Category: Chicago, IL
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When the last notes of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 died away at Orchestra Hall, nobody moved. Klaus Mäkelä, the conductor who will soon become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 11th music director, held the silence—nearly a minute, maybe more—while 2,500 people sat suspended after 90 minutes of difficult, existential music. Beside me, my guest for the…
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Christian Van Horn’s Don Giovanni clings to a dining table as it sinks slowly into hell. After an evening of sexual pursuit, violence and evasion, the Don has run out of ways to escape the consequences of his actions. Only a supernatural act can stop a man no one else has been able to hold…
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For the second week of his residency in Chicago, Klaus Mäkelä’s focus was on Mahler, and on Symphony No.9 in D major. Since arriving on the international scene, Mäkelä has turned to Mahler often. Indeed, it was a performance of the Fifth Symphony in 2023 that helped cement the connection between Mäkelä and the Chicago…
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On September 28th, the Nashville Symphony suspended its 2026–27 season. A day later, the CEO who had been in the job since August stepped down. The whole thing unraveled over about 48 hours: staff furloughed, musicians sent home and a classical season that won’t happen. Mark Cantrell, the departing CEO, put it plainly in his…
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Musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra returned to Orchestra Hall on Thursday, September 17, to open their new season. Many subscribers are no doubt waiting for next week, when music director designate Klaus Mäkelä begins his fall residency. But the opening night program, led by Petr Popelka, with soloist Hilary Hahn, was hardly negligible. The…
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Earlier this year, I experienced Des Moines Metro Opera for the first time. It is a smaller company, born in the same era and with a similar mission to Chicago Opera Theater and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and one that occupies a particularly brave space in Iowa and the larger Midwest cultural landscape. Last…
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Every fall, as Chicago’s classical music season begins to take shape, the question arrives in one form or another: What should we hear? It is a reasonable question. There is too much music to hear everything, and the start of the season comes with an abundance of possibilities. Hannah Edgar has offered her choices for…
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Small, storefront opera companies survive on agility, nerve and an unwavering commitment to their art form. They don’t pursue opera on a grand scale, which gives them a unique freedom. In Chicago, where “Off-Loop” theater has long flourished, Chicago City Opera recently demonstrated this spirit with a nimble, inventive double bill at the Fulton Street…