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While riding the Brown line last month, I had a most delightful surprise. “Delightful surprise” are two words that are rarely associated with the CTA. As the train left Chicago Avenue heading south, my eyes caught a giant image of opera star, Renee Fleming, on the side of a River North building asking, “When Was the Last Time You Cried at a Cubist Exhibition?.”  I did a double-take and then had a good laugh at the tongue-in-cheek dig at the Art Institute and MCA.

Renee had a point. It is one that Lyric Opera began pressing home this September in a series of images plastered extensively throughout Chicago on billboards, buildings and bus shelters. The images mainly feature Fleming and music director Andrew Davis making equally provocative statements. The tag line on all the messages is “Long Live Passion”.

As much as “Tales of Hoffman,” “The Magic Flute” and “Aida,” Lyric this season is promoting passion. And why not?  While opera-goers feel passionate about Lyric and the art form, that is not the way opera plays on the street and among most young Chicagoans.

Ask them what their impression of opera is and their replies will probably be some version of “stuffy,” “boring,” “for rich people,” and “not for me.” Well, the “Long Live Passion” campaign is out to change that and give Lyric a more contemporary, inviting image.

What are the tales of “Romeo and Juliet,” “Boris Godunov,” “Madame Butterfly,” “La Boheme” and “Faust” to limit the list to five choices but timeless stories of man’s insatiable lust for power and passion?  Lyric, in recent seasons, has also opened itself to staging newer repertoire, like “Candide,” “Porgy and Bess,” and this season’s “Showboat” that pay tribute to crowd-pleasing compositions that can arguably be ranked as 20^th Century American operettas.

With this ad campaign, Lyric is moving forcefully to attract a larger audience—youth and adult—to the magic of live opera. To feel moved, to cry, cheer, even be changed by what they see and hear. Here’s to its success! Visit: www.LyricOpera.org

Last week, our own Chicago Symphony Orchestra ended a successful tour of six European cities, including stops in the music capitals of Salzburg, Paris and Vienna. The orchestra also paid first-time visits to Luxembourg and Dresden, Germany.

Besides the tumultuous receptions the musicians received in each city, the two-week tour achieved a prime business objective: building the CSO’s fan base among old and new audiences abroad. And, in pursuit of that goal, touring and recordings remain the main brand-building tools of the major international orchestras—with one exception.

Philharmonie

The Berlin Philharmonic, after several years of intense planning, has mastered the technology and raised the necessary corporate funding (courtesy of Deutsche Bank) to place many past and nearly all its current concerts on its “Digital Concert Hall”, the only product of its kind in the music world.

With an on-site studio providing digital transmission, the orchestra  broadcasts 30 live concerts a season from its home, The Philharmonie, to audiences around the world. This impressive global reach gives the Berliners and their leader, Sir Simon Rattle, a commanding new tool in branding toolbox.

Sir Simon Rattle

I had the pleasure of watching the orchestra’s season-opening concert on August 26. Rattle and the orchestra gave a dynamic, driving performance of Gustav Mahler’s Seventh Symphony. The video transmission on my Apple computer was flawless and the all-important sound quality didn’t disappoint.

While nothing can replace the special thrill of being part of a live audience in the hall, watching a highly-charged performance, from the comfort of one’s living room, minus all the costs of a night on the town is appealing.

The orchestra’s next live performance is this Sunday, September 18th, when they perform Mahler’s Eighth Symphony (appropriate during the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death), the “Symphony of a Thousand”. The work requires an augmented orchestra and several hundred choral forces. The financial and technical demands such a mammoth production presents are why it has been performed by Berlin only four times since World War II.

With its concert hall innovation, the Philharmonic has blazed a new musical path and offered music lovers an attractively-priced way to attend concerts. Especially attractive for students, elderly music lovers. those on limited incomes and listeners outside Germany.

Digital concert hall subscription options:You can buy a 48-hour ticket to one live concert with access to the orchestra’s archives (120 concerts featuring the world’s top conductors and soloists) for just $13 (which won’t even get you a seat in Orchestra Hall’s upper Gallery). The best introductory option is the 30-day pass for approximately $40 which provides access to the archives and 4 live concerts. A yearly subscription for 30 live concerts and archive access is $200.

Digital Concert Hall

My sole reservation with the season-opener was the absence of any introduction to the Mahler such as is provided to concertgoers by Program Notes at the hall. The Seventh is not a widely-known work in the Mahler canon and has gained a place in the orchestral repertoire only recently.

