Articles in Classical + Opera
‘Nabucco’ at Lyric Opera: The youthful Verdi’s future on display in a grand night of singing
![‘Nabucco’ at Lyric Opera: The youthful Verdi’s future on display in a grand night of singing Nabucco (Andrew Cioffi, Lyric Opera Chicago)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Nabucco-Andrew-Cioffi-Lyric-Opera-Chicago-125x125.jpg)
Review: The best way to experience a performance of Verdi’s “Nabucco” is to think like an actor thinks. Stay in the moment completely. Don’t overthink the logic, the plot complications, the evidence of history. Avoid those traps and the musical impact of “Nabucco” — which is currently on the boards at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where several mighty singing actors are doing terrific work – will thrill you to your bones.★★★★
In a grand flourish, Lyric will match Wagner ‘Ring’ launch with Berlioz spectacle ‘Troyens’
![In a grand flourish, Lyric will match Wagner ‘Ring’ launch with Berlioz spectacle ‘Troyens’ 'Das Rheingold' maquette (LyricOpera.org)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Das-Rheingold-maquette-LyricOpera.org_-125x125.jpg)
Season Preview: Not many people can put a ten-year life plan on a single piece of paper. But Anthony Freud, general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, has got his drill down when it comes to the properly balanced life of a grand opera company. Merrily goaded on Jan. 14 by music director Andrew Davis, who was clearly amused, Freud pulled from his pocket, in a tantalizingly brief “reveal,” a carefully folded, well-worn document crammed with the titles of dozens of operas on a grid. Here are the highlights.
Broadening stream of virtual performances ranges from master classes to masterworks
![Broadening stream of virtual performances ranges from master classes to masterworks Watch DiDonato teach at Carnegie Hall alternate feature image](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Watch-DiDonato-teach-at-Carnegie-Hall-alternate-feature-image-125x125.jpg)
Digital Preview: With another Artic blast on the way, it’s a good time to check out the world’s top fine arts events available live or on-demand — Joyce DiDonato’s master classes at Carnegie Hall, a “Ring” in Vienna, a new cello concerto in Detroit. And the Lyric Opera of Chicago has just finished recording its new “Bel Canto” for a future PBS broadcast.
CSO bassist Alexander Hanna, in solo light, finds singing voice in his grand instrument
![CSO bassist Alexander Hanna, in solo light, finds singing voice in his grand instrument 12/17/15 8:16:29 PM -- Chicago Symphony Orchestra 125th Year.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon Conductor
Vanhal Double Bass Concerto in D Major Featuring Principal Bass Alexander Hanna
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alex-Hanna-Chicago-Symphony-Orchestra-principal-bass.-Todd-Rosenberg-125x125.jpg)
Review: Often forgotten but integral, the double bass is the foundation of the orchestra. Without its supportive heft, the majestic edifice of the orchestra would crumble, and the driving harmonic motion it provides would be lost. So it was satisfying and just to see this taken-for-granted but vital instrument move to the front of Orchestra Hall’s stage on Dec. 19 in the hands of Alexander Hanna, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal bass.
Six-fold thriller: Lincoln Center chamber group makes a grand sweep of Bach ‘Brandenburgs’
![Six-fold thriller: Lincoln Center chamber group makes a grand sweep of Bach ‘Brandenburgs’ Feature 1](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Feature-11-125x125.jpg)
Review: In a strictly transcendental sense, Bach being the quasi-divine figure that he is in the pantheon of Western art music, the traversal of his six “Brandenburg” Concertos by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, on Dec. 17 at the Harris Theater, rocked.
PBS chooses Lyric Opera premiere ‘Bel Canto’ for Great Performances telecast
![PBS chooses Lyric Opera premiere ‘Bel Canto’ for Great Performances telecast 12/4/15 4:20:10 PM -- Lyric Opera of Chicago
World Premier
Bel Canto
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Bel-Canto-a-Chicago-Lyric-Opera-world-premiere-will-be-picked-up-by-PBS.-Todd-Rosenberg1-125x125.jpg)
Report: Filming set for January.
