News & Reviews

This Mahler performance largely provided a rousing ending to yet another rich season from the Grant Park Music Festival, one of our city’s leading cultural treasures. more...

August 22, 2010

Mahler Reaches Appropriate Heights Under Kalmar's Baton

The "Resurrection" also began the relationship between Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra that led him to become principal conductor of the summer music festival. more...

August 21, 2010

Grant Park Music Festival Mahler Symphony No. 2 Resurrection

Kalmar, with his unmistakable mop of silver-tipped hair...engages in an expressive pantomime, locked in the embrace of his orchestra as we whirl around some long-ago Viennese ballroom. more...

August 19, 2010

Gutiérrez, Kalmar Strike Sparks in Brahms Concerto

Conductor Carlos Kalmar brought a light touch to this forgettable piece, strings and brass nicely balanced and an impulsiveness that was quite enjoyable. With the brass singing out and the strings smooth and ingratiating. more...

August 18, 2010

Mozart and Rossini Finales

The Grant Park Music Festival is to be commended for showcasing the talents of these performers who have distinguished themselves in such a variety of operatic roles. more...

August 15, 2010

Review of Dvorak's Requiem

We were reminded in that moment...how the inspired performance of a brilliantly conceived musical work can transport us far beyond the day-to-day vagaries of the human condition and into the realm of the Divine. more...

August 14, 2010

Grant Park, Kalmar Perform Dvorak with Ardor

Kalmar's account was perfectly, patiently scaled. The first half – Dvorak constructed the work in two parts to permit an intermission – crested with the big return of the chorus in the "Dies Irae," clamorous with chimes and organ. more...

August 14, 2010

Kalmar, Grant Park Forces Deliver Electrifying Account of Dvorak Requiem

Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus provided their own brand of electricity in a riveting, beautifully sung performance of Dvorak’s Requiem, which made for one of the most memorable musical events of this summer. more...

August 14, 2010

A Sly 13th in Grant Park Fest

The Grant Park Music Festival may not have outwardly embraced Friday the 13th last night, but its first-ever program of Dvorak's rarely performed Requiem (1890) at least passed itself off as a sly salute. more...

August 12, 2010

Grant Park Orchestra Plays Back-up Band for African Kora Virtuoso

The Grant Park Symphony’s large, loyal audience is willing to hear new things, and its musicians and principal conductor Carlos Kalmar seem equally open to moving beyond the usual round of Beethoven and Brahms. more...

August 09, 2010

Ryan Opera Sounds Off at Other Grant Park Festival

A concert marked by good if not spectacular singing confirmed positive qualities one has noted previously in Ryan Center veterans. more...

August 07, 2010

Finales from Operas by Mozart and Rossini

Congratulations are due to the Grant Park Music Festival for another outstanding evening: judging by the applause and the positive comments heard afterwards this concert was a signal success. more...

August 05, 2010

Grant Park Maestro Gives Gentle Support to Tetzlaff's Muscual Violin

Yet Wednesday's offering truly showed the municipally funded, free outdoor concert at its best, where festival administrators paid tribute to Millennium Park's founders with a first-class program featuring the incomparable violinist more...

August 02, 2010

Viva Mexico! Barrios and Grant Park Orchestra Deliver a Lively Night of Mexican Music

The Grant Park Music Festival did its part for this year’s Mexican 2010 celebration, marking the anniversary of Mexican independence with a program of that nation’s music more...

August 02, 2010

Profound Sounds from Down Mexico Way

The program's century-long survey ranged broadly from pleasing nationalism to plucky modernism, and the Grant Park Orchestra and guest conductor Enrique Barrios were energized partners on the Pritzker pavilion stage. more...

July 30, 2010

Lintu Brings Bracing Energy

A program that began with adapted Tchaikovsky ended with authentic Tchaikovsky, his tone poem "Capriccio italien." If nothing else, Lintu proved there's life in this pops potboiler yet. more...

July 30, 2010

A Rare Stravinsky Kiss

In the case of the Grant Park Music Festival this summer, there has rarely been that one sure bet for comfort-food programming. Instead, each week is more like a collective civic discovery, and such was the case more...

July 26, 2010

Bell Leads Deep Reading of 'A Child of Our Time'

Conductors often have treated the spirituals as abstract meditations on the living drama of the story of Kristallnacht, one of the worst pogroms in history; Bell did not. With strength and sweep... more...