It would have been most useful to feature a welcoming host who could have provided neophytes and even knowledgeable listeners with a 4 or 5 minute overview of the symphony’s themes and their development in the score. Mahler was a contemporary composer whose shifting moods and melancholia often appeared in his works.

I urge serious music lovers and new fans alike to access and explore the Philharmonic’s website at www.digitalconcerthall.com. I think you will echo my sentiments completely. I say, “Bravi” to Berlin!

POSTSCRIPT: Just announced, new 48-hour subscription that allows usage for a whole weekend: Subscription and 48-hour ticket.

Vence, France

I landed in this lovely hillside town of Vence, France on the famed Cote d’Azur uncertain on what I’d find in terms of musical offerings. I’ve happily discovered that these lovely hillside towns are alive with the sound of music.  It ranges from pop to classical to jazz and local genres, such as chanson, French accordion and religious chant.

Every week, Vence’s billboards, cafes and tourist office are covered with ever-changing posters and flyers promoting upcoming concerts, These events can be local fare–such as Vence’s month-long pop festival, “Les Nuits de Sud” (Southern Nights)–or in neighboring villages between 5 and 25 miles away.

Music is very much a vital part of French cultural life. July featured two internationally-recognized jazz festivals, one at nearby Juan-les-Pins (over 50 years old) and at neighboring Nice. I attended closing night of the Nice Festival and enormously enjoyed a concert that lasted over four hours and featured brilliant trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s Quintet, the ageless Ahmad Jamal and Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in fine form.

I had wanted to catch one of the performances at the 4-day Festival of French Accordion but failed to make it. This coming weekend, however, I am looking forward to a concert by an a cappella group from Corsica singing Gregorian and other chant music at a Trappist abbey on an island off the coast of Cannes.

I’ve discovered that, for the French, music is a necessary ingredient for having a good time and stoking one’s joie de vivre. Since my arrival in June, there have been three occasions in Vence that brought out the local population (all ages, not just teenagers) for socializing and dancing.

Fete De Musique

On June 21, France celebrated “Fete de Musique,” a national celebration now 30 years old where every village decorates its town square and bands of every description (provincial French, rock, blues) entertain all evening while folks mingled, sat at sidewalk cafes and danced. Pauline and I had a great time reveling in the party atmosphere.

Then, of course, on July 14th, all France celebrated Bastille Day, the French Independence Day. And, just last weekend, this town’s medieval square (dating from the 14th Century), erupted with revelers dining and dancing for the centennial feast of St. Elizabeth.  I’m not sure why that produced such revelry but why let a good saint’s feast day go to waste.

Besides a full calendar of summer concerts and feast days, I’ve also enjoyed getting my music fix via French radio.  While I’m at a loss when it comes to fast-talking hosts on television or seeing “House” or “Gray’s Anatomy” dubbed in French, music serves as the universal language.

I roam the dial and land on either of two classical or jazz stations. While neither classical station approaches WFMT’s excellence, they are quite good AND commercial-free. As for jazz, having two 24-hour stations puts Chicago to shame though WDCB and WHPK do their best to fill the crater-size void.

One of the classical stations programs mainly opera and song, befitting France’s vast “chanson” repertoire. I usually favor the other station which plays more instrumental and orchestral performances. My only quibble is that, unlike America, where announcers announce performers, selection and recording date before and after each selection religiously, the stations here play back-to-back cuts that can last nearly an hour without any artist identification.

And both jazz stations exhibit a very French take on American jazz. You never hear modern groups.  No jarring free jazz or hard-bop selections. I have yet to hear Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk or other modern masters. Rather, the selections favor Ella, Ellington and a lot of Louie (Armstrong)! And a pre-1950s songlist. Not exactly American “Smooth Jazz” but a close cousin.

Let me close with two sidenotes. None of the summer concerts, usually out-of-doors, start before 9 or 9:30 p.m. You may wonder why. Well, I learned that’s because the noisy cicadas don’t stop their infernal chirping until that time.

Finally, at “Fete de Musique”, the closing ensemble was a blues band who had the audience rocking. As their final number at close to midnight, they played a polished version of the blues anthem, “Sweet Home Chicago”. Amen, I say!

Not just flowers but the arts are also in full bloom in May. If you are scouting for something different to do this month besides the old stand-bys (movies, touring museums or club-crawling), here are six events sure to inject some added spark in your social calendar.

