Classical Tue Sep 10 2013

Pulling Strings: For classical music in Chicago, you got a guy - September 2013

By Elliot Mandel

By Elliot Mandel

If you're like me, you could hear a month's worth of music during the nine-day Beethoven Festival and still want more. Fortunately, you can. It's gonna be a great month.

Collaborative Works Festival
The Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) celebrates the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten's birth during its Collaborative Works Festival this week. The opening salon concert highlights the influence of poets Edith Sitwell and W.H. Auden, and features three songs with soprano Kiera Duffy, tenor and festival director Nicholas Phan, and hornist Gail Williams. The festival continues with a recital by renowned countertenor David Daniels in a program of music by Brahms, Britten, and Berlioz. The closing concert features music inspired by folk songs, including works by Beethoven, Britten, and Luciano Berio; Duffy and Phan are joined by members of the Grammy-winning eighth blackbird. Opening salon: September 11 at The Poetry Foundation (61 W. Superior), 7pm, free admission. David Daniels recital: September 12 at the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St.), 7:30pm; general admission is $40, students are $20. Closing concert: September 15 at Performance Penthouse of Logan Center for the Arts (915 E. 60th St.), 2pm; general admission is $40, students are $20.

Beethoven Festival: Love 2013
In just three years, the Beethoven Festival has become the most ambitious, far-reaching, and artistically satisfying classical music event in Chicago, perhaps even outgrowing its name. In addition to plenty of Beethoven (never a bad thing), Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff, the festival offers more than 60 collaborative and interdisciplinary performance events from an international lineup of nearly 90 musical and visual artists. Hear music by contemporary composers, including 37 world premieres, along with jazz, pop, and electronica over the festival's nine days. Musicians include George Lepauw (festival director and piano), Rachel Barton Pine (violin), Howard Levy (harmonica), Matt Haimovitz (cello), Glenn Kotche (percussion), Mischa Zupko (composer and piano), Spektral Quartet, and Julien Labro (bandoneón). Get a single or multi-day pass, peruse the music and art as you wish, meet the artists, and have a completely different — possibly mind-bending — musical experience. Single day general admission passes start at $30. September 7-15. Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria.

Chicago Opera Theater: Joan of Arc
Chicago Opera Theater closes its 2013 season with the Chicago premiere of this rare Verdi opera in honor of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth. COT again stretches the concepts of history and memory in this production, mixing legend, sexual tension, and religious fundamentalism — a winning combination for opera — in its exploration of the woman and martyr of Joan of Arc. The cast is led by Suzan Hanson in the title role, returning to COT after her stunning performance in The Fall of the House of Usher. Tickets start at $45; student pricing available. Sept. 21, 25, 27, 7:30pm; Sept 29, 3pm. Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph.

Programs, artists, and prices subject to change.Tickets subject to availability.

About the author: Elliot Mandel plays cello, attends lots of concerts, writes reviews, and takes pictures. He doesn't understand why people fight about classical music in YouTube comments.