas for 2011-12 include new productions of “Showboat,”Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and Handel’s “Rinaldo.” The new season opens Saturday night with Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann.”
CST will stage remixed ‘Othello’ in London at Cultural Olympiad
“Funk It Up About Nothin'” team creates work for pre-Olympics festival.
Amid flounces and bustles, good vibes bring rosy cheeks
High-voltage effects “In the Next Room” at Victory Gardens. 4 stars
Art, and artists, mined from an unsuspected vein
“The Pitmen Painters” at TimeLine is a charming mine of creativity. 4 stars!
Our hit list for the Chicago Symphony’s 2011-12 season
It’s tough to choose amid the bounty and variety that music director Riccardo Muti and guest conductors will offer in the coming months, but we’ve assembled an alluring 12-pack. The envelope, please… …
CD reissues point up Riccardo Muti’s early mastery
Complete Beethoven and Tchaikovsky symphonies are among the many major works in recordings from the 1970s and ‘80s by the CSO’s conductor with the Philadelphia and Philharmonia Orchestras.
From a long life in the opera world, Muti brings Chicago Symphony gifts of drama and poetry
The distinctive qualities of Riccardo Muti’s genius as a conductor, above all a lyrical sensibility cultivated through decades in the opera house, will shape his tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony.
Love, reality and other disquieting intrusions
In “The Real Thing” at Writers’ Theatre, love’s a moving target. 5 stars!
CD review: Beethoven sonatas, with polish and affection
Ingrid Fliter’s fresh take on three favorite masterpieces. 4 stars!
A journey into the daunting forest of arms diplomacy
“A Walk in the Woods” at TimeLine.
Cold War contretemps. 4 stars!
As the Lyric Opera’s poster girl, Fleming proves pitch-perfect
In a chat with high school singers picked for a new Lyric collaboration with the Merit School of Music, the soprano diva Renée Fleming admits she struck out twice competing in the Met auditions — and taking her driver’s exam.
Protecting the old neighborhood, but redefining the threat
“Clybourne Park” at Steppenwolf. Bias on the block. 5 stars!
Worth A Visit
Recent Posts
- Muti is CSO Music Director Emeritus for Life; honor caps grand Beethoven Missa Solemnis
- With CSO’s grand Beethoven finish still ahead, Muti stamped directorship with great Schubert
- With a transcendent Mahler Ninth Symphony, Czech rises in CSO directorship sweepstakes
- As Muti era spins toward close, he spotlights musicians who helped create an epic splendor
- When Yo-Yo Ma joins CSO for a concert, crowd goes wild; and then the scene gets really mad
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