1. Spring Humanities Festival —May 3-15— Chicagoans flock every Fall to the Chicago Humanities Festival. A lesser-known fact is that the festival has a sister version each Spring. This year’s festival is titled “Stages, Sights and Sounds” and features 40 performances by 4 theater companies from Scotland, Italy, Canada and The Netherlands. The companies will perform at the Museum of Contemporary Art and on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. For more information on the troupes, dates and tickets, see www.chicagohumanities.org or phone 312/494-9509.

2. Chicago Opera Theater—MAY 7 & 8—When art, like life, hands you a lemon, make lemonade. That’s precisely what Chicago Opera Theater General Manager Brian Dickie did when the previously announced production, Shostokovich’s opera,”Cheryomushki,” was put off to next season. Dickie then had an inspired notion: stage two song cycles about obsessive love and add visual special effects by the Chicago Symphony’s “Beyond the Score” team of Gerard McBurney and animator Hillary Leben. The dream images, Leben says, are “meant to lead the audience through the expressive emotional content of the songs. It’s a chance to experience them on a deeper level.”

COT will present Robert Schumann’s “A Woman’s Love and Life” and Leos Janacek’s “The Diary of One Who Disappeared.” Go to witness the fascinating interplay of images and song. But hurry. There are only two performances at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Tickets range from $25-75 with half-price seats for students. For more information, go to www.chicagooperatheater.org.

3. “After Five” Walking Tours—Are you new in town or simply want to know the story behind some of Chicago’s most famous structures? The Chicago Architecture Foundation will begin a series of 11 “After Five” walking tours this month through September. Learn more about our city’s heralded architectural heritage after work and be home in time for dinner. Some offerings include “Downtown Deco,” “Modern Skyscrapers,” “Gold Coast: Astor Street.” Tours are led by the foundation’s trained docents and cost a modest $15. For a full list of tours, go to www.architecture.org.

The Front Page

4. The Front Page—Now Thru July 17—At a time when blogging passes for reporting and newspapers are in financial peril, relive what Chicago journalism was like in its 1920s heyday while laughing your head off. “The Front Page”, by Chicago legends, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, draws on their exploits (more like shenanigans) at City News Bureau in this landmark comedy that exposes the rampant corruption and hi-jinks synonymous with Windy City politics and journalism of that era. The crack TimeLine cast bring the madcap antics of star reporter Hildy Johnson Death Row inmate, Earl Williams and the paper’s tyrannical managing editor, Walter Burns, to life. To book tickets, go to www.timelinetheatre.com.

Bill Cunningham

5. Bill Cunningham New York—Starts May 20—Some people read The New York Times for its political coverage, others for its business news or op-ed pundits, but the city’s entire fashion and society world read it for Bill Cunningham’s weekly photo essays. However, everyone will find the documentary, Bill Cunningham New York, enchanting for its portrait of a delightful 82 year-old, humble gentleman who gets around New York by bike and whose singular passion is capturing Manhattan’s street and night life on film. Make this movie a top priority. You will exit the Music Box on a high note. For more details, check out www.musicboxtheatre.com.

Peter Sellers

What can an opera, whose composer died over 250 years ago, teach us about human suffering? Or what can a famous Greek playwright, who lived 25 centuries ago, say about modern warfare, long before the advent of guns, bombs and weapons of mass destruction?

Quite a lot it appears when Sophocles’ play, “Women of Trachis,” and George Friedric Handel’s oratorio, “Hercules,” are filtered through the brilliantly inventive mind of director Peter Sellars in his latest Lyric Opera collaboration.

Sellars has said that he wanted to depict the universality of wartime suffering, both on the battlefield warriors and those left behind on the home front. To that end, he has cut-and-pasted a modern libretto for this contemporary staging, aimed at underlining stark parallels between ancient Greece and America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Unlike his 2007 Lyric production of “Doctor Atomic,” where he over-reached in his attempt to critique the Faustian legacy of the atom bomb, Sellars triumphs this time out with a vocally rich, emotionally-charged production.

The casting of Eric Owens as Hercules, the gifted dramatic mezzo Alice Coote as Dejanira, Hercules’ wife, and countertenor David Daniels as Lichas, the court herald, was near ideal. However, the evening’s hosannas belong to Iole, the captured prisoner, sung by Lucy Crowe.

(Lyric, in its mail brochure, focused all its attention on the three leading stars and bypassed any mention of the night’s star with her pure tone and ardent delivery that merited several well-earned bravos.)

The story was spare, relative to its 3 ½ hour length. Sellars’ Hercules is portrayed less as the world’s strongest man but a general in full body armor, just returned from his most recent conquest to a hero’s welcome and his wife’s joyful relief.

