MusicNOW composers in step with the pulse of the times

December 14, 2010

It is good to see the MusicNOW series breaking out of its old hidebound ways, getting down (and sometimes dirty) with vernacular musics that don't necessarily carry an academic stamp of approval. Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, the Chicago Symphony's hip young resident composers, have their feelers out everywhere and they were on hand Monday night at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance to introduce five recent works that reflect the stylistic openness among the younger generation of American art music composers.

A diva with many hats, Fleming delights fans

December 13, 2010

"I just want to tell you," Renee Fleming said with a knowing smile to her adoring audience Sunday at the Civic Opera House, "it's very challenging, this diva-glamour thing."

Renee Fleming takes major position at Chicago Lyric Opera

December 9, 2010

Earlier this year it was Yo-Yo Ma signing on with Riccardo Muti's team at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Now another classical music superstar has assumed a major role in the artistic leadership of the city's other blue-chip musical institution.

Lyric's mirthful 'Mikado' banishes the chill of winter

December 7, 2010

The tiresome old argument that the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas – poised as they are between grand opera and musical theater – don't belong in the repertory of "serious" opera companies still lingers in some snobbish quarters of the arts establishment. Lyric Opera of Chicago effectively demolished that canard with its successful treatments of "The Mikado" in 1983 and "The Pirates of Penzance" 20 years later.

Pianist Aimard more than equal to the virtuoso tasks he set for himself

December 6, 2010

Pierre-Laurent Aimard has long prided himself on doing things his own way, from his stimulating programs that put old music and new music in lively dialogue with one another, right down to his unconventional concert attire. I've heard the brilliant French pianist numerous times since his Chicago debut in 1988 and each time the sovereign command of his playing have left me with senses refreshed. To judge from the prolonged ovation that erupted at the end of his recital Sunday afternoon at Orchestra Hall, many others were experiencing a similar reaction.

Find finest classical in a box

December 4, 2010

Of the boxed bounty released this year, here are seven collections I recommend without hesitation. May they provide comparable cheer to the classical music lovers on your holiday shopping list.

Chopin to Schuman, it was a very good year

December 4, 2010

It was another banner year for classical recordings. Of the new issues I returned to again and again these past months, here are 10 that I found both exceptional and important:

Boulez captures raw power, driving vitality of Janacek's 'Glagolitic Mass'

December 3, 2010

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra could not have asked for a nicer confluence. The same week that the orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus and Pierre Boulez were nominated for Grammy awards in various categories, there they were on stage at Orchestra Hall, giving their all to Leos Janacek's "Glagolitic Mass," a 20th century choral masterpiece that is still too seldom heard. The weekend concerts conclude the conductor emeritus' residency for the season and are not to be missed.

Here's a howdy-do: 'The Mikado' is back at Lyric Opera of Chicago

December 1, 2010

When Lyric Opera of Chicago audiences last heard "The Mikado," back in 1983, the "innocent merriment" came courtesy of that bad boy of opera directors, Peter Sellars. He transported the Gilbert and Sullivan favorite to modern-day Tokyo where our hero was a motorcycle-riding rock star and the "gentlemen of Japan" were a pack of corporate clones. His sly updating gave then-general director Ardis Krainik the first big success of her young administration.

CSO's Muti 'too busy' to accept Rome opera offer

November 27, 2010

Riccardo Muti has denied published reports that he has signed a contract to become artistic director of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. Combining the Rome job with his responsibilities as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra would be too demanding, the Italian maestro said at a press conference this week in Rome.

Boulez introduces CSO audience to a gnarly modernist classic

November 27, 2010

At a time of year traditionally devoted to giving thanks, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has many blessings to count, not the least of which is the fact that conductor emeritus Pierre Boulez remains, at 85, a vital force in the artistic life of the institution. Boulez may have mellowed in some respects, but his questing mind and eagle ear remain as acute as ever, and he still has much to teach orchestral musicians and engage audiences.

Pianist embraces the unexpected

November 27, 2010

Some of the most deeply satisfying experiences I have taken away from more than three decades of attending concerts at Orchestra Hall have been provided by Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Dal Niente, Fifth House groups take listeners to places they're never been before

November 20, 2010

Davis does British countrymen proud in his concert with CSO

November 19, 2010

There is something about Andrew Davis' periodic forays across town from his fulltime duties at Lyric Opera to guest engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra that releases the twinkly adventurer in him. He is back this weekend at the podium of Orchestra Hall where he is wearing his "Sir Andrew" hat, arguing the case for two powerful if puzzling pieces from his native England, both of them new to the orchestra's repertory.

