Music Reviews Archives - Page 12 of 21

All-Beethoven

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 by Samuel Wigutow

This evening’s CSO program marks the second time in the past three seasons that music director Riccardo Muti has had to bow out of a scheduled performance of Beethoven’s legendary Eroica Symphony; Muti developed a case of the flu and was replaced for the duration of his present two-week engagement by Edo de Waart, currently music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Given the short notice on which he took up the program, de Waart led finely polished and alert performances that often lacked the last degree of dramatic intensity.

Julie Shannon…My Friends Sing My Songs

September 12, 2017December 11, 2012 by Tom Williams

Shannon is probably the finest relatively unknown composer and lyricist you could find. I was stunned at the versatility, the number of soaring anthems, the terrific lyrics that sit upon the music so effectively. Seldom will you find a more talented composer and lyricist in one person that Julie Shannon!

Hansel und Gretel

September 11, 2017December 8, 2012 by Tom Williams

Hansel und Gretel is filled with charming melodic music that contains gentleness, sweetness, as well as dark motifs. Humperdinck used German folk elements together with original folk tunes to flavor his opera. The score demand much vocal dexterity and Kanyotova and DeShong delightfully have that element in their fine performance. I was thrilled by the darkly comic work by Jill Grove as the manic witch. Brian Williams’ father was also appreciated.

Berlioz and Shostakovich

November 30, 2012 by Samuel Wigutow

Sir Mark Elder led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this evening in a generally very enjoyable selection of somewhat lesser-known works by prominent composers from outside the standard Germanic tradition.

Don Pasquale

November 26, 2012 by Samuel Wigutow

Donizetti’s delightful Don Pasquale (1842), which opened today at Chicago’s Lyric Opera, is an embarrassment of bel canto riches, with a seemingly endless stream of glorious Italian melodies wedded to a lighthearted yet often witty comedic plot about an elderly man who gets more trouble than he bargained for when he decides in his 70s to finally get married.

Joy to the World

September 6, 2017November 25, 2012 by Tom Williams

Fred Anzevino and Jeremy Ramey have created a fine Christmas revue that is just the right thing for Saturday and Sunday matinee lovers who get-stressed by shopping. All they have to do is get to the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park to hear four delightful singers and a fabulous piano and bass produce classic holiday tunes.

Werther

September 11, 2017November 12, 2012 by Tom Williams

Jules Massenet’s Werther (1892) is a dramatically exciting and intensely passion and totally romantic French opera. Massenet’s varied music moves form lightly friendly even tranquil melodies depicting nature and happy children to intensely emotional feelings of a young poet madly in love with a woman he can never have.

Dutoit Leads CSO in Varied and Gripping Program

November 20, 2012November 9, 2012 by Tom Williams

Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit brought his two-week engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra off to an auspicious start Thursday night with a highly compelling presentation of music by Britten, William Walton, and Beethoven. The conductor coaxed the very best out of this formidable ensemble, ensuring, with the help of a comparably impressive solo contribution from violinist Gil Shaham, that this would not be just another routine night at the symphony.

Three B’s… With a Twist

November 6, 2012 by Samuel Wigutow

The program was billed as “Three B’s… With a Twist”; the “twist” was a partial change, with two of the so-called Three B’s of Classical Music, Bach and Brahms, replaced by Boccherini and Bartok, but the third, Beethoven, left intact. The quartet gave a remarkable performance in this first installment of its three-part series this season in the Logan Center, even if I, for one, was not entirely impressed by the “revision of the Three B’s.”

Simon Boccanegra

November 20, 2012October 22, 2012 by Tom Williams

The lush melodies were sweepingly romantic as they exude richly deep emotions. The unity of music with libretto in Simon Boccanegra worked strikingly well with the baritones and bass. The two romantic duets are to be cherished. The preponderant of low male voices seemed a tad dark until the music and the glorious soprano from Krassimira Stoyanova balanced the sound in her Lyric debut.