Chicago

On April 19, as part of Symphony Center Presents, world-renown violinist Itzhak Perlman graced the large stage of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, without the orchestra. He was there to perform chamber music and he brought along no less than eight of his talented mentees from the Perlman Music Program. Started at the instigation of Perlman’s [...]

This past weekend at Symphony Center, culminating in tonight’s performance, was a veritable orgy of orchestral music from that greatest of composers, Johann Sebastian Bach. It is hard to imagine a time when his music was not well-known and virtually memorized, but such a time existed right after his death. Thank God for Felix Mendelssohn [...]

In the world of classical music, one can choose to either look to the constantly modern for inspiration or search through the centuries past for brilliant surprises. The Lyric Opera of Chicago tends to do both. Last season, the opera company put on John Adams’ Dr. Atomic and this year, the Lyric brings us this [...]

The following is a paragraph from Zukerman’s official biography for this year, outlining his ambitious plans in celebration of his 60th birthday: “Pinchas Zukerman turned 60 on July 16, 2008 and celebrates with a schedule which comprises more than 112 concert engagements and travel to 17 countries including France, India, Israel, China, Turkey, Peru, New [...]

I thought I would share my top five experiences in Chicago this past year, and simultaneously showcase the exemplary variety of ensembles that produce high quality performances.

Since contributor James Bash is imparting his thoughts from New York recently, I thought I might interject with some perspective from Middle America, the Heartland. Chicago is home to one of the greatest orchestras in the world and it has been a wild couple of years during our search for a new conductor. Now that [...]

Just in time for the Olympics, we have Henry Fogel and Zach Carstensen besmirching and belittling the glorious pastime of ranking and quantifying. Although I would be hard pressed to believe Fogel’s rather magnanimous post, as he enjoys a renaissance at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the batons of every great conductor in the world, [...]

Chicago Sun Times Chicago Tribune New York Times

The Lyric Opera of Chicago concluded its 2007/08 season with Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece Eugene Onegin, an opera that is not so much about any particular action, but more about feelings and motivations. Because of that, the opera is rather static. As Tchaikovksy said in a letter to his pen pal Mme von Meck: [...]