Blythe enjoys double-barreled challenge of her Lyric Opera debut

November 17, 2010

Stephanie Blythe is sitting on top of the world – at least the operatic portion thereof. And she's particularly enjoying the double-barreled opportunity Lyric Opera is giving her to prove what critics have been writing about her almost from the outset of her career – that she's a knockout in just about everything she performs, whether it's opera, concerts or recitals.

Blythe's triumphant debut helps stir the passions of Lyric's 'Ballo in Maschera' – 3 stars

November 16, 2010

The return of "Un Ballo in Maschera" ("A Masked Ball") to the Lyric Opera repertory will gladden the hearts of all who adore Giuseppe Verdi's melodious, middle-period masterpiece, a favorite around the Civic Opera House since its company premiere 55 years ago.

Despite Kleijn's valiant performance, new cello pieces don't add up to much

November 15, 2010

Sometimes the premise behind a brand-new piece of music can be of greater worth than the music itself. Such is the case with "Oil-Free Blush," a co-commission by Katinka Kleijn and the Chicago Humanities Festival that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist premiered as part of the final weekend of festival events Sunday at Francis Parker School.

Pappano needs speed check at concert with the CSO

November 12, 2010

There is no energy crisis on the podium this weekend at Orchestra Hall, where Antonio Pappano is presiding over a mostly standard-repertory program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. An infrequent guest here since his CSO debut in 1994, the British-based conductor, who serves as music director of London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, seemed in a hurry to make up for lost time.

With expert leadership and bracing performances, life begins at 40 for MOB

November 10, 2010

It has been nearly a decade since Music of the Baroque named Jane Glover and Nicholas Kraemer as its music director and principal guest conductor, respectively. Since 2002, these superb British musicians have expanded the repertory while infusing their interpretations with bracing vigor and a keen sense of style that makes early music leap off the page in a wonderfully immediate manner.

Pianist Hamelin thunders through Alkan rarity

November 8, 2010

The brilliant Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin is best known for blazing an individual path through little-known and unusual repertory that's made to order for a virtuoso of his digital prowess. But his musical appetite extends to more standard works as well. The recital he gave Sunday at Orchestra Hall as a replacement for Murray Perahia contained examples of both mainstream and unfamiliar fare, and it was the latter that emerged more successfully.

Those foolish mortals are back, courtesy of Britten and the Bard

November 7, 2010

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Lyric Opera of Chicago is a bit slow to find its comic rhythm, the early scenes suggesting someone awakening from deep slumber who needs a jolt of black coffee before facing the day. But give it a chance. By the time the mismatched lovers are going at one other in full squabble mode, their senses hopelessly addled by Puck's magic herb, Benjamin Britten's delicate, otherworldly music has worked its wonders, the show comes alive and we are transported.

Hail to the chief of American classical music

November 5, 2010

The grand celebration of Aaron Copland's music that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is presenting this weekend was long overdue. By rights the orchestra should have mounted a similar tribute to mark the 2000 centennial of the iconic American composer's birth. But that was in the era of Daniel Barenboim, to whom American music meant Elliott Carter. And so the CSO did nothing then to honor Copland, long one of its most beloved guest conductors.

Creating a 'sensual dreamscape' for Britten's retelling of the Bard's beloved comedy

November 3, 2010

What fascinates Neil Armfield about Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," he says, is its perfect symmetry of construction. The opera is at once a dream about a dream and a play about putting on a play.

Pacifica brings electric intensity to round two of its Shostakovich quartet cycle

November 1, 2010

The hottest ticket in Chicago classical music at the moment? That's an easy one. It is the Pacifica Quartet's Shostakovich string quartet cycle at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall.

Van Zweden, CSO deliver searing Shostakovich

October 29, 2010

Perhaps no guest conductor in recent years has connected with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its audience as impressively as Jaap van Zweden. This intense bundle of podium energy seems utterly incapable of giving a thoughtless or under-realized performance. So it was Thursday night when the Dutch conductor began a brief weekend engagement at Symphony Center.

