By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Baroque Band opened its 2014–15 season in Hyde Park with yet another one of the special guests which have made their concerts so rewarding over their first seven years. Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata was the main attraction, singing excerpts from two operas based on Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto’s 16th […]
What: Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” Where: Lyric Opera, 20 N. Wacker Drive When: through Oct. 29 Phone: 312-332-2244 By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Don Giovanni” has returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago in a stunning new production featuring a Don Juan who is mad, bad and dangerous to know. Opening night Saturday offered a revelatory […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Just as the weather has become cool, the Chicago music scene is heating up. This fall preview will highlight some of the classical music and opera events taking place through the end of the year. We’ll start with a look at Hyde Park, then consider the greater South Side, […]
By M.L. RANTALA What: “Macbeth” by Ernest Bloch Where: Harris Theater When: Through Sep. 21 Phone: 312-704-8414 Web: ChicagoOperaTheater.org Chicago Opera Theater’s advertising tag line is “More of the different,” which aptly captures what this company does. Their latest offering is the Chicago premiere of an opera more than a century old but which has […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic It was clear and only just a little cool Saturday night as some 11,000 people settled into one of Chicago’s favorite parks for the annual “Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park” concert. The actual audience was even larger than those who made their way to the lakefront, as […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Along with two performances of “Don Giovanni” (discussed in these pages last week), also on the Ravinia Festival program this year were two performances of “The Marriage of Figaro.” Mozart was well represented by a handsome group of singers this summer. There was a sturdy Figaro in bass-baritone John […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” with its splendid libretto by Da Ponte, returned to Ravinia in two performances last week. Conductor James Conlon led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a pack of capable singers in this tale of the libertine Don Juan who, after both merry antics and terrible crimes, finally […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic What can be done to make classical music events more relevant? This is a question which comes and goes, but never actually goes away. “The Legend of the Northern Lights,” which had its world premiere at the Grant Park Music Festival last weekend, may have something to contribute to […]
By M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” is a cornerstone of operatic verismo, a compact powerhouse of human emotion and tragedy, clocking in at about 70 minutes. Because it’s short, it’s nearly always placed on a double-bill, but for their inaugural production, Chicago’s newest opera company, The Cobalt Opera, chose to let “Pagliacci” […]
M.L. RANTALA Classical Music Critic Last month, Susanna Mälkki made her Ravinia debut conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She’s become one of the female conductors to watch since she left her position as principal cellist of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra to study conducting at the Sibelius Academy. She’s begun to make a name for herself […]