July 26, 2010

Bell Carries Grant Park Musicians Through Downpour

Astonishingly, Bell and his forces -- a chorus of 175 or so, full orchestra, and four major vocal soloists -- kept going along. Those who stayed seemed spellbound equally by the alternately powerful and hypnotic work and by the musicians' imperviousness to distraction... more...

July 19, 2010

Grant Park Debut Smacks of Child's Play

It generally succeeded in entertaining a contemporary audience in a way that was common a half century or more ago. more...

July 17, 2010

Grant Park Orchestra Offers Taste of Sophisticated Whimsy

Young families thronged to Millennium Park's Great Lawn as the Grant Park Orchestra performed whimsical works by Respighi, Britten and Brahms....the Grant Park Music Festival has engaged its mass audiences without forsaking creativity. more...

July 15, 2010

Cellist Gerhardt Sparks Russian Program at Grant Park

There was outstanding playing by the Grant Park musicians throughout with especially inspired work from trumpeter David Gordon, pianist Andrea Swan, and flutist Mary Stolper. more...

July 11, 2010

A Woman Conductor on The Grant Park Podium? Yes, and A Most Talented One

The gifted Chinese-American conductor, Xian Zhang, made an impressive debut with the Grant Park Orchestra at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park more...

July 10, 2010

Xian Zhang Sharp with Buoyant Music

The dynamic young Chinese conductor Xian Zhang on the podium meant that things moved quickly and with precision and excitement as well...Second Symphony of Sibelius, was perhaps pushed too briskly, but still served as a showcase for the excellence of the Grant Park Orchestra including the extended parts for strings, horns, brass, and percussion. more...

July 09, 2010

Mexican History Plays Out Somewhat Awkwardly in Grant Park Concert

A sharper focus on the music and a better sense of organization would have made these points more clearly, and the evening more coherent, with or without a rainstorm. more...

July 09, 2010

Sibelius Soars On A Glorious Evening with The Grant Park Orchestra

The performance gathered in assurance and dramatic power as it unfolded. The orchestra played superbly, and Zhang was mostly responsive to the score’s colorful effects. more...

July 08, 2010

Grant Park Orchestra Provides Rousing If Chaotic Latin Program On Rainy Night

The evening got off to a rousing start with Arturo Rodriguez’s Mosaico Mexicano, full of sparkling brass and infectious, dancing rhythms. As tales of gruesome massacres unfolded, the orchestra groaned with the agony of a massive, wounded beast. more...

July 01, 2010

Chopin, Police Choppers, and an Impressive Podium Debut at Grant Park’s Polish Night

This is extraordinarily difficult and challenging music to perform and it is a mark of the Grant Park players’ abilities that they can deliver such a gleaming and well-played account on limited rehearsal time. more...

June 26, 2010

Indoor Setting Suits Grant Park Performance of Pulitzer Winners

But both pieces were full of bombast, the full-throated chorus and blazing brass too often pummeling us with heavy-handed evocations of joyful troops or divine power. more...

June 25, 2010

Pink Martini Lifts Spirits with Powerful Vocals

Zealous fans of Pink Martini will apparently wait out a tornado warning, lighting, thunder and torrential rain fall just to hear pianist-founder Thomas Lauderdale and singer China Forbes work a song or two. more...

June 18, 2010

Grant Park Season of Music Gets off to A Rousing Start

The halcyon conditions suggested that Mother Nature was smiling on what promises to be an exceptionally enticing 76th season of free symphonic concerts presented by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus under the summer stars. more...

June 18, 2010

Carlos Kalmar Is On A Mission

Grant Park remains committed to its core missions, which include presenting American works and neglected repertoire, and showcasing its accomplished professional chorus. more...

June 17, 2010

Elina Vähälä Lights Up a Spirited Opening to Grant Park Music Festival’s Summer Season

Thousands of people found their way to Millennium Park to hear the Grant Park Orchestra play Berlioz, Vivaldi and Respighi. more...

June 09, 2010

Grant Park Promises A Summer Rich In Musical Adventure

In terms of musical depth and variety, the 2010 Grant Park season is the strongest I've encountered in more than 30 years of attending concerts at the nation's only remaining free, municipally sponsored, outdoor summer classical music festival. more...

May 28, 2010

Classical Warfare: Grant Park Music Festival vs. Ravinia

Which venue is worth your time and money? We're coming down on the side of the Grant Park Music Festival. more...

