Bob Benenson
Review: Patrick Dupre Quigley Entertains at Music of the Baroque’s Baroque Heroes Concert
An entertaining evening is virtually guaranteed whenever Patrick Dupre Quigley visits Chicago to conduct the Music of the Baroque orchestra. This was again the case this week when he was […]
Review: Music of the Baroque Opens Season With a Highly Polished Hidden Gem by Handel
The best-known of George Frideric Handel’s compositions—his Messiah oratorio and his Water Music suites, for example—are recognized by millions beyond the niche of classical music aficionados. But Handel wrote hundreds […]
Review: Now Stars, Brandi Carlile and Her Band Renew Their Chicago Bonds
When Brandi Carlile and her band last played Chicago in June 2019, they were riding a breakthrough high. Carlile and twin bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth had spent nearly two […]
Review: Grant Park Chorus Turns 60 in Full Voice
“The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play,” said the late Austrian composer Richard Strauss. And the beauty of classical […]
Review: A Night of Heroes at the Grant Park Music Festival
Eroica, meaning heroic in Italian, is the name Ludwig van Beethoven gave to his 3rd Symphony. That famed work was the featured piece at the Grant Park Music Festival this […]
Review: A Mostly Enchanting Evening at Grant Park’s Broadway Revue
The Grant Park Music Festival‘s annual revue of Broadway show tunes is always a crowd pleaser. But this year’s version, titled Lights on Broadway on Friday and Saturday, was a […]
Review: Stirring Vocals and Rhetorical Fireworks at Grant Park Celebration
One of the principles we celebrate on Independence Day is freedom of speech. And some of the principals participating in the Grant Park Music Festival‘s Independence Day Salute Saturday exercised […]
Review: New Conductor, Different Program, No Problem for Grant Park Orchestra
For the second time in a week, a Chicago orchestra’s conductor was suddenly sidelined due to a positive COVID-19 test just hours before a concert. Last Thursday, this happened to […]
Review: Chicago Philharmonic’s Aretha Rising Paid (and Played) Respect
Chicago Philharmonic focused most of its 2021-22 season on great composers—such as Mozart, Copland, Brahms, Dvorak and Respighi—featured by most classical ensembles. But more than most orchestras, Chicago Philharmonic […]
Review: Music of the Baroque’s Easter Oratorio Program Shines with a Few Bumps
The Music of the Baroque concert this week at the Harris Theater, with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Easter Oratorio as its featured piece, was excellent—I’ve never seen the ensemble give a […]
Review: Hamilton Star Goldsberry Doesn’t Throw Away Her Shot at Auditorium Theatre Concert
Renée Elise Goldsberry is a charismatic entertainer with a big musical theater voice, and she was well-received as she sang her way through a variety of musical genres at the […]
Review: Soprano Soloist Lets Her Coloratura Burst at Music of the Baroque
Watching the audience’s effusive response to soprano Amanda Forsythe’s blazing coloratura at the end of Music of the Baroque’s Classical Heroines concert Monday at Chicago’s Harris Theater, it is easy […]