Northbrook's Rapchak goes where others fear to tread

October 27, 2010

Even when the economy was in decent shape, Lawrence Rapchak never saw any sense in giving his audience the same sort of safe, predictable, greatest hits-oriented programming just about every other suburban orchestra in the area was playing.

'American Four Seasons' is entertaining but musically it's a Glass half empty

October 25, 2010

If you think the Xeroxed arpeggio died out with Antonio Vivaldi, you haven't been following very much of Philip Glass' music over the last 40 years or so. Actually, the master of Italian Baroque music and the comparably prolific grand old man of American minimalism have even more in common than you might think.

A corrupt dictator falls, and so does the opera

October 24, 2010

MILWAUKEE — It's hard to fathom what prompted the Florentine Opera, one of the nation's oldest and most respected regional opera companies, to throw its resources behind so flimsy and misbegotten a work as "Rio de Sangre" ("River of Blood"), which had its world premiere here on Friday night at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Remaining performances were Saturday and Sunday.

With violinist Shaham, CSO in chamber mode

October 22, 2010

Earlier this month management had to deputize soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the violin when the ailing Riccardo Muti bowed out of a concert at the eleventh hour.

CSO reports fiscal health is sound

October 22, 2010

Despite the brutal economy, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association scored another financially solid performance in fiscal 2010, when fundraising and single ticket sales rose and the CSO reported its fourth consecutive budget surplus.

Chicago new music has found its groove, and Fulcrum Point is a big reason why

October 20, 2010

The Chicago new music scene has become a lot more lively and a great deal less parochial over the last couple of decades. A younger generation of classically trained composers and performers has thrown over the old academic models and the dry, invariably discordant sounds typically associated with them.

Strong, rousing opener for Pacifica Quartet's Shostakovich cycle

October 18, 2010

If the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich represent the composer at his most public, his 15 string quartets reflect his most private reflections: They are a diary of a life lived, for the most part, under terrible Soviet political oppression. Along with Bartok's six string quartets, the Shostakovich works are the greatest in that medium to be written in the 20th century. Yet integral performances are rare.

Boulez keeps his cool at the helm of Mahler's 7th, CSO

October 16, 2010

In a week dominated by successful rescue efforts, the rescue that mattered most to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was Pierre Boulez's pulling what were to have been the final concerts of Riccardo Muti's aborted fall residency out of the fire.

A charming Carmen-in-waiting goes on at Lyric, ahead of schedule

October 14, 2010

Carmens come and Carmens go at Lyric Opera, but the ones I cherish the most are those who make the Gypsy temptress an earthy and alluring vocal and dramatic presence. American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves did so beginning in 2000 when Lyric's current production of Bizet's "Carmen" was seen for the first time, and again in 2005 when the show was revived.

Gergiev the over-achiever may be spreading himself too thin

October 13, 2010

Perhaps no living conductor multi-tasks like Valery Gergiev. Tuesday night at Orchestra Hall, he took time out from baton duties at the helm of the new "Boris Godunov" at the Metropolitan Opera to lead his Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg in an all-Russian program. The Chicago concert amounted to a kind of warm-up for a complete Mahler symphony cycle he and his ensemble are to begin next week at Carnegie Hall. Does the man ever rest?

Muti out of hospital, expected to make 'full recovery'

October 12, 2010

Riccardo Muti has been released from a Milan hospital and is expected to make a full recovery from the illness that forced him to withdraw from the remaining two weeks of his October programs as Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director, an orchestra spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Classical venues thrived under mayor

October 9, 2010

Supporting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and other major Chicago classical music institutions runs in the Daley family. The tradition dates back to 1971, when then-mayor Richard J. Daley ordered a ticker-tape parade on State Street to welcome home Georg Solti and the CSO after the orchestra's triumphant first tour of Europe.

Fisch takes over Muti program, Wagnerian warts and all

October 9, 2010

Asher Fisch is a musician who honors his colleagues' commitments. Good for him.

Muti hospitalized, undergoing tests in Milan

October 8, 2010

CSO music director Riccardo Muti is undergoing a series of tests in a Milan hospital to determine the exact nature of the "extreme gastric distress" that forced the 69-year-old conductor to withdraw from the remainder of his fall residency in Chicago, an orchestra spokeswoman said Thursday.

