Music

Cirque Returns – Millennium Park – August 9, 2023

Posted on by admin

Cirque (specifically Troupe Vertigo) returned (this year performing to classical music, not Hollywood film scores), and so did I, although this time I sat in the cheap seats (read free) as opposed to the choral balcony behind the stage where I sat last year.

Also, this time I went early to check out the Family Fun in the Chase Promenade North Tent prior to the show, where I hoped to learn, from CircEsteem, how to juggle, spin plates and do hand stands with the other children in attendance. I’m proud to say that, quick study that I am, I can now juggle one ball, with the prospect of two looming in the near future.

I don’t know if it was my new vantage point or familiarity breeding indifference, but I wasn’t as enthralled by the theatrics as I was last year, not to say that there wasn’t great skill on display. But I concentrated more on the beautiful music and also found myself mesmerized by the coordinated movements of the crew working the ropes for the aerialists. To each his own.

Broadway in Your Backyard – Washington Square Park – August 8, 2023

Posted on by admin

This is what is it should be like every night of the summer (or year for that matter) – perfect weather, breathable air, terrific performers and a large, lively crowd that included friends strewn throughout the park. And let’s not forget the Venezuelan-inspired Latin American street food la Cocinita food truck, from which I tasted the arepas, plantains and churros.

It’s the second time and place this summer I’ve seen a production of the Porchlight Music Theatre’s neighborhood concert series, which over the years has never failed to please, and on this occasion was at its best.

It’s no secret that these are hard times for theaters (see the recent NY Times article), but that hasn’t stopped Porchlight from continuing to find ways to provide first-class entertainment.

Tonight’s presentation included Desiree Gonzalez, whom I recently saw in Pippin; Ciarra Stroud, whom I singled out for her performance nine months ago in The Apple Tree; Bryce Ancil, whom I’ve seen in another of Porchlight’s wonderful works, namely its New Faces Sing Broadway series; and Lorenzo Rush Jr., who is one of my favorite performers, and whom I’ve written about a number of times, most recently in Damn Yankees.

Last, but not least, a special shout out to Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, whose spirited rendition of (Ya Got) Trouble from The Music Man was magnetic.

Fourth Presbyterian Church Noonday Concert – Peppermint Patties – August 4, 2023

Posted on by admin

I’m guessing that it was just a wild coincidence that the Peppermint Patties, a self-described, genre-fluid trio specializing in tight harmonies appeared at the lunchtime concert one week after Libby York (whom I did not go to see), If she and this group combined and promoted themselves as the York Peppermint Patties, I imagine a lawsuit would ensue.

The confection was introduced in 1940, amid the height of the Andrews Sisters popularity, an act whose hits the Patties recreate and then some with their own beautiful, classically-trained voices.

But, as advertised, the ladies also sing other styles, including musical theater, though Nikki Krzebiot, joining Anna Caldwell and Daina Fischer, and filling in for a departed member for the first time in public, stopped during her rendition of Cockeyed Optimist, because she perhaps overoptimistically thought she had memorized the lyrics, cleverly complimented those in the front row mouthing the words, and then restarted, proceeding flawlessly.

Despite their moniker, the group did not sing the Peppermint Patty theme song, made famous by the Charles Schulz character, so I didn’t get to hear “My name is Peppermint Patty, I live in Cincinnati, With a freckle on my nose, And eighteen toes.”

Nevertheless, a very enjoyable show.

Grant Park Music Festival – Millennium Park and Lake Shore Park (String Fellows) – August 2 & 3, 2023

Posted on by admin

The music was good, yada, yada, yada, so let’s get to the other things going through my head.

Millennium Park doesn’t allow dogs, except for service animals (which don’t include emotional support animals), so barking during the concerts there Is one of the few interruptive sounds you don’t hear. Keep in mind that I’ve heard all manner of disruptive noise during the music, but haven’t yet, though it’s probably only a matter of time, heard any of the people in the audience bark (as they have been doing in the Dawg Pound bleachers at Cleveland Browns games since 1985).