Yet Hercules is a changed man returned to an alien world. He is shut down, refusing to talk about the war, what he has seen or how many he has killed. For Sellars, Hercules’ plight is like the experience of so many veterans of our current wars. He keeps the war inside where it still rages, until it explodes in post-traumatic stress disorder, domestic violence or possibly suicide.

Eric Owens (Hercules), Lucy Crowe (Iole), and Marckarthur Johnson (guard)

The opera’s mood changes very soon after the opening curtain when we learn that Hercules has brought home a war trophy, the lovely Princess Iole, who is dragged on stage with her face masked and wearing an orange jumpsuit, evoking disturbing memories of Abu Ghraib.

Hercules is captivated by her but Dejanira is aflame with jealousy over having to share her home with this stranger and rival. Ironically, as a result of Sellar’s reworking, the destructive love triangle between Hercules, Dejanira and Iole is underplayed and almost non-existent in the production. Iole is barely seen in Hercules’ company at all but is wooed with greater success by Hyllus, his son.

Iole reaches out to make peace with Dejanira but is rejected. In her attempt to win back Hercules’ love, she unwittingly kills him and commits suicide when her plan for reconciliation goes horribly awry.

Sellars gives Hercules a hero’s flag-draped funeral complete with honor guard, despite his dying wish in Handel’s version to be buried on Mt. Olympus, home of the gods.

Opera purists may rankle at the extensive cuts and liberties Sellars has taken with Sophocles and Handel. Yet, “Hercules” succeeds brilliantly in depicting the cruel wages of war and ends Lyric’s 2010-11 season on a richly-satisfying high note.

Only two performances remain to catch “Hercules”. For dates and tickets, go to www.LyricOpera.org.

Over the last decade, musical organizations have gone public with their concern at the absence of the under-30 generation in the audience for classical concerts. Orchestras and conductors around the country blamed the lack of music education in school while critics retorted that orchestras had priced young people out of their halls and were acting more like museums, endlessly curating the same canonical works from the 18^th and 19^th centuries while turning their backs on music of our time.

Well, the musical ice has cracked in Chicago and the new music scene has “really exploded”, according to Tim Munro, flutist with Eighth Blackbird, a leading contemporary ensemble.  The prime movers and shakers are the city’s chamber music ensembles, though the mighty Chicago Symphony joined the movement in 1998 with its MusicNow series and the appointment of two young, edgy composers-in-residence, Anna Clyne and occasional hip-hop DJ Masonic, Mason Bates.

A seminal event for this development was the creation in 2004 of New Music Chicago, an association of five founding members—Eighth Blackbird, ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Cube, ACM (Access Contemporary Music) and Maverick—that has grown to 20 members. Tribute must be paid to the vanguard Contemporary Chamber Players (now Contempo), headed by composer Ralph Shapey who paved the way in 1964. The group is now headed by composer Shulamit Ran.

Chicago, in fact, is the most active city for new music activity in the country. Teddy Dean Boys, a local consultant to non-profit organizations, says that he heard Bates and Clyne, at a luncheon last week, claim that Chicago is an even more lively center for new music than London, San Francisco and New York.

Seth Boustead

Munro, ACM’s founder, Seth Boustead, and Boys revealed a number of reasons for this musical flourishing.  They noted that New Music Chicago has proven to be a unifying force supportive of each ensemble’s work rather than in competition; there is no comparable organization in New York or San Francisco. Boys seconds this idea, stating that Chicago is “a great nurturing place” with “risk-taking audiences”, factors that allow performers to develop at their own pace, with less fear of failure than exist elsewhere.

Young people like to flock to venues that have a “cool vibe.” So, new music ensembles have ventured out of their academic homes to play at The Hideout, Heaven Gallery, Hungry Brain, Chopin Theater and even the Green Mill Tavern. Both Boys and Boustead say that the new music scene is reminiscent of the excitement surrounding Chicago Theater in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Boustead noted that Dal Niente, Fulcrum Point and ICE are groups with a very clear mission who “talk like people in their 30s” that bonds with younger audiences. A number of new groups are crossing over to incorporate indie rock influences in their performances, says Munro.

Munro claims that engaged, young audiences flock to Eighth Blackbird concerts because the group “try to create a different performance aesthetic. We try to find ways of emotionally engaging an audience.” He says they employ elements other than an audiences’ ears—movies for example—to grab attention.