August 20, 2009

Grant Park Orchestra Closes Season with ‘Freude’

I must pay tribute to the total dedication of the Grant Park players and the skillful shaping and total control over both pieces by Kalmar, now in his ninth season. more...

August 17, 2009

Beethoven's Ninth is a Joyous End to Grant Park Season

The Grant Park Symphony has long been the de facto vehicle for grand celebrations, but conductor Carlos Kalmar's reading also provided many moments for subtlety and reflection amid the grandeur. more...

August 15, 2009

A Ligurian, a Brit, and a Bavarian walk into a peninsula — Grant Park’s ‘Italian Variations’

Works of three composers, British, Italian, and Bavarian, drew inspiration from Europe’s southern peninsula. more...

August 15, 2009

Grant Park Festival Storms the Heavens in Beethoven Finale

The Grant Park Orchestra offered an equally stirring experience, closing its 75th anniversary season with that mightiest of symphonies, Beethoven’s Ninth. more...

August 13, 2009

Kalmar, Grant Park Orchestra Take Trip to Italy on Second-Class Fare

Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra spotlight three composers’ individual retakes on Italian predecessors. more...

August 10, 2009

Carlos Kalmar and Mahler 9—Close to a Miracle at Grant Park

Lighting struck this weekend when Kalmar led the orchestra in performances of one of the most challenging works in the repertoire, Mahler's 9th Symphony. more...

August 10, 2009

Grant Park's Mahler Solid, Cautious

From the urgent opening bars to the frail, poignant farewell, the Grant Park Orchestra strings have rarely sounded better. more...

August 08, 2009

Mahler's Farewell Given Gleaming Advocacy by Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra

Kalmar and the Grant Park players deserve the highest accolades for this performance, with first-class playing in all departments. more...

August 01, 2009

Kalmar, Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Scale The Heavens in Elgar’s “Gerontius”

Program a challenging work new to the festival and allow the conductor and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus to supply the richly inspired performance. more...

July 30, 2009

Finnish Conductor Makes Impressive Lakefront Debut in Music of his Homeland

A huge audience at the Grant Park Music Festival heard one of Finland’s youngest conducting stars, Pietari Inkinen, and Sibelius' well-loved Symphony No. 1. more...

July 27, 2009

Opera Provides Nice Lead-in to Venetian Night

The program shone the spotlight on two compelling young singers -- tenor Russell Thomas and soprano Nicole Cabell, an alumna of Lyric's training program who is forging a stellar international career for herself. more...

July 26, 2009

Grant Park Chorus Lifts Voices in Praise

The 80-voice Grant Park Chorus has been a standout ensemble since its founding by Thomas Peck in 1962. It is fully professional; many of its members teach music, sing with ensembles like Music of the Baroque or belong to the Lyric Opera or Chicago Symphony choruses. more...

July 26, 2009

Cabell and Thomas Prove a Charismatic Operatic Duo at Grant Park

Opera in general and Cabell in particular were Saturday’s expected pleasures. But the night also included the thrill of discovering a vibrant new talent, tenor Russell Thomas, a young man with a confident, stirring voice. more...

July 20, 2009

Stirring Beethoven at Ravinia, Sizzling Shostakovich at Grant Park

Friday night's Grant Park Music Festival concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park brought a host of debuts, and thrilling debuts they were. more...

July 18, 2009

Violinist Strikes Sparks with Belated Shostakovich Premiere at Grant Park

Gomyo brought a laser-like concentration to her playing that made up for the lack of volume, sailing through the technical challenges, with the composer’s DSCH motif given emphatic bite in the Scherzo. more...

July 16, 2009

Photo Preview: Sounds of Chicago’s Lakefront

The beauty of the book is the visual material, which includes old concert posters, cartoons from the 1930s depicting audience members, and early conceptual sketches Frank Gehry. more...

July 11, 2009

A Grant Park Evening Mostly Sublime with Gilbert and Sullivan

This year’s program...provided a lively and enjoyable evening, aided enormously by Christopher Bell’s spirited and idiomatic conducting and the fine contributions of the Grant Park Chorus. more...

July 10, 2009

Graf, Grant Park Orchestra Brings Out Best in Bruckner

That the Grant Park Orchestra, which has not played this almost-impossible and so-often-improbable music in years, rose to the occasion with a performance on the level of some of the world's great Bruckner ensembles was big news. more...

July 09, 2009

Magnificent Bruckner by Graf, Grant Park Orchestra Warms a Chilly Night

Graf made no concessions to the challenges of al fresco music-making, drawing uncommonly detailed and nuanced playing from the Grant Park musicians in a refined, powerful performance that provided one of the finest events of the summer. more...