Even if they were permitted to come, the dogs might not be interested. Studies show that classical music reduces stress in dogs, but that, after a time, they become bored (as do many humans), and that in the long term they respond better to reggae and soft rock. It’s not clear what the time limit is on a dog’s attention span, but all but one of the numerous dogs at the one-hour Lake Shore Park concert held it together throughout and that one’s owner was kind enough to take it for a stroll as soon as the problem arose.

Now if we could only get concert ushers to take unruly human attendees for a walk.

Beatles Sing-Along at Lake Shore – Lake Shore Park – July 30, 2023

Posted on by admin

The Restored to Sanity Singers’ Facebook page says they sing twice a year. Based on what I heard, I assume that includes rehearsals.

The page also says that they welcome non-singers to their Beatles Sing-Along. That apparently includes them.

They suggest that audience members bring various instruments, including guitars, I guess that’s because the “band” itself brought only two violins (and violinists), a couple keyboards that seemed to be there mostly as conduits for recorded backing tracks (why even pretend otherwise?) and, as the percussion section, an amp that someone sat on and banged in lieu of drums.

The singing reminded me of a broken clock that is correct twice a day.

To be fair, the attendees seemed to be having a good time. It was a beautiful evening, so I probably also would have been okay had I brought a bottle of wine and a very large bar of chocolate.

When the actor playing Neil Diamond in A Beautiful Noise on Broadway encourages the audience to sing along with Sweet Caroline, it’s a happening. At this event the extra voices were a necessity and I wish there had been more participation.

I stayed for about seven songs, leaving before they got to The End.

Grant Park Music Festival – Millennium Park – July 19, 2023

Posted on by admin

Two things drew me to the park for this concert, the beautiful weather (as opposed to the previous two Wednesday evenings, which featured flooding one night and a tornado warning the other, both of which shut down the concerts), and the Gorchakov, as opposed to the more commonly played Ravel, orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which I had never heard before (not that I can tell the difference).

But neither was the main attraction (well, maybe the weather, as evidenced by the largest crowd of the year).

The first piece, the one-year-old Profiles, an homage to Harlem, was introduced by its composer, Carlos Simon, who told the audience that the sound of nearby sirens during rehearsal, given the subject matter, seemed entirely appropriate for the music, and that we should accept it as such if it happened during the performance. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the musicians had a different viewpoint.

After Profiles, the orchestra gave us Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto in A Minor, featuring solo violinist Esther Yoo. What followed that was the highlight of the night, as Yoo played a solo encore of . . . wait for it . . . Yankee Doodle Dandy that displayed her exceptional talent and artistic whimsey.

For a joyful five minutes, listen to the version I found online of her playing it at the 2022 Copenhagen Summer Festival.

Chicago Duo Piano Festival – Nichols Hall – July 16, 2023

Posted on by admin

Eleven days ago I saw Michelle Cann rock Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on the piano at a rehearsal with the Grant Park Orchestra (no Oscar Levant impersonations involved). In addition to her virtuosic playing, she flashed a radiant smile and an animated involvement with the music. I even was mesmerized by the way her feet danced with the pedals,

Unfortunately, I missed Joyce Yang performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 a week later, as did she, when a tornado warning shut down the Millennium Park concert. If I had been there I’m sure the closing of the large glass doors to protect the musicians from the elements would have reminded me of The Time Machine, when the doors at the sphinx’s base closed, trapping Weena and other Eloi inside.

But Joyce escaped (as did Weena with the unnamed inventor’s help) and I was there to hear her work her magic on Franz Lisa’s Totentanz three days later in the park.

My stroll through the world of piano got topped off the next day by watching the Millennium Park soloists of the future play in the Music Institute Of Chicago’s student recital portion of its annual Chicago Duo Piano Festival, highlighted by the play of the already-acclaimed, brother-sister, young-teen-team of Eric and Katie Koh.

As great as they were, however, my fancy was struck by three of the young artists playing Rachmaninoff’s 2 pieces for 6 hands waltz; three others playing Kevin Olson’s Outstanding, which features one of them walking back and forth behind the other two to play different parts of the piano; and the four-person, two-piano rendition of Take Five.