Bates, Clyne get CSO's MusicNOW season off to an electric start

October 6, 2010

Riccardo Muti may have taken flight, but his chosen Chicago Symphony composers in residence, Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, are very much in town for the duration. Indeed, they appear to have settled into their new posts just fine, to judge from the season's first MusicNOW concert Monday evening at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, which they programmed and hosted.

Muti cancellation a wake-up call for CSO

October 4, 2010

Whenever a high-profile music director of a major institution withdraws from his commitments to that institution, such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti did over the weekend, the cancellation can have far-reaching effects and implications for the institution.

Illness forces Muti out of fall CSO concerts

October 3, 2010

Not only did illness force Riccardo Muti to withdraw from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Ball concert Saturday night at Orchestra Hall, it will force the CSO music director to cancel the remainder of his fall residency weeks with the orchestra.

No holds Bard

October 3, 2010

Forget the kilts, plaids and tartans. Forget the painted-canvas castle walls. Forget all the quaint storybook clutter with which Verdi's "Macbeth" is usually saddled.

Muti's lyrical touch warms CSO program of Haydn and Mozart symphonies

October 1, 2010

Riccardo Muti is wasting no time making good on his pledge to bring classical music to as diverse a cross-section of Chicago area residents as possible. Having played Mozart for inmates of a juvenile prison in Warrenville three days earlier, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's music director was back performing Mozart – and Haydn too – Thursday night at Orchestra Hall, this time to a choir of already-converted subscribers.

Ravinia announces CSO 2011 lineup

September 30, 2010

Feeling the heat from Millennium Park, and faced with criticism that pop music is pushing classical music to the margins of its summer programming, the Ravinia Festival is putting its marketing muscle behind its enduring star attraction, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Critic's Eye your chance be on the inside of the classical music scene in Chicago

September 29, 2010

Have a question about classical music, or how Riccardo Muti has performed since arriving in Chicago to lead the CSO? Now here's your chance to ask me in person.

Chorus director Gray fills in capably for Glover at MOB's season opener

September 27, 2010

It's not like Jane Glover to miss a season opener, particularly when the music is dear to her and the event marks a major anniversary. But it was perfectly understandable that the music director of Music of the Baroque would bow out of the first concert of the organization's 40th anniversary season Sunday evening at First United Methodist Church in Evanston.

Gaines takes the plunge into opera

September 25, 2010

Onstage at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago director Barbara Gaines is about to rehearse an intimate scene between Thomas Hampson and Nadja Michael, as the power-hungry Macbeth and the bloody-minded Lady Macbeth. The atmosphere is genial, even jovial, in stark contrast to the grim world of ambition, murder, guilt and madness that is Verdi's "Macbeth."

Thunderous ovations greet CSO season opener under music director Riccardo Muti

September 24, 2010

If a major part of Riccardo Muti's agenda for his Chicago Symphony Orchestra is to treat his audiences to rarities previous music directors have neglected, then bring 'em on, say I.

Riccardo Muti unveils a Berlioz rarity to launch CSO subscription season

September 21, 2010

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is calling music director Riccardo Muti's inaugural residency "Festa Muti." Festival indeed: His four fall weeks of subscription concerts, beginning Thursday night at Symphony Center, are a foretaste of the repertory breadth he will be bringing to Chicago.

Muti knocks debut out of park

September 19, 2010

The official launch of the Riccardo Muti era at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra called for a lot more than a nice little concert in the park.

CSO enters brave new era with Riccardo Muti

September 17, 2010

Chicago likes its music directors gifted, famous, charismatic, larger than life. We appreciate if these podium wizards bring with them impeccable credentials and fancy European pedigrees. And we admire them all the more when they insist they are one of us.

Even before giving the downbeat, Muti rules

September 17, 2010

Muti-mania is, it would seem, everywhere.

Milestones in Riccardo Muti's life and career

September 17, 2010

July 28, 1941 Muti is born in Naples, Italy. His first piano and violin lessons come from his father, a physician and able tenor who encourages all six of his sons to study music.

What does a music director do?

September 17, 2010

Scout

A diverse first season

September 17, 2010

The widespread image of Riccardo Muti as an "Italian specialist" dies hard, but a glance at the programs for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director's 10 subscription weeks should lay that stereotype to rest for good.

