United States Various: Vilde Frang (violin), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 21.11.2024. (ZC)
Hannu Lintu and Vilde Frang lead the CSO through a program of palindromic beauty
Chicago
Le nozze di Figaro returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago
United States Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Erina Yashima (conductor). Civic Opera House, Chicago, 9.11.2024. (JLZ)
Strauss’s Don Quixote with John Sharp and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 24 to 26 October 2024
John Sharp and Don Quixote: Chicago Symphony’s principal cellist returns to a classic role
‘It was intimidating and it was thrilling. That is what I remember about my first audition week’, John Sharp says, reflecting on his first moments with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. ‘To see Solti conduct and the way the orchestra played – it was really incredibly exciting’.
Sharp, now the CSO’s principal cellist, began his musical journey far from the concert stage. Growing up in Texas, it was a stroke of luck that led him to the cello. ‘It was complete chance, really. I raised my hand’, he recalls, thinking back to his early days with the cello. ‘I was trying all kinds of things and ended up choosing the cello’. The choice propelled him on a professional journey that, starting on 24 October, will see him perform Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with the CSO under the baton of Sir Donald Runnicles.
Chicago Opera Theater’s Leonora shines light on Ferdinando Paër’s overlooked masterpiece
United States Ferdinando Paër, Leonora: Soloists and Orchestra of Chicago Opera Theater / Dame Jane Glover (conductor). Studebaker Theater, Chicago, 4.10.2024. (ZC)
Lyric Opera of Chicago stages a Fidelio for the twenty-first century
United Kingdom Beethoven, Fidelio: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Civic Opera House, Chicago, 29.9.2024. (JLZ)
Tension and drama abound in the Chicago Symphony’s Tchaikovsky Fourth and Walton Viola Concerto
United States Vaughan-Williams, Walton, Tchaikovsky: Antoine Tamestit (viola), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 26.9.2024. (ZC)
The Lyric Opera of Chicago season opens with a compelling Rigoletto
United States Verdi, Rigoletto: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Civic Opera House, Chicago, 14.9.2024. (JLZ)
Lyric Opera of Chicago opens the 2024–2025 season with a concert in Millenium Park
United States Various – ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’: Soloists, Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, 25.8.2024. (JLZ)