Finally, what makes Chicago so lively is the absence of a single major presenter, the proverbial 800-pound gorilla that monopolizes the audience’s attention, like the Chicago Symphony does for orchestral music.

If you remain in the dark about new music, I’d urge you to catch a performance by Eighth Blackbird, Pacifica Quartet, ICE or any of the ensembles in this report. This Saturday, Eighth Blackbird is at the Museum of Contemporary Art playing Steve Reich’s masterwork, “Music for 18 Musicians” in honor of his 75^th birthday. The first show is sold out but a second show has been added at 10 p.m.

Eighth is curating the “Tune-In Festival” in New York from February 16 – 20 in a really alternative venue, the cavernous Park Avenue Armory.  The festival consists of 4 concerts over 5 days. Eighth is performing in all the festival concerts apart from the February 16 opening; only one features them in their normal sextet configuration. A highlight will be the premiere of John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit” which features 72 percussionists performing as they move around the armory. For more information, go to www.armoryonpark.org.

Here at home, mark March 30 on your calendar to take in Access Contemporary Music’s annual “Sound of Silent Film Festival.”  It’s the only film festival that features modern silent films by directors like Martin Scorsese and Gus van Sant screened to live music composed specifically for each film. It is both fun and engaging. The festival runs from March 30 to April 2 at the Chopin Theater. For more information, go to www.acmusic.org.

That’s what conductor Steven Mercurio called Giacomo Puccini’s opera, “La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) in a recent issue of Opera News. Puccini composed the score to the play of the same name by American playwright, David Belasco.

The opera, which remains relatively unheralded compared to Puccini’s other scores—“Tosca,” “La Boheme” and “Madame Butterfly”—is being feted this season on the 100^th Anniversary of its debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Puccini attended the premiere and heard Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn in the leading roles with Arturo Toscanini conducting. Puccini considered it his best score.

Since its premiere, where it received a tumultuous 14 curtain calls, the opera has had a spotty history. Lyric has not performed “La Fanciulla” since 1990. Why? The opera has a winning story of personal redemption and beautiful melodies, good enough for Andrew Lloyd Weber to poach for the signature song to his “Phantom” musical, “Magic of the Night.” One reason may be that few sopranos can or want to tackle the fearsome vocal and dramatic demands of the score.

Deborah Voigt at The Met

In honor of the centennial, America’s two leading opera houses  mounted different productions. Rarer still, I was able to see the Met and Lyric Opera productions only weeks apart with the same two leads, soprano Deborah Voigt as Minnie and tenor Marcello Giordani as the bandit, Ramerrez, aka Dick Johnson.

The opera is set in a California mining town at the time of the Gold Rush (1849). Minnie is the good-hearted proprietor of The Polka Inn, a saloon frequented by the men who’ve left their homes and families to come West and find their fortune. Jack Rance, the town’s sheriff, lusts after Minnie but she gives her heart, unknowingly, to the Mexican bandit, Ramerrez, who comes to town masquerading as “Johnson from Sacramento.” The opera’s action revolves around Minnie and Johnson’s growing love affair, Rance’s suspicions and the discovery of Johnson’s true identity.

I’ll compare the two viewings by commenting on various aspects of the productions and deliver a sports page-like ranking.

VIEWING—I saw the Met production in a local movie theater on a live HD transmission. The vivid picture quality impressed me more than I expected and the close-ups of the singers added extra immediacy to my enjoyment. At Lyric, I sat in a sixth row seat, which conveyed the same close-up immediacy with the advantage of being in the house, hearing a live performance. Advantage—A Tie. (”Superb Viewing in Both Productions. However, live performance and seat location favor Lyric but the Met wins if one is seated in rear orchestra or upper balcony).

STAGING—Both Giancarlo del Monaco’s Met production and Lyric’s  by theater director, Harold Prince, told the tale by focusing on the miners and not a John Ford cowboy western with blazing guns and 10-gallon hats (Lyric’s Jack Rance hardly wore his hat, preferring to hold it in his hand by his side, an odd and distracting choice for a sheriff).

The major differences were in the set, costumes and lighting design. The Met used nearly the entire stage to depict the interior of The Polka Inn while Lyric’s smaller set was centered in the middle of the stage and showed the inn’s exterior as the opening curtain rose while the remaining half showing the rocky landscape.