Two sparkling treasures to stuff a stocking: CSO’s ‘Messiah’ and Joffrey’s ‘Nutcracker’
![Two sparkling treasures to stuff a stocking: CSO’s ‘Messiah’ and Joffrey’s ‘Nutcracker’ sub feature](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sub-feature1-125x125.jpg)
Review: ’Tis the season when the mere names of Handel and Tchaikovsky conjure two of the most beloved works for concert hall and stage in Western culture. That affection radiates through splendorous continuing productions of Handel’s “Messiah” by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at Orchestra Hall and the Joffrey Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” at the Auditorium Theatre.
‘Bel Canto’ premiere at Lyric Opera delivers tragic image of humanity at unbridgeable gulf
![‘Bel Canto’ premiere at Lyric Opera delivers tragic image of humanity at unbridgeable gulf Bel Canto Feature](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Bel-Canto-Feature-125x125.jpg)
Review: The true measure of Peruvian composer Jimmy López’s new opera “Bel Canto,” which received its world premiere Dec. 7 by the commissioning Lyric Opera of Chicago, transcends its check-list of merits as a skillfully wrought and thoroughly engaging work. It is a compelling tragedy expressive of humanity at its best and most aspiring, and at its most grievously imperfect. ★★★★★
In holiday spirit, CSO sets out musical bounty, and lovers of Gershwin, Dvořák gobble it up
![In holiday spirit, CSO sets out musical bounty, and lovers of Gershwin, Dvořák gobble it up Jon Kimura Parker feature image (Tara McMullen)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Jon-Kimura-Parker-feature-image-Tara-McMullen-125x125.jpg)
Review: “Rhapsody in Blue” is on the docket, compliments of pianist Jon Kimura Parker. And if you’re lucky, a bit of Oscar Peterson, too. Composer Anna Clyne’s five-minute lollapalooza called “Masquerade” is the all-embracing upper in Thanksgiving weekend concerts featuring Dvořák’s 7th and led by Marin Alsop in an unmistakeable party mode.
‘The Merry Widow’ at Lyric Opera: Slow start, then Pop! – bubbles and, mais oui, grisettes
![‘The Merry Widow’ at Lyric Opera: Slow start, then Pop! – bubbles and, mais oui, grisettes 11/11/15 1:21:27 PM --
The Lyric Opera of Chicago Presents
"The Merry Widow"
Renée Fleming,
Nicole Cabell,
and Thomas Hampson
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Feature-22-125x125.jpg)
Review: If it had been opening night for the Lyric Opera production of Franz Lehár’s “The Merry Widow,” one might have understood the stark contrast between the dismal walk-through of the first act and the sustained vivacity suddenly on display post-intermission. One might have chalked it up to a calming of collective nerves. But as this was the second performance, the first-night excuse hardly applies. I daresay the show is what it seemed to be: egregiously uneven. ★★★
Berg’s ‘Wozzeck’ at Lyric Opera of Chicago: Stark expressionism draped in musical riches
![Berg’s ‘Wozzeck’ at Lyric Opera of Chicago: Stark expressionism draped in musical riches Tomasz-Konieczny-is-Wozzeck-at-the-Lyric-Opera-of-Chicago-11-2015-Andrew-Cioffi](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Tomasz-Konieczny-is-Wozzeck-at-the-Lyric-Opera-of-Chicago-11-2015-Andrew-Cioffi-125x125.jpg)
Review: Tomasz Konieczny is Wozzeck, the low-ranking soldier who sinks into madness as he is subjected to scientific experiments, betrayed in love and persistently harrassed. As envisioned by director David McVicar and conductor Andrew Davis, the 1925 opera is as deeply unsettling visually as it is musically rich. Berg’s account of Wozzeck’s grotesque travails has a way of suddenly panning wide, as if to embrace us all in our human dissonance and complexity.★★★★
Berg’s high-intensity opera ‘Wozzeck’ dual firsts for veteran conductor Davis, director McVicar
![Berg’s high-intensity opera ‘Wozzeck’ dual firsts for veteran conductor Davis, director McVicar Wozzeck preview feature image](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Wozzeck-preview-feature-image-125x125.jpg)
Preview: He could be talking about Puccini’s “La boheme” or Verdi’s “La traviata” or Bizet’s “Carmen,” but when Anthony Freud, general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, says, “I would encourage anyone who has never experienced opera to give it a try,” he’s referring to none of the above. Freud means Alban Berg’s harrowing Expressionist music-drama “Wozzeck.”
