Recommended Chicago-area classical concerts for Feb. 2-8
Lyric Opera of Chicago – “I Puritani”: Bellini’s bel canto classic, which has been AWOL from the Lyric repertory since the 1991-92 season, returns in a revival of a production...
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Muti re-ups at CSO through 2022, announces a 2018-19 season honoring Armistice centennial
Tuesday’s announcement from Symphony Center that Riccardo Muti has signed a new contract with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association that will extend his tenure as CSO music director through the...
Glen Ellyn’s Jennifer Koh premieres modern takes on Paganini
Other star violinists play concerts largely devoted to music by dead, white European composers. Jennifer Koh tackles ambitious contemporary projects designed to connect performers, audiences and living composers in mutually...
Manfred Honeck shows why he remains one of the CSO’s most valued guest conductors
Orchestra Hall could do much, much worse than having Manfred Honeck back on the podium to prep the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Riccardo Muti’s return next week, when the music...
Recommended Chicago-area classical concerts for Jan. 26-Feb. 1
Music of the Baroque: Jane Glover leads the orchestra and first-chair soloists in a Mozart birthday celebration that includes the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, Sinfonia Concertante for woodwinds...
After a yearlong lockout, a revitalized Minnesota Orchestra hits the reset button
While American symphony orchestras face never-ending challenges on the business end, few major ensembles have taken it on the chin so badly yet fought their way back from virtual extinction...
In Hersch opera, a patient’s journey proves unremittingly dark and grim
Most composers when they evoke the experience of death or dying — think of Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich and John Adams — create listener empathy through the emotional distancing...
CSO names Charles Dutoit replacements in wake of sexual misconduct allegations
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced the conductors who will replace Charles Dutoit in two sets of subscription concerts this spring, following Dutoit's recent withdrawal in the wake of sexual...
Rafael Payare brings energy and purpose to his downtown CSO podium debut
The musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are back in harness this weekend at Symphony Center after a long holiday hiatus. Their collective gratitude to be making music again translated...
Recommended Chicago-area classical concerts for Jan. 19-25
Boston Camerata: The venerable early music ensemble brings a recent production by artistic director Anne Azema of the famous medieval music drama “The Play of Daniel” to the Howard Mayer...