According to UPI, the Guinness World Record was set in 2018 when 40 pianos were played on a stage in China in unison with 599 pianos in a nearby square, for a total 639 played at the same time. I can’t believe I missed that one.

Meghan “Big Red” Murphy – Wells Street Art Festival – June 10, 2023

Posted on by admin

The Wells Street Art Festival should really be called the Wells Street Drinking and Eating Disgusting Fried Foods Festival, but there was art on display.

This was a different kind of Big Red performance than what I have seen in the past, and I’ve seen quite a few – a bawdy holiday show with her and The Boys at a couple different theaters, a tour de force performance as The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, a solo cabaret show, a third of a We Three trio of ladies at Steppenwolf of all places, a musical guest at the Green Mill’s Paper Machete, a private birthday party performance in the courtyard of my building during the pandemic and, originally, a turn as the star of a production of Woman of the Year.

This time there were no risqué songs, no double entendres, no scatting, and no live music, as if she were David Byrne trying to break the Broadway rules requiring pit musicians. (He finally agreed a couple days ago to use 12, instead of the normal minimum of 19 the union wanted).

There was only great singing and engaging banter in an outdoor street fair setting that is less than perfect for performers, though Red managed to get members of the milling crowd to dance and sing along, all while drinking along (Red stuck to water, I think).

My only disappointment with Murphy was when she sang a disco version of “If You Could Read My Mind” and said how surprised she was to learn that it was originally a Gordon Lightfoot song. I was surprised that there was a disco version.

Totally unrelated, I feel required to mention that I saw former Bears and Illinois head coach Lovie Smith walking around at the festival, one of the few people there who was old enough to know Lightfoot had written the song.

Chicago Blues Festival – Millennium Park – June 9, 2023

Posted on by admin

You don’t even have to enter the park to hear the music. It was so loud it made my throat hurt and my skin flaked. But the couple acts I heard induced a lot of head-bobbing in the audience and sounded great – Lightnin’ Malcolm, representing his birthplace on the Visit Mississippi Juke Joint Stage, and Stephen Hull, from that hotbed of blues, Racine.

Unsurprisingly, I have no interest in visiting Mississippi, but who doesn’t love a juke joint, which, in turns out, is a term derived from the Gullah word juke, which means bawdy or disorderly. What that has to do with a basketball player juking a defender, I’m not sure.

Besides the music and the everywhere-you-turned, blues-related merchandise, including items from the foundations of Muddy Waters, Eddie Taylor, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon, in case you need something from one of them to fill out your collection, the big draw at the festival is the smokehouse meat, which, I’ve found, has its own section concerning emission factors on the EPA website, which seemed like a good reason for taking a wide berth from where the cooking was taking place.

The Stradivari Society Recital – A Private Club – April 26, 2023

Posted on by admin

I slipped past the woman checking names unnoticed, which was a good thing, as there’s no telling what a background check might have revealed, and I didn’t want to miss the concert at the “private club”.

A word of explanation. According to its Social Media Policy, as stated on its website, “The Club’s name and location may not be used in post-event coverage in any format . . . whether in print, online, or in social media posts. In post-event coverage, the Club may be referred to only as “a private club.” Nothing about walking down the street shouting out its name.

While I doubt the club would have any recourse against me, a nonmember, for violating this policy, it amuses me to comply and keep the name and location a secret from my readers, who probably couldn’t care less, and, to put a spin on Groucho, probably wouldn’t want to join this club that probably wouldn’t want them as members.

That said, look for a building that is well over 100 years old, and apparently never got the memo about ventilation being important. There was none. The only oxygen in the room was provided by the spectacular 22-year-old violinist, Julian Rhee, on an instrument, the Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1699 “Lady Tennant,” much older even than the building, and by pianist Chelsea Wang, whose considerable talent was also on display.

The program included works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Camille Saint-Saéns, Igor Frolov (the composer, not the road cyclist), and Howie Frazin, in the premiere of his Elegy and Rondo, which nicely held its own in this illustrious company.