Musically agile maestro Davis bends to match iconoclastic Kissin’s Tchaikovsky with CSO
![Musically agile maestro Davis bends to match iconoclastic Kissin’s Tchaikovsky with CSO Artistic director PJ Paparelli was killed in a car crash in May 2015. (American Theatre Company)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Pianist-Yevgeny-Kissin-125x125.jpg)
Review: You could feel the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s crack troop of musicians and their super-flexible maestro Andrew Davis snap to alertness when the Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin ignored what he had just heard in the opening of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and simply went his own way in a performance Oct. 15 at Orchestra Hall.
Rossini’s ‘Cinderella’ at the Lyric: Bright voices and colors and wit (plus a Greek chorus of rats)
![Rossini’s ‘Cinderella’ at the Lyric: Bright voices and colors and wit (plus a Greek chorus of rats) 10/1/154:10:43 PM Chicago, IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Sir Anthony Davis, Conductor
Cinderella Dress Rehearsal
Isabel Leonard, Cinderella
Lawrence Brownlee, Prince Ramiro, Alessandro Corbelli, Don Magnifico,
Vito Priante (debut) Dandini,
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Isabel-Leonard-and-Lawrence-Brownlee-star-in-Rossinis-Cinderella.-Todd-Rosenberg-125x125.jpg)
Review: With its blindingly bright colors and brilliant musical hijinks, the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s current production of Rossini’s “Cinderella” plays out like a surreal dream that might possess one in the wee hours of the night. It makes perfect sense while it’s happening, zany and hypnotic at the same time. Rossini’s music is wrapped in a fanciful production that goes well beyond the boring rules of logic. ★★★★★
Mozart and Beethoven shine in hands of CSO; dust sticks to erstwhile premiere from archives
![Mozart and Beethoven shine in hands of CSO; dust sticks to erstwhile premiere from archives Riccardo Muti conducts Beethoven](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Riccardo-Muti-conducts-Beethoven-125x125.jpg)
Review: What was good was very good in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s concert with music director Riccardo Muti on Oct. 1 at Orchestra Hall. Then came the program’s bizarre second half, which recalled the previous week’s fare and left one wondering just how weird – and musically marginal – the CSO’s 125th anniversary season will turn out to be.
‘Marriage of Figaro’ at Lyric Opera: Stellar voices prevail in a farcical take on Mozart’s comic gem
![‘Marriage of Figaro’ at Lyric Opera: Stellar voices prevail in a farcical take on Mozart’s comic gem Feature 1](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Feature-15-125x125.jpg)
Review: If Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” is inherently and effectively a bittersweet comedy that edges into farce, the new production directed by Barbara Gaines that opens the Lyric Opera of Chicago season reframes it as farce that edges into cartoon. This “Figaro,” conducted by the Hungarian Henrik Nánási in his American debut, fares best where a uniformly strong cast of singers is allowed to stand and deliver Mozart’s witty, touching, brilliant and wise arias and ensemble numbers. ★★★★
While the band played on, Chicago Symphony and its musicians hammered out a three-season deal
![While the band played on, Chicago Symphony and its musicians hammered out a three-season deal The Chicago Symphony and its musicians have successfully negotiated a contract that will keep the music flowing for another three seasons. (Todd Rosenberg)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-Chicago-Symphony-and-its-musicians-have-successfully-negotiated-a-contract-that-will-keep-the-music-flowing-for-another-three-seasons.-Todd-Rosenberg-125x125.jpg)
Update: The new deal is good through Sept. 16, 2018.
Shakespeare director Barbara Gaines modulates to Mozart at Lyric Opera, and sees second Bard
![Shakespeare director Barbara Gaines modulates to Mozart at Lyric Opera, and sees second Bard Barbaraa Gaines directs Figaro](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Barbaraa-Gaines-directs-Figaro-125x125.jpg)
Interview: The first venture for the Lyric Opera of Chicago this season is also the first Mozart ever taken on by Barbara Gaines, artistic director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. And in the poignancy – and the comedy – of “The Marriage of Figaro,” Gaines finds the Bard’s own sensibility, his empathy and his compassion.
