Two guests from Europe led a program of Russian music at Symphony Center over the weekend – I was happy to make it out for the final concert, this past Sunday’s matinee, snatching up the very last seat on the main floor available online about four hours prior to showtime.  The Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado […]

Monumental pieces for the piano occupy a special place in the repertoire – recently I saw Oliver Messiaen’s epic Visions de l’Amen duet played by Aimard and Stefanovich, for example.  Players treat these pieces differently than they do orchestral works, program music or chamber pieces.  My experience is extremely limited, but Lars Vogt’s performance of […]

A week ago I attended the Chicago Sinfonietta’s most recent concert at Symphony Center, a program entitled Sea of Light timed to coincide with Diwali, the 5 day Hindu celebration of the triumph of light over darkness, of knowledge over ignorance.  In Hindu cultures, Diwali is a time for reflection, celebration, family, and starting fresh.  […]

Symphony Hall was nearly full yesterday for a matinee recital by Denis Matsuev, the 43-year-old Russian pianist.  I bought a cheaper seat, since I wasn’t previously a fan and I didn’t think the playlist included any of my favorites.  But sometimes programs change – after I bought the ticket, I went online to check the […]

The season at the CSO includes a series of 10 piano recitals on Sunday afternoons – clearly I’m not the only one who enjoys the format.  Yesterday’s matinee performance packed two pianists and two concert grand Steinways onto the stage – Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, both veteran interpreters of The 20th century and contemporary […]

Richard Strauss’s opera Capriccio opens with a sextet for strings – The Jerusalem Quartet opened with the piece as well in the first chamber music performance of the 2018-2019 season yesterday at Chicago’s Symphony Center.  The renowned Israeli ensemble is on tour with the legendary Pinchas Zuckerman on viola and cellist Amanda Forsyth, who round […]

Teller and Posner, coming off their successful comedy The Tempest a few years ago, have returned to Navy Pier for their second Chicago Shakespeare Theatre collaboration, a tensely wicked and at times oddly humorous adaptation of Macbeth, running through June 24.  The play is staged at the newest addition to Chicago Shakespeare’s now three-stage campus, […]

Marek Janowski guest conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over the weekend in a program that included Weber, Beethoven, and Wagner.  Sunday’s was the final performance of the run, and I decided to check it out on a whim, securing an upper balcony seat around noon for the 3 pm show.  There was a pre-concert lecture […]

Lyric soprano Laura Bumgardner was the Musicians Club of Women’s featured artist at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Chamber Mondays Concert today at lunchtime.  She was accompanied by Chao Gao on piano.  The soprano was delightful, filling the Tiffany dome with her soaring vocals and mesmerizing the crowd.  As usual, there was a decent turnout, independent […]