Music Reviews Archives - Page 11 of 21

“La Dulce Vita” – Music of Corelli, Geminiani, Bach, and Locatelli

March 9, 2013 by Samuel Wigutow

The Baroque Band, a period-instrument ensemble established in Chicago six years ago by British baroque violinist and conductor Garry Clarke, has entitled the mostly-Corelli program it is bringing around the city this weekend “La Dolce Vita,” after the 1960 film, as part of what appears to be a movie-themed season. While it is unclear exactly what this evening’s concert had to do with the movie in question beyond being (mostly) Italian, the title does reflect the refreshing charm and grace that pervades the music on offer.

Rigoletto

March 7, 2013 by Samuel Wigutow

This production is recommended for its stellar cast and, of course, Verdi’s music, but not for its excessive and gratuitous sensuality; and those who, like this critic, hope that the latter does not end up as the norm for opera productions are hereby warned.

Improbable Frequency

February 27, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

Improbable Frequency is set during WWII—or “The Emergency” as it was then known to neutral Ireland—and recounts the adventures of Tristram Faraday (Mike Dailey)—a British code breaker, spy, and cruciverbalist (meaning one who compiles crossword puzzles). Being dispatched to Dublin in 1941 to investigate a series of implausibly portentous radio broadcasts, Faraday there encounters a colorful cast of IRA revolutionaries, mad scientists, and double agents. Infiltrating their nefarious ranks, Faraday comes face to face with an insidious scheme to…well, best not get into that now. Let’s just say that Improbable Frequency carries on in the absurdist vein (think James Bond meets early Tom Stoppard), humorously stretching the limits of plausibility as far as they can go.

Rachmaninov and Sibelius at the CSO

February 17, 2013 by Gabriel Kalcheim

The highlight of the evening is surely Garrick Ohlsson magisterial performance of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30, often dubbed by its many admirers “The Rock 3”. The first movement, “Allegro ma non tanto” is remarkable particularly for the surprising restraint, and the over all excellent taste of Rachmaninov’s sumptuous orchestration.

Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg

February 13, 2013 by Gabriel Kalcheim

Perhaps what is most appealing about Wagner’s 1868 opera Die Mestersinger, despite the near 4 hour and 45 minute running time, excluding intermission, is the sheer accessibility of the subject matter. Rather than taking old folk tales and German mythological heroes for its theme, the opera tells an all too strikingly relevant story of a Guild of Master-singers—a sort of modern German adaptation of Grecian bards, with music added—and the struggle of an outsider and up-start, in this case the noble Walther von Stolzing, against the insensible artistic establishment.

University of Chicago Presents – Classical Music Program

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Samuel Wigutow

In short, Brahms’ Op. 99 sonata was the highlight here, but the program was mostly enjoyable throughout; and Mr. Isserlis’ playing in particular was a constant source of delight in itself. Do try to hear him live if the chance arises; he will make anyone love the cello.

La Boheme

January 25, 2013January 25, 2013 by Gabriel Kalcheim

Puccini sets the mood for his proverbially adored opera, La Boheme in the very first bars; a pungent, disarming motif outlining the first three pitches of a minor scale in descending order that leads directly into the action without an overture. It is modern, and life affirming, in a jazzy nonchalant sort of way, with a definite tinge of melancholy.

A Grand Night For Singing

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013 by Tom Williams

A Grand Night For Singing is the perfect choice to launch a run of originally produced Broadway musicals at the Mercury Theater. It is a stylish revue of the amazing songbook of Rodgers and Hammerstein conceived by Walter Bobbie in 1993. It is a romantic songfest that presents the R & H select songs in a new context that highlights romantic relationships.

Leave It To Ludwig

January 20, 2013 by Gabriel Kalcheim

The conceit is that a young pianist (James F.Giles) is having trouble realizing an early Beethoven Piano Sonata in C minor, when a bust of the composer which he had ordered arrives. Placed on a table beside the piano, the bust magically becomes a real-life, and, if I may say so, utterly convincing, Ludwig Van Beethoven (Bruce Adolphe), who, on hearing the pianist, bursts into a rhapsodic remonstration on how to realize his music with all it proper depth and subtlety.

deWaart Conducts Brahms – And Mutilates Mozart

January 18, 2013 by Samuel Wigutow

On paper, the current CSO program, led by Edo de Waart (substituting again for Riccardo Muti), looked sure-fire: Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, the Jupiter, is arguably the greatest symphony of perhaps the greatest symphonist not named Beethoven; and a case could be made that Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 represents the height of the symphony after Beethoven’s death. However, one would not necessarily register the stature of these great works, the Mozart in particular, from this evening’s often lifeless performances.