Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Musicians remember Holocaust survivor and Highland Park resident Victor Aitay, who performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than 50 years. He died last week, at age 91.
"We have lost a legend," begins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's obituary for Victor Aitay, the Highland Park resident and former CSO concertmaster who died last Tuesday. He was 91. Born in Budapest in 1921, Aitay didn't waste any time before jumping into musical training at age 7 when he entered the Franz Liszt Royal Academy, according to the CSO. After receiving an artist's diploma, Aitay became concertmaster of the Hungarian Royal Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra. He also organized the Aitay String Quartet, with which he toured Europe. Though he lost much of his family in the Holocaust, Aitay was one of tens of thousands of Jews who survived because of the efforts of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, according to a 2001 Chicago Tribune…
Friday, August 19, 2011
The Five Browns, CSO, perform Muhly’s work on five pianos.
A piano concerto is a staple of classical music, but one written for five pianos commissioned specifically by the Ravinia Festival for Tuesday’s performance of the Five Browns is a rare event. The Five Browns are unique enough. The five siblings—Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae—between 25 and 32, are making a concerted effort together to introduce classical music to a younger generation. Adding to the unusual evening was the presence of composer Nico Muhly. Classical composers are few and far between today, but like the Five Browns, the 29-year-old wants to put his touch on the efforts of past masters. The evening began with two pieces—Selections from the Planets by Gustav Holst and Camille Saint-Saens Danse Macabre—played …
Monday, August 8, 2011
Concertgoers less enthusiastic about Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied.
The audience reception to Gustav Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied (Song of Lamentations) was as mild as the crowd’s response to Itzhak Perlman’s rendition of Ludwig von Beethoven’s violin concerto was wild at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) performance Thursday at Ravinia. The concert marked milestones for the CSO’s relationships with both Perlman and Mahler. Thursday was the sixth and final Mahler performance scheduled by Ravinia Music Director James Conlon in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death this year. “This concludes our Mahler cycle,” Conlon told the audience before the concert began. “I started six years ago with his first symphony and tonight we’re playing his first work,” he added about the piece …
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular spurs standing ovation from crowd at Highland Park venue.
Cannons punctuating Peter Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture made the most noise at Sunday’s annual Ravinia Tchaikovsky Spectacular, but violinist Miriam Fried got the loudest cheers when the crowd rose to its feet after her performance of the Russian master’s violin concerto. The afternoon started with Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, the last piece of music the composer ever wrote nine days before his death in 1893. Fried then delighted the audience with her solos throughout the concerto before the finale of the famous overture. Read More: Teachers Turn Performers to Treat Ravinia Audience. Playing without the sheet music and most of the time with her eyes closed, Fried began playing the initial haunting tones as they seemed to emanate from her…
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6:39 am on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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