RECOMMENDED
Principal conductor Carlos Kalmar returns to conclude the final weeks of the Grant Park Orchestra season on the heels of the release of no less than two superb CDs on the Chicago-based Cedille label with the orchestra—“Portraits” with Chicago violinist extraordinaire Jennifer Koh performing violin concertos by Syzmanowski, Martin and Bartók, and “American Orchestral Works,” including world-premiere recordings by three generations of American composers, including Barbara Kolb, Aaron Jay Kernis, Michael Hersch, first CSO composer-in-residence John Corigliano and John Harbison. Born of Viennese parents in Uruguay, Kalmar grew up with South American music, which will be spotlighted on this program along with a new and lively take on the traditional, excessively melodramatic and often morbid Portuguese “fado” or “fate” music tradition provided by guest singer Cristina Branco. (Dennis Polkow)
August 2 at Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan between Randolph and Monroe, (312)742-7638. 6:30pm. Free.
Related Stories
Grant Park: Legacy and “Legacy” By Seth Boustead “It’s true I didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but I came over as soon as I could,” said Anton Cermak in 1931, in response to xenophobic slurs made against him by the deeply entrenched, and deeply corrupt, Chicago mayor “Big Bill” Thompson. Threatened by Cermak’s political skill and alarmed by his growing support, Thompson resorted to…- Diversity Initiative: A Preview of Jimmy Herring at Park West On his most recent solo release—last year's “Live in San Francisco”—Herring and his band reach dizzying heights that combine instrumental pyrotechnics with a song-based aesthetic that balances the best characteristics of jazz, fusion and jam-based music.
- Blockbuster: A Preview of The Silver Room Block Party in Hyde Park This is a block party in the same way that the Chosen Few Picnic is a picnic.
- "Rumours" Has It: A Preview of "Say You Love Me" at Davenport's Cabaret The performers process arena-rock anthems through their own cabaret-honed sensibilities.
