http://artsandabout.com News, Reviews and Opinion on Visual, Musical and Literary Culture Thu, 03 May 2012 21:01:59 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It is common knowledge that Chicago enjoys a rich and vibrant classical music scene. We can boast of having a world-class symphony orchestra, opera company and classical radio station (WFMT). Ensembles and choral groups covering every period from Early Music and Baroque to contemporary abound. In addition, there is a ... http://artsandabout.com/music-classical/a-special-musical-legacy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-special-musical-legacy Moviegoers were captivated last year with Woody Allen's movie, "Midnight in Paris". Millions of viewers fantasized going back in time to Paris in the 1920s to drop in on Gertrude Stein's salon and meet American writers and fellow expatriates, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. That is not my fantasy. Mine ... http://artsandabout.com/art-museums/the-steins-collect-did-they-ever/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-steins-collect-did-they-ever Editor's Note: The postings this week and next focus on two magnificent art exhibits currently up.  One is 750 miles away at the Metropolitan Museum in New York while the other is only 90 miles from Chicago at the Milwaukee Art Museum. If hopping a plane is out of the ... http://artsandabout.com/art-museums/is-it-self-taught-outsider-or-art-brut-why-not-just-plain-art/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-it-self-taught-outsider-or-art-brut-why-not-just-plain-art [caption id="attachment_1049" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Michael Tilson Thomas"][/caption] Michael Tilson Thomas has always had a special affinity for the music of American composers. The Los Angeles-born  music director of the San Francisco Symphony since 1995, he has championed those pioneers  who, according to an SFO website, "created a new American musical voice ... http://artsandabout.com/music-classical/sfo-salutes-ten-american-mavericks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sfo-salutes-ten-american-mavericks Don't know about you but, if I hadn't received a brochure in the mail last month, I wouldn't know about an extraordinary musical event starting this week in Evanston. It's the 9th annual Spring Festival sponsored by Northwestern University and its Bienen School of Music. I've seen no ads in ... http://artsandabout.com/music-classical/whole-lotta-soundings-going-on/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whole-lotta-soundings-going-on In late January, I had the pleasure of attending two operas in the space of five days; one in a movie theater, the other in the house at Lyric Opera. Under the circumstances, a comparison was inevitable and here I made an unexpected discovery. In rating my enjoyment of the ... http://artsandabout.com/music-classical/the-new-vs-old-%e2%80%9cgrand-opera%e2%80%9d/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-new-vs-old-%25e2%2580%259cgrand-opera%25e2%2580%259d [caption id="attachment_958" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Chicago Chorale"][/caption] I last wrote about the virtues of the fine, Hyde Park-based, Chicago Chorale two years ago. Since then, I have had the pleasure of hearing them in concert several times and on two CD recordings, Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers” and their 10th Anniversary release, “And Give Us ... http://artsandabout.com/music-classical/climbing-a-musical-mountain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=climbing-a-musical-mountain [caption id="attachment_939" align="alignright" width="150" caption="DePaul Art Museum"][/caption] There’s a new museum in town. Yet I’m not sure how many Chicagoans know the good news. The DePaul Art Museum opened last September in a new, three-story structure adjoining the Fullerton CTA stop. The museum is only new in a technical sense. Since 1998, ... http://artsandabout.com/art-museums/chicago%e2%80%99s-new-art-museum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago%25e2%2580%2599s-new-art-museum [caption id="attachment_935" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Derek Guthrie"][/caption] It has been 10 years since The New Art Examiner published its final issue. The monthly magazine, which called itself “Chicago’s Independent Voice of the Visual Arts,” enjoyed a rough but highly-respected run from 1973 to 2002. It was born in controversy by founding editors, ... http://artsandabout.com/art-artists/chicago%e2%80%99s-independent-art-voice-revived/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago%25e2%2580%2599s-independent-art-voice-revived Savvy theatergoers know Next Theatre in Evanston offers provocative and artistically adventurous work without fail. Next, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last season, is a company that, along with Steppenwolf, Wisdom Bridge and a host of small, storefront troupes, put Chicago Theater on the national map in the 1980s. Though housed ... http://artsandabout.com/literary-theatre/%e2%80%9cthe-girl-in-the-yellow-dress%e2%80%9d/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=%25e2%2580%259cthe-girl-in-the-yellow-dress%25e2%2580%259d