Set Design—When Lyric’s set opened, the Polka Inn had a cramped feeling that proved too small for all the miners onstage. The saloon’s smaller set proved a greater disadvantage in the second act, when only half the set had to serve as the entirety of Minnie’s cabin. The Met’s cabin, meanwhile, was twice as large and more appropriate for all the props and action that take place during the act. Advantage—The Met

Costumes revealed another major difference. The Met production had the miners in more authentic western garb with checked shirts, bandanas and vests. At Lyric, while the miners sported appropriate garb, it was strange to see the bandit Ramerrez and sheriff Jack Rance clothed in knee-length overcoats, outfits more appropriate for landed gentry than cowboys. Advantage—The Met

Finally, the lighting design at Lyric was dark and much too somber compared to the Met’s brighter palette. It was nearly impossible to make out the miners at the opening curtain entering from Stage Right or to see Ramerrez flee outdoors in the second act to avoid capture.  Both the Met and Lyric productions featured the majestic Sierra Mountains in the background; the Met, however, effectively spotlit the snowy peaks in the second act onward while they remained in darkness at Lyric until the last act. For a story in which nature and the harsh landscape are a key backdrop and in which the Sierras cover the entire rear of Lyric’s stage, it seemed the lighting was not used to best effect. Advantage—The Met

Marcello Giordani & Deborah Voigt at Lyric

Singers—Though music lovers and critics care most about this category, I placed it last because Deborah Voight and Marcello Giordani were in fine voice and delivered winning dramatic portrayals in both productions. However, in supporting roles, I preferred Lyric’s casting of Jack Rance and Jake Wallace. Marco Vratogna’s dark, baritone delivery was slightly better than that of Lucio Gallo in New York. And Paul Corona at Lyric gave a more ardent rendition of Jake Wallace’s nostalgic song of home. Advantage—Lyric

And give Lyric another point for Minnie’s show-stopping rescue of Ramerrez from the gallows. While she simply came running in at The Met, she enters atop an old-fashioned hand-pump railcar at Lyric and, with a single shot, severs the hanging rope in two, a feat that drew a gasp from the audience.

While I have been more critical of Lyric’s production, it has been in the supporting categories. I’ve had no qualms about the glorious singing, staging or the score. So, I’d urge that you don’t miss discovering the joy of this neglected Puccini score. Six more performances remain through February 21. For tickets, go to www.lyricopera.org.

The next Met Live HD production, John Adams’ “Nixon in China”, will be telecast on Saturday, February 12. For details and ticket sales, go to www.metopera.org.

Watching the first scene in “RAGA: A Film Journey into the Soul of India” (Apple Films, 2010), one sees the Indian sitar master, Ravi Shankar, making his way through a crowd of adoring fans. It is sometime in the late ‘60s, when Eastern music was the rage in America. Shankar is smiling, clearly taken by the adulation of Hare Krishna devotees, flower children and curious, youthful bystanders. We next see him onstage, performing before a large crowd, joined by his long-time collaborator, the great Ustad Alla Rakha on tabla. These two need only a momentary glance and fleeting eye contact to produce an endless cascade of raga rhythms.

That was to be his 15 minutes of fame in America. Yet his musical influence has endured. While he emerged in the 1950s, his fame was propelled by the interest taken by the “quiet Beatle”, George Harrison, in Indian mysticism. Harrison traveled to India to study the sitar with Shankar. As a result of that spiritual journey and musical collaboration, Harrison released the album, “All Things Must Pass” in 1970 which contained the songs, “My Sweet Lord” and “What is Life?.” He also produced a charity benefit with Shankar in 1971, A Concert for Bangladesh.

By 1972, the music and the counterculture moment had died, done in by drugs, the Kent State killings, the Black Panthers and Weather Underground, Middle America’s turn to the right, symbolized by the election of Richard Nixon.

Last October, to mark Shankar’s 90^th birthday year and give a new generation the chance to experience his music anew, the Ravi Shankar Foundation re-released “Raga”, the 1971 documentary along with the first (1967-68) of nine CDs in a series entitled Nine Decades, featuring rare and remastered recordings  www.eastmeetswestmusic.com.

I recommend connecting with the documentary before diving into the music.  Not only will you witness him rehearsing with the remarkable violinist, Yehudi Menuhin, and the oh-so-young Harrison but it will give you a greater insight into this deeply religious man who gave up the life of a dancer, living the high life in Paris, to study for over seven years with his musical guru and dedicated his life thenceforth to music.  He toured America last year at 90 with his daughter, Anoushka.  I regret having missed his October concert at Orchestra Hall.

