Lawrence B. Johnson

1 week ago | chicagoontheaisle.com | Lawrence B. Johnson

Commentary: Evgeny Kissin, Víkingur Ólafsson close Symphony Center Presents season; Cliburn winner opens 2025-26 seriesBy Lawrence B. JohnsonIn elegant, illuminating and distinctly individual fashion, Emanuel Ax’s recent recital at Orchestra Hall exemplified everything that is marvelous about the annual piano series under the banner of Symphony Center Presents. Season after season, this longstanding treasure of a series brings to Chicago the greatest pianists of our time.

1 month ago | chicagoontheaisle.com | Lawrence B. Johnson

Commentary: Haydn’s Mass in C major, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Manfred HoneckBy Lawrence B. JohnsonNot the least remarkable aspect of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus’ splendid performance of Haydn’s Mass in C major (“Mass in Time of War”) on March 13 was the simple fact the these forces had never before undertaken the work, a masterpiece that stands at the core of the choral repertoire.

2 months ago | chicagoontheaisle.com | Lawrence B. Johnson

Review: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducting; Seong-JIn Cho, piano. March 2 at Orchestra Hall. By Lawrence B. JohnsonOn a weeks-long run of concerts memorable for the performances of conductors and soloists alike, to say nothing of the orchestra itself, the Chicago Symphony fashioned one of the most brilliant nights in recent memory.

Feb 4, 2025 | chicagoontheaisle.com | Lawrence B. Johnson

Review: Alexandre Kantorow, piano. Feb. 2 at Orchestra Hall. By Lawrence B. JohnsonThe French pianist Alexandre Kantorow at age 27 made a striking first impression in his Orchestra Hall recital Feb. 2, his debut in the formidable piano series under the aegis of Symphony Center Presents. The young French virtuoso, gold medalist of the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition and winner of the Gilmore Artist Award in 2024, is a pianistic lion as serious as he is prodigious.

Jun 21, 2024 | chicagoontheaisle.com | Lawrence B. Johnson

Review: Haymarket Opera Company production of Handel’s oratorio “La Resurrezione” on June 14 at DePaul University. By Lawrence B. JohnsonIn September, the ever-enterprising and always intriguing Haymarket Opera Company will return to its home base, Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, to do what it does with unsurpassed style and relentless devotion: Baroque opera.