RECOMMENDED
After nearly four decades of performing together all over the world, the local Vermeer Quartet retired last year, ending its annual Passover/Easter performances of Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Christ” that the ensemble had made its own for more than a decade. The Vermeer approach, which was to offer the piece exactly as Haydn wrote it for Good Friday, 1797, in a resonant church setting with oral meditations on the scriptural texts that inspired each of the movements presented by a virtual “who’s who” of area religious elite before each of the movements in a manner similar to the group’s stunning recording of the work on the Alden label in 1998, was too good of an idea for it not to continue on after Vermeer had retired. Thus, two Vermeer members (hey, in the rock world this would constitute a bona fide reunion), violist Richard Young, who has even written a book about the Vermeer’s performances of this work, and violinist Mathias Tacke, will be joined by violinist Rachel Barton and cellist Wendy Warner to reconstitute this Holy Week tradition. Also on hand will be Martin E. Marty, Jean Bethke Elshtain and Alison Boden, among others, with oral meditations between the movements. (Dennis Polkow)
Tuesday, March 18 at University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn, (773)702-7059. 8pm. $10.
Related Stories
Never Give Up: A Preview of Fantastic Negrito at Martyrs' When Fantastic Negrito emerged onto the music scene in 2015, he looked to all the world like a new, emerging artist. In fact the man born Xavier Dphrepaulezz—winner of that year’s Tiny Desk Contest for his song and video “Lost in a Crowd,” which showcase a sound that builds upon the blues, but didn’t conform to most people’s ideas about…- Shock Value: A Preview of Last Fantastic Nasty at Quenchers I get the sense that Last Fantastic Nasty are still in that “figuring who we are” phase, where you’ve realized you can get attention by shocking people, but you start thinking long and hard about whether or not you want to. And they do have the musical chops to do well: the songs are metallic and complicated and compelling, even…
- Do It Again: A Preview of Brian Wilson at Horseshoe Hammond While today former bandmate Mike Love leads a group calling itself the Beach Boys, that band features no Brian Wilson. Wilson’s group, on the other hand, includes original Beach Boys member Al Jardine as well as late-prime-era Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin, and is jaw-droppingly facile at recreating the Beach Boys sound.
- Still Breathtaking: A Preview of Sting at Ravinia Festival Sting's solo catalog boasts more than a dozen studio albums. He may not rack up the hit singles like he once did, but he remains a compelling writer, musician and performer.