The film and music took me back in time. I was 25 when Shankar came on the scene. The music first struck me as foreign, like but yet quite unlike the twang of rock guitars. Through increased listening, I found the rapid string-plucking produced rich, singing tones that drew me in. As someone who practiced yoga at the time and puffed the occasional joint, this mysterious, other-worldly music fit the  alternative practices of the time. Shankar, however, didn’t approve of what he termed “the wrong approach to our music and religion, through drugs” and walked away from the fame and adulation.

Another jarring element is to see the deep poverty and squalor of India, circa 1970, at a time when today’s news is of the nation’s economic rise made possible by technology. How many will share in that good fortune? Will the great mass of the population be left behind the digital divide? Also, the film portrays a country rooted in century-old traditions and religious ceremony. Will India’s currently strong embrace of capitalism, consumption and distractions inevitably endanger its spiritual rootedness?

Ragas are the musical voice of the Indian people’s prayers. All of Shankar’s playing and raga compositions are his attempt to express the soul of Indian culture through the strings of his sitar. Ragas go much deeper than being simply sweet melodies, which is how they were treated in the West. Perhaps this time we can rediscover the true beauty of the music and the musician who remains its most renowned champion.

The Russians Are Here and More Are Coming

Every new year is a time for looking ahead. Rather than write about performances after the fact, I intend to start off the year by spotlighting some noteworthy programs on the “Soviet Arts Experience” schedule that belong on your calendar. My next post will be about worthwhile exhibitions at several of Chicago’s smaller museums and galleries.

“The Soviet Arts Experience” is an ambitious showcase of more than 100 presentations at 26 venues that began last October and runs throughout the city through January 2012 by artists who created under the time of Politburo rule in the former Soviet Union. This means symphonies and chamber music by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Stravinsky but also ballet scores, wartime propaganda posters and book art. All the events and contact info are at www.SovietArtsExperience.org.

This past weekend, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played concerts on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon of Prokofiev’s engaging Fifth Symphony. Prokofiev is one of the four Russian composers cited above who created powerful works of the 20^th Century that are destined to be musical milestones.

Serge Prokofiev

Yet, unlike his counterparts, the CSO devotes much less concert time to Prokofiev’s music. For a long time, the label “popular composer” dogged Prokofiev for his score of “Peter and the Wolf”. Yet his pulsating Fifth Symphony, the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” and his virtuosic Piano Concertos #1 and #3 call for a serious reappraisal and more performances by the CSO.

The last weekend this month provides two important programs. On Saturday, January 29, the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra has programmed a fascinating concert: several of Dimitri Shostakovich’s film scores, including those for “Hamlet”, “The Gadfly” and “King Lear.” Then on Sunday, be sure to be in the audience at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall to hear the Pacifica Quartet give the third of five programs traversing Shostakovich’s 15 string quartets.  The first two programs played to full houses and rousing receptions.

When the series’ final two concerts are over in February, they will be judged as signal musical events of the new century. For those not familiar with these works, like myself, their beauty and the Pacifica’s fervent playing will come as a revelation. If you can’t snag a seat at Ganz Hall on the 30th or February 13 and 27, you can wait for the CD release on Cedille Records later this year, hop a jet to New York’s Metropolitan Museum or ride the rails to Champaign where the quartet is repeating the series.

Two other dance performances that should prove mesmerizing are the visit by the State Ballet Theatre of Russia at Auditorium Theatre on February 4 and 5 performing “Swan Lake” and the Eifman Ballet of  St. Petersburg doing Eifman’s version of “Don Quixote or Fantasies of a Madman” in April. Each company gives only three performances of these works. So, be alert so as not to miss them.

Golosa Choir

Just the thought of hearing the Golosa Russian Choir singing traditional Russian vocal music in the reverberant confines of Rockefeller Chapel gives me goose bumps. Clear your calendar to be in Hyde Park on Sunday April 3 at 11 a.m.

Not to be overlooked, three of Chicago’s art venues get into the act over the Summer and Fall with a series of exhibits highlighting Soviet posters, experimental propaganda images and book art.

The Art Institute kicks off the visual extravaganza on July 30 with a never-before-seen show of giant, strikingly designed World War II posters followed on August 30 with a show at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art that features the artistic process behind the creation of iconic Soviet propaganda imagery of the 1920s and 1930s.

Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art has two shows opening next Fall. One shows 160 post-Cold War political posters, cartoons, postcards and photomontages. The second is an examination of Soviet Book Art during the period 1910-17 by avant-garde artists entitled “Tango with Cows.”