Composer and architect connect as Kalmar illuminates Adams’ ‘Harmonielehre’ at Grant Park
![Composer and architect connect as Kalmar illuminates Adams’ ‘Harmonielehre’ at Grant Park Feature 1](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Feature-13-125x125.jpg)
Review: Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, where the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus performed Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and John Adams’s Harmonielehre on Aug. 8, is one of the most striking structures in a city full of awesome architecture. The Frank Gehry-designed outdoor stage calls to mind a bullet hole in sheet metal, dynamic silver panels exploding outward in spontaneous, sweeping waves.
Grant Park Orchestra lets virtuoso banners fly with (quiet) indoor Bruckner Sixth Symphony
![Grant Park Orchestra lets virtuoso banners fly with (quiet) indoor Bruckner Sixth Symphony sub feature](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/sub-feature-125x125.jpg)
Review: Knowing that Bruckner outdoors at the Pritzker Pavilion stood no chance against the sonic assault from nearby Lollapalooza, the Grant Park Music Festival moved its July 31 and Aug. 1 performances into the Harris Theater. The festival orchestra’s account of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony, conducted by Christoph König, allowed the audience to appreciate just how good this ensemble really is.
As James Conlon epoch winds down at Ravinia, familiar fanfares of Mahler and rumble of trains
![As James Conlon epoch winds down at Ravinia, familiar fanfares of Mahler and rumble of trains James Conlon at Ravinina July 22, 2015 (Patrick Gipson)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/James-Conlon-at-Ravinina-July-22-2015-Patrick-Gipson-125x125.jpg)
Review: Since becoming music director of the Ravinia Festival in 2005, James Conlon seems to have learned that a roaring Metra train, whose tracks pass near the Ravinia pavilion, can compete even with the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra. So on July 22, Conlon, now in his last season as leader of the orchestra’s summer residency, simply waited patiently at the podium with an amused smirk while, mid-Mahler, a train clattered into a station and eventually rumbled past.
From father to son, the sorrows of Catfish Row become cherished pleasure for Bobby McFerrin
![From father to son, the sorrows of Catfish Row become cherished pleasure for Bobby McFerrin Bobby McFerrin conducts Porgy and Bess at Ravinia Festival 2015 (Patrick Gipson)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bobby-McFerrin-conducts-Porgy-and-Bess-at-Ravinia-Festival-2015-Patrick-Gipson-125x125.jpg)
Review: In “Porgy and Bess,” the 1959 film version of Gershwin’s musical, the singing voice of Sidney Poitier’s Porgy was dubbed in by Robert McFerrin, a Metropolitan Opera star and Bobby’s father. At the start of the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival residency, it was the younger McFerrin’s turn to take a serious run through an opera he literally grew up with.
Knights, Dawn Upshaw celebrate folk influence on classical music with ranging fare at Ravinia
![Knights, Dawn Upshaw celebrate folk influence on classical music with ranging fare at Ravinia Feature 2](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Feature-2-125x125.jpg)
Review: Composers have long been fascinated by folk music. From Josquin des Prez’s late 15th-century “Missa L’homme armé,” based on a popular French tune, to Donnacha Dennehy’s Irish music-inspired “Grá agus bás” from 2007, folk songs have often made their mark on classical music, either through direct transcription or simple inspiration. On July 5 at Ravinia’s Martin Theatre, the iconoclastic chamber orchestra the Knights, joined by the likewise singular soprano Dawn Upshaw, gamboled through some of the vibrant repertoire that has emerged from composers’ attraction to folk music.
Musical Stars and Stripes will fly all summer as Grant Park celebrates American composers
![Musical Stars and Stripes will fly all summer as Grant Park celebrates American composers July 4 at Grant Park Music Festival](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/July-4-at-Grant-Park-Music-Festival-125x125.jpg)
Preview: The season programming of a major orchestra may offer a preponderance of German, Russian, and French music, but at this year’s Grant Park Music Festival, Americans make a greater showing. Now in its 81st season, the free Festival in downtown Millennium Park embodies the exploratory spirit of composers who have sought to create an intrinsically American music.
Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony salute the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup win with a rousing ‘Chelsea Dagger.’
![Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony salute the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup win with a rousing ‘Chelsea Dagger.’ And it's just his size. Maestro Riccardo Muti after a mean rendition of 'Chelsea Dagger' in honor of the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup. 6-18-2015 (Todd Rosenberg)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/And-its-just-his-size.-Maestro-Riccardo-Muti-after-a-mean-rendition-of-Chelsea-Dagger-in-honor-of-the-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stanley-Cup.-6-18-2015-Todd-Rosenberg-125x125.jpg)
Video: The Blackhawks’ victory parade ended a block away from Symphony Center in downtown Chicago, but Riccardo Muti was still in the mood to celebrate.
Grant Park Orchestra, led by ‘goalie’ Kalmar, heats up Beethoven to kick off festive summer
![Grant Park Orchestra, led by ‘goalie’ Kalmar, heats up Beethoven to kick off festive summer Carlos Kalmar and Grant Park Orch, opening night June 17, 2015 (Norman Timonera)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Carlos-Kalmar-and-Grant-Park-Orch-opening-night-June-17-2015-Norman-Timonera1-125x125.jpg)
Review: Chicago’s getting everything right at the beginning of this summer season. The day after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, the weather was picnic perfect at Millennium Park, where the free Grant Park Music Festival got underway. Thousands laid down their blankets on the great lawn at Pritzker Pavilion. Even the curse of the overture “Drip” – rained out two seasons running – was finally broken. Check out our top festival picks.
New York Aisle: Philharmonic tops off season with rare bounty of Honegger’s ‘Joan of Arc’
![New York Aisle: Philharmonic tops off season with rare bounty of Honegger’s ‘Joan of Arc’ ?????????????????????](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Feature-11-125x125.jpg)
Review: From his earliest days as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert has indulged New York audiences with an end-of-the-season extravaganza, This year’s offering was Honegger’s dramatic oratorio “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher,” a work rarely performed if only because of the magnitude of forces, starting with adult chorus, children’s chorus, 11 sung roles, and two lead actors.
CSO’s ‘French Reveries and Passions’: Spirit and imagination set crown on a dream festival
![CSO’s ‘French Reveries and Passions’: Spirit and imagination set crown on a dream festival Night falls on 'Pelleas et Melisande' at Chicago Symphony May 2015 (Todd Rosenberg)](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Night-falls-on-the-final-act-of-CSOs-Pelléas-et-Mélisande-by-Debussy.-Todd-Rosenberg-125x125.jpg)
Festival Review: It’s that time of the year when orchestras change their pace, kick back a bit and come a-bloom with new ideas in the spirit of the warming clime. Thus the New York Philharmonic celebrates its 50th season of Concerts in the Parks, the Cincinnati Symphony’s May Festival gets underway, the Boston Symphony is deep into its Pops concerts. But the place to be this season is in the Windy City, where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is midway through an extravagant multidimensional festival “French Reveries & Passions.”
Piano wizardry rules as Chinese star Lang Lang mixes Chopin, calendar’s worth of Tchaikovsky
![Piano wizardry rules as Chinese star Lang Lang mixes Chopin, calendar’s worth of Tchaikovsky sub feature](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/sub-feature-125x125.jpg)
Review: Pianist Lang Lang’s recital May 9 at the Civic Opera House was, at its best, a display of brilliance of a high order. Taken end to end, it was also a curious affair. To say this lionized, still infectiously youthful Chinese pianist – he turns 33 on June 14 — is a technical wizard may be understatement. Lang Lang is one demonic virtuoso for whom the most daunting technical demands seem more like expressive opportunities than hazards of execution.
Ravel opera rarity (an armchair sings) injects pure fantasy, great fun into CSO French fest
![Ravel opera rarity (an armchair sings) injects pure fantasy, great fun into CSO French fest ?](https://chicago-on-the-aisle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Feature-1-125x125.jpg)
Review: It isn’t every Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert that ends with the conductor leading a gaggle of children across the stage like the pied piper. But there he was, Esa-Pekka Salonen, smiling ear to ear, a little child’s hand in his, marching the Anima-Young Singers of Greater Chicago into view for their ovation after a deliciously witty performance of Ravel’s one-act opera “L’enfant et les sortilèges,” an evident if unexpected hit at the CSO’s “French Reveries and Passions” festival.