John Von Rhein – Page 32

Nick Cave has been singing about mortality for decades, and he's really good at it. Whether the narratives are biblical or pulpy, the victims innocents or death row convicts, the circumstances comprehensible or cruelly random, Cave's songs are on intimate terms with the infinite ways a life can be extinguished. And yet, "Skeleton Tree", his latest album with his estimable band, the Bad Seeds, is a relatively concise song cycle shadowed by death that feels different than all the rest. <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-music-nick-cave-skeleton-tree-ent-0916-20160916-column.html" target="_blank">Read the full review.</a>

Holiday classical concerts: The best the season has to offer

May 13, 2019 at 2:07 p.m.

Whether it's carolers and choristers rejoicing greatly, or brass ensembles filling churches and concert halls with musical comfort and joy, the sounds of the season will be lifting hearts throughout...

A grown-up Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood and his best friend Winnie the Pooh.
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-christopher-robin-rev-0802-story.html" target="_blank">Read the review.</a>

MusicNOW’s Steve Reich tribute packs maximal punch

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

Steve Reich turned 80 on Oct. 3, and the party is just getting started. One of the iconic gurus of American minimalism couldn't be there in person for the MusicNOW...

Chicago’s diversity makes a broad-shouldered muse for composer

March 25, 2026 at 9:51 a.m.

Well before last month's Ear Taxi Festival put Chicago at what festival co-curator Stephen Burns called "the nexus of international art music," local classical composers were reveling in their freedom...

Dance pieces from Chicago composers Gustavo Leone, left, and Elbio Barilari will be featured in "Havana-Chicago Connections," which concludes the Chicago Latino Music Festival on Dec. 1.

Recommended Chicago-area classical concerts

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

Chicago Latino Music Festival: The 11th edition concludes with "Havana-Chicago Connections." The Cuban-born, Chicago-based dancer Victor Alexander performs his own choreography to contemporary and traditional Cuban music, including dance pieces...

Another don, another impossible dream, another Gallic hit for Lyric Opera

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

No one but the most uncritical devotee of French composer Jules Massenet's sizable output for the lyric stage is going to advance the claim that his "Don Quichotte" ("Don Quixote")...

Krivine’s French touch with CSO produces mixed results

May 13, 2019 at 2:07 p.m.

There was an unmistakable Frenchness to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's music-making Thursday night at Symphony Center, despite the fact that there wasn't a note of French music on the program....

A tale of two Chicago chamber groups, one in fine shape, the other less so

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

Two established Chicago chamber music groups admired for adventuresome classical programming offered contrasting lessons in how best to present themselves in concerts heard earlier this week. With the Orion Ensemble,...

Lyric CEO reflects on trying to redefine opera

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

Like every other major opera company in America, Lyric Opera is under pressure to grow and diversify its audience, to enhance revenue and fundraising while maintaining artistic excellence and, at...

Lyric triumphs with its first-ever take on Berlioz’s ‘Trojans’

May 13, 2019 at 2:18 p.m.

There is nothing quite like Hector Berlioz's "Les Troyens" ("The Trojans") in all of grand opera. The epic music drama — set to the visionary French composer's own libretto, based...

CSO forces bring comforting eloquence to Brahms ‘Requiem’

May 13, 2019 at 2:17 p.m.

Thanks, we needed that. The inspired performance of Brahms' "A German Requiem" by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Chorus under Jaap van Zweden on Thursday night at Symphony...

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