Howard Reich – Page 54

CSO at Ravinia review: A dramatic finale led by Marin Alsop

December 12, 2018 at 7:23 p.m.

Leonard Bernstein’s irrepressible spirit permeated everything the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played during the final weekend of its summer residency at the Ravinia Festival. For whether conductor Marin Alsop, a Bernstein...

Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, conductor Kalmar end festival season with a grand ‘Carmina Burana’

December 12, 2018 at 7:18 p.m.

The Grant Park Music Festival’s 84th season ended majestically over the weekend, principal conductor Carlos Kalmar offering a spirited reading of a landmark of the orchestral-choral repertory, Carl Orff’s “Carmina...

Carlos Kalmar conducting the Grant Park Orchestra earlier this season.

Grant Park Orchestra review: A witty return to ‘The Old Maid and the Thief’

December 12, 2018 at 7:08 p.m.

Gian Carlo Menotti wrote “The Old Maid and the Thief” not for the stage but for the airwaves, on a commission from NBC Radio in 1939. Because Menotti was a...

A bold first season for U. of C.’s contemporary music center

December 12, 2018 at 6:57 p.m.

On paper, the first season of the emerging Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition looks quite significant for new music in this city. Formed last year at the University of Chicago,...

Conductor Marin Alsop will return to the podium at the Ravinia Festival for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's final weekend of performances at its summer home.

Summer’s last blast of symphonic sounds

December 12, 2018 at 6:53 p.m.

And in a flash, the summer’s orchestral season comes to an end this weekend. Both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s residency at the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park, and the Grant...

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.

CSO at Ravinia review: James Conlon makes a poignant return

December 12, 2018 at 6:43 p.m.

Conductor James Conlon holds deep ties to the Ravinia Festival, having been music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s residencies there for 11 seasons (ending in 2015), and he seemed...

Pianist George Li made an extraordinary debut with the Grant Park Orchestra playing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018.

Grant Park Orchestra review: George Li plays Chopin brilliantly

December 12, 2018 at 6:37 p.m.

Every pianist must come to terms with music of Chopin, whose scores extended the possibilities of the instrument in ways still being explored to this day. But few pianists dispatch...

Keyboardist David Schrader will be among the featured musicians at the third annual Thirsty Ears Festival this weekend.

Thirsty Ears Festival bringing classical music out into the street

December 12, 2018 at 6:27 p.m.

Imagine walking down the street and encountering not amateur-level buskers but world-class musicians playing scores you’d sooner expect to hear in a concert hall. It doesn’t happen often enough, but...

Michelle Williams, front row, from left, Matthew Polenzani, Shemekia Copeland and Renee Fleming star in "Chicago Voices," a 2017 concert airing this weekend on PBS.

‘Chicago Voices’ steps into the national spotlight

December 12, 2018 at 6:26 p.m.

It was an unforgettable evening. During the course of a marathon concert, opera and jazz, gospel and folk, Broadway and rap shared a single space: the Civic Opera House. As...

Ravinia, Grant Park reviews: A buoyant weekend downtown and in Highland Park

December 12, 2018 at 6:19 p.m.

If you’re going to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Grieg’s Piano Concerto on the same program, you’d better have something interesting to say about them. For each looms large...

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