July 05, 2009

75 Seasons of Allegro Al Fresco

The Grant Park Music Festival marks a milestone as something of an urban miracle — an open-air concert series that's free and fabulous. more...

July 02, 2009

GPMF Marks 75th Season with Blast from the Past

The evening offered a fascinating snapshot of what was considered standard concert fare three-quarters of a century ago. more...

July 01, 2009

Grant Park Chorus Soars in American Program

It was an enlightening experience to hear the Grant Park Chorus sans symphony, as the singers took the spotlight Tuesday night at the Harris Theater. more...

June 29, 2009

GPMF focuses on America in the 1930s

Grant Park Music Festival tightened the focus on its American lens to look back exclusively on the 1930s more...

June 27, 2009

Kalmar, Grant Park Musicians Give Strong and Eloquent Advocacy to American Music, Circa 1935

At a time when few American conductors seem interested in excavating the vast riches of our musical past, all credit to Carlos Kalmar for his consistent and eloquent dedication to American music, which was shown again Friday night at the Harris Theater. more...

June 22, 2009

Rains Fail to Dampen Fervor of Grant Park's Burnham Premiere

World premiere marks Burnham Plan centennial and Grant Park Music Festival's 75th anniversary more...

June 20, 2009

With Unplanned Weather, Torke’s “Plans” Receives Ardent If Soggy Premiere

“Plans” is an appealing, melodic, and smartly crafted work that deserves a concert life beyond the local interest and ceremonial occasion of its Chicago premiere. more...

June 12, 2009

For Grant Park, Milestone Festival Opener Under Fair Skies

A milestone 75th season for Grant Park Music Festival starts out strong. more...

June 12, 2009

Grant Park Music Festival Opener Doesn't Miss a Beat

With Hough at the piano, orchestra gives every sign of memorable summer to come. more...

June 11, 2009

Teaching Russian Warhorses New Tricks at Grant Park's 75th Season Opener

Rather than treat the work as a virtuoso showpiece for piano with the orchestra merely along for the ride, Hough and his willing collaborator Kalmar set out to show us an entirely new side of the piece. more...

July 19, 2008

Grant Park’s ‘Big Sur’ Concerto Captures the West Coast

On Wednesday, the Grant Park Orchestra under former principal conductor Hugh Wolff gave an estimated 13,000 listeners at Millennium Park a bracing shot of new American music that included the Chicago premiere of John Adams' “The Dharma at Big Sur,” a wondrous concerto for amplified violin and orchestra. more...

July 11, 2008

Seldom-Heard Gems Sparkle Under Hanna Lintu's Direction

Wednesday evening at the Pritzker Pavilion, the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus once again assembled a provocative program of the novel and the familiar, this time under the baton of the promising young Finnish maestro Hannu Lintu. more...

July 04, 2008

Classical Mission Brings Radio Host Out of the Studio

Bill McGlaughlin's folksy but informed manner as host of the popular radio series “Exploring Music” has pulled thousands of listeners into the classical experience. more...

June 18, 2008

Chorus of Praise for Grant Park Effort

Felix Mendelssohn went to the grave lamenting his operatic failures. But who needs sets, props and other trappings of the stage given the dramatic wallop of his grand oratorio “Elijah,” especially when presented with the passion of Carlos Kalmar's stirring account Friday at Millennium Park? more...

June 16, 2008

Grant Park Music Fest Begins in High Style

To judge from the large, eager crowds that turned out for the opening week's concerts of the 74th Grant Park Music Festival at Millennium Park, patrons have come to appreciate the bargain they are getting at this last of the nation's free municipally-sponsored summer outdoor music festivals. more...

August 20, 2007

Festival Finale Centers on War & Peace

The Grant Park Music Festival could hardly have come up with a symphonic program more thoughtfully conceived or as capably presented as the one that closed the 73rd season of these free, municipally sponsored concerts over the weekend at Millennium Park. more...

August 17, 2007

Electrifying Fliter Takes Music Fest by Storm

The brilliant young Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter had the misfortune of making her Chicago recital debut last April playing on a bad piano in an oppressively hot Mandel Hall. more...

July 02, 2007

Larmore Adds Glamor

The Grant Park Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus led a nomadic life last week, as they are obliged to do whenever they are displaced from their summer home by the Taste of Chicago's hungry hordes. more...

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