Storming the Verdi heavens — with Muti, CSO

September 17, 2010

Verdi: Requiem. Soloists, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Riccardo Muti, conductor (CSO Resound, two CDs)

… and another thing or two or 10 about Muti

September 17, 2010

Civic Orchestra a crash course in what being an orchestra professional is all about

September 14, 2010

When the Civic Orchestra of Chicago kicks off its 92nd season Monday evening at Orchestra Hall, it will signal the start of another busy year of performances and outreach activities. Once again audiences will be reminded why this group of talented young pre-professional instrumentalists – the only training orchestra to be affiliated with a major American orchestra – stands apart from every other youth orchestra in the area and, indeed, the nation.

Bright voices fill big shoes at Lyric season preview

September 13, 2010

The sudden cancellations of singers can give opera company directors apoplexy, but sometimes they provide audiences with unexpected bounty. Such was the case Saturday night at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, where Lyric Opera of Chicago presented its 10th annual outdoor concert in downtown Chicago.

Fall music preview: Classical

September 10, 2010

Big deals

Harris Theater changes Mark Morris program

September 8, 2010

A dispute between the Chicago Federation of Musicians and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance over the theater's proposal to engage non-union musicians for performances by the Mark Morris Dance Group has been resolved. But neither side can claim victory.

Muti, Mahler top list of new fall releases

September 8, 2010

Fall is traditionally the time for the classical record labels to roll out their most tempting and/or important wares with an eye toward the holiday shopping season. Here is a preview — organized by label and date of release — of some of the musical bounty promised for the months ahead (all release dates subject to change):

Top 10 classical shows this fall: From Verdi to Boulez

September 5, 2010

It's not every Chicago music producer that has a Riccardo Muti to drive ticket sales this season. But any number of other area organizations besides the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are reminding us that a healthy classical musical life depends as much on their contributions as those of the rich and famous. Here are 10 significant signs that classical music is in good shape and caring hands:

Fall classical music preview: A deep dive into Soviet era

September 5, 2010

During her four years as executive director of the University of Chicago Presents concert series, Shauna Quill has made it her business to think boldly. Her boldest vision to date is about to become reality.

Brilliant violin-piano duo proves fine art of collaboration isn't dead

August 27, 2010

Classical music doesn't stop at Ravinia simply because the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has vacated the premises. A new series of early-evening recitals in Bennett-Gordon Hall has been filling the breach with interesting solo artists as the summer festival heads into its final weeks.

An avenging daughter and a femme (very) fatale take center stage at the Salzburg Festival

August 24, 2010

SALZBURG, Austria – In opera and oratorio at this year's Salzburg Festival, the spotlight was on women who come to bad ends. I mean, really bad ends.

Ma's Silk Road group treats Ravinia throng to a multicultural jam session

August 22, 2010

The Silk Road Project began a dozen years ago as a way to study the global circulation of indigenous musical impulses and traditions. Over time it evolved into an enormously popular caravan of cross-cultural performance and education, an extended celebration of transnational voices belonging to one world.

Muti rules in Salzburg

August 22, 2010

SALZBURG, Austria — The countdown continues for Riccardo Muti's long-awaited arrival in Chicago. Yes, it's finally happening.

Nostalgia flows freely as beloved diva charms fans at Ravinia. But don't call it a farewell.

August 20, 2010

Kiri Te Kanawa is not about to go gentle into the good night of retirement.

Nally steps down from Lyric chorus post

July 27, 2010

Donald Nally, chorus master of Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2007, will leave the company following the 2010-11 season to concentrate on non-operatic choral conducting and new music.

William Mason to exit as head of Lyric Opera in 2012

July 7, 2010

Part of being a good chief executive is knowing when to retire gracefully, and William Mason always did have impeccable timing.

Back to nature with Haitink, CSO

June 12, 2010

Much as Bernard Haitink loves Chicago, you didn't catch him wearing a Blackhawks jersey while leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the Stanley Cup-winning team's goal chant song, "Chelsea Dagger," at his concert Thursday night at Orchestra Hall. Not his style. After all, another triumphant local team was being celebrated on this occasion, along with another victorious hero: a guy named Beethoven.

Pinnock transfers his mastery of Classical style to a chamber-sized CSO

May 1, 2010

Trevor Pinnock is the latest early music specialist the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has engaged to take charge of one of its periodic sorties into the chamber orchestra repertory. The British conductor and harpsichordist, who was making his CSO debut Thursday night at Orchestra Hall, managed the leap more adroitly than some of his colleagues from the historical brigade.