In short, if you desire thoroughly gripping readings of these great warhorses, you might not find it here; but for anyone open to an unusually “sweetened” take on a composer with a reputation for being a bit dour, or to simply hearing a great orchestra in two thoroughly wonderful pieces, this program has undeniable merit.
Richard Strauss’ music is avant-garde, grandiose, and dissonant. The power and emotional range of the tragedy is heard in the strength of the moving musical tones. They work marvelously with the tour de force performance by Christine Goerke in the title role
Kudos to the creatives at Light Opera Works for creating a revue of the finest songs from Viennese, Berlin, London, and American operettas. These wonderful songs can easily stand on their own devoid of plot. They range from waltzes, ballads, polkas, and marches contain lush music and fine lyrics; romance, frivolous encounters, often satirical, and sentimental tones prevail.
Director Brenda Didier and music director Jeremy Ramey have mounted a fabulous musical revue of the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller prolific composers of 60- 70’s pop, rick, R & B. blues and gospel tunes
The classic singspiel of strange magic and quests for love gets its first new Chicago production in 17 years. Complete with a new English translation, there are only three performances left!
What a joy it was to see and hear the concert rendition of one of the greatest opera – The Magic Flute. Conductor James Conlon’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra played the melodic Mozart score with zest and bravado
The intimate space and the use of contemporary English sung most articulately by the principals made the opera work surprisingly well. Led by the rich baritone vocal chops of David Govertsen as scoundrel Don Giovanni with the soothing tenor work from Benjamin De Los Monteros as Don Ottsvio, the cast featured harmonious arias rich in emotion and verve.
But, her rambling for over 2 hours without saying much and her going into the audience and allowing 4-5 people to sing Wicked or Rent tunes turned he concert into a crude karaoke show. This lasted about 20 minutes.
Combining duets and full ensemble harmonies and cute dance movements, Time After Time unfolds as a fun, silky tune fest that showcases the skills Jule Styne possessed making him one of the premier songwriters of the 20th Century.
They’ve got the sound down, but can wearing a mop top make you The Fab Four? Rain can sing the tunes but it’ll never quite be the same as the original.