There are many more riches impossible to include. Performances of Russian music by the CSO and Riccardo Muti, pianist EvgenyKissin and violist Yuri Bashmet in a joint recital, cellists Yo Yo Ma and Alisa Weilerstein. These artists’ appearances will be strongly marketed. I want to draw your attention to smaller, non-blockbuster events that may not be on your radar and may prove more satisfying.

The political Cold War is over. The Soviet Arts Experience seeks to smash a less conscious cultural “cold war” and expose us to a wider and deeper appreciation of works by Soviet artists in multiple mediums.  Bravo!

You probably have not heard of “The Soviet Arts Experience.”  You may think it was some Russian cultural propaganda during the Cold War? No. It is an adventurous series of music, art and theater programs running in Chicago over the next 15 months to showcase major 20^th Century contributions by Soviet artists. I guarantee that, when it ends in January, 2012, few will remain unaware of it and it will be judged an inspired triumph of cultural programming.

The Soviet Arts Experience (SAR) opened on October 1^st with a recital by the Tokyo String Quartet that featured a work by the talented Russian composer, Lera Auerbach, and continued through the month with an electrifying performance by the Chicago Symphony of Dimitri Shostokovich’s Eighth Symphony and impassioned performances of 5 of Shostokovich’s 15 string quartets by the Pacifica String Quartet at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall. The festival has already hit several high notes, so I’d urge you to book tickets soon for Pacifica’s final three concerts of the cycle. You will be treated to chamber music at its finest.  Go to Pacifica’s website and click on “News” for more information.

Shauna Quill

The impresario behind such an ambitious undertaking is not a New York music producer or one of our city’s major cultural institutions. Instead, Shauna Quill, who runs the University of Chicago’s extensive classical music program has shepherded this idea and assembled an impressive alliance of 25 local arts organizations from the Art Institute, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, the Goodman, Court and Auditorium theaters, Ravinia and the Grant Park Music Festival.

The germ of the idea that led to this festival occurred approximately 18 months ago, when the Pacifica Quartet informed Quill about their plans to schedule the rarely played Shostokovich string quartet cycle in a series of five recitals. Quill was impressed with the daring of the project and began thinking of how to capitalize on and draw attention to these compositions, pieces rarely-performed in their entirety.

She began calling other arts organizations in town and asked if they would like to  showcase works by artists who created during the time of the Soviet Union’s authoritarian rule by its supreme political body, the Politburo. The concept was enthusiastically received and, when the project was announced last March, 11 artistic collaborators were on board for the project.

The partnership has expanded in the seven subsequent months so that “The Soviet Arts Experience” now consists of more than 100 events in 25 venues, including over 50 concerts, 7 art exhibitions, 9 dance performances, 2 theater productions and numerous lectures and symposia. “I like to do interdisciplinary things, not just music,” says Quill. Well, this is doing interdisciplinary in spades!

Gidon Kremer

November events include a recital by Ani Aznavoorian, cello and Lera Auerbach, piano at the University of Chicago (November 5); Gidon Kremer’s Kremerata Baltica at Harris Theater (November 6) and another recital at Mandel Hall on November 19^th. In addition, Anton Chekov’s “The Seagull” is being performed at Goodman Theater through November 14 and the University of Chicago Library features an exhibit of Gulag Art through December.

If I’ve aroused your curiosity about SAR, then go to the “The Soviet Arts Experience” website.  It contains a list of program highlights, the roster of participating organizations and a calendar of events.

Quill’s background has equipped her for this logistical challenge. She studied music at Carnegie-Mellon University and interned at a Pittsburgh radio station. She then spent three years working for Herbert Breslin, who headed a well-known agency representing musical artists, followed by four years with the Aspen Music Festival in a consulting capacity.

She arrived at the University of Chicago in 2007 drawn, she says, by the potential offered by the position for artistic and scholarly collaboration. And she is already excited by a new challenge for collaboration. “I’m starting to think about the greater potential with the opening of the Logan Arts Center” on campus in 2012.

In the meantime, Quill says the marketing heads of the participating organizations are brainstorming on ways to showcase the festival in an attention-grabbing way so the public will be more aware of the cultural richness currently underway. While  35,000 posters have been mailed, it will take a special event, like a Soviet Arts week of stellar performances, similar to the Chicago Humanities Festival weekends.

After all, to paraphrase the philosopher Immanuel Kant, if a festival falls in the forest and no one hears it, has it really happened? It would be a shame to waste such an inspired idea for want of an equally imaginative marketing campaign.