http://cubeensemble.com/blog CUBE Members Comment on the New Music Scene Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:14:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en With the news of Maestro Riccardo Muti's collapse during rehearsal today, I must comment on the whether he's the one to lead the CSO into the 21st century. Although I like what I've heard him say about his attitude about the Chicago opportunity and his direction for the symphony, I ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2011/02/03/muti-es-malato/ Back in June, during The Taste of Chicago I blogged about "Chopin's Concerto #1 for Piano and Helicopter" because the Chicago Police 'copter was ever vigilant over the park while concert-goers attempted to draw in the beautiful strains of this concerto. See below for quirks this time. Sunday night, 11/7, ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/11/07/chopin-creaks/ My eyes were well rewarded at Fulcrum Point's multi-media performance Friday, 11/5, at the Cultural Center's Claudia Cassidy Theater. Here's the reasons why: 1. Mischa Zupko's "Shunt" for piano and soundtrack was a delight filled with very seamless interplay between Mischa playing live and the echoing counter-poised recorded sound. Once ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/11/07/excellent-video-media-makes-a-difference/ Friday at the noon-time first Friday PianoForte Foundation recital, Laura Fenster performed two Chopin Mazurkas and all 12 Etudes Opus 25 with her unusable right foot in a plastic boot. Due to that broken ankle, the sustain pedal was operated by her left foot! Fortunately she compensated by playing softer ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/11/07/chopin-on-my-left-foot/ Saturday night, 9/25 there was possibly the finest performance I've heard in a long while. It was a men's a-cappella quartet called "Barbara Furtuna" http://www.barbara-furtuna.fr/. This was part of the World Music Fest in Chicago and took place right down the block at the 2nd Presbyterian Church http://2ndpresbyterian.org/arthistory/. These guys ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/09/26/amazing-vocalists/ This Saturday I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Chicago Amateur Piano Guild's get-together and playing exposition held in the Fazioli Salon (#825) in the Fine Arts Building. The dozen-or-so players were very enthusiastic to show off the new works they've worked on. The playing was wonderful and on the ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/09/25/chicago-amateur-piano-guild/ Wednesday evening Fulcrum Point held their season opening fund raiser. There were some typically interesting FP pieces on the bill. After opening with a brass "fanfare" not noted in the program, eight more very interesting pieces followed. The ones I'll remember best were a piano and electronics work by the FP's ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/09/23/fulcrum-point-is-off-to-a-good-start/ At his week's Dame Myra Hess concert the violin and piano duo of Soran Sophia Lee and Tyler Wottrich performed works by Wieniawski and Faure. In the piece by Henryk Wieniawski, Soran displayed all the fireworks and nuances called for by the late 19th century composer. I could see her catching ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/09/01/faure-foray/ One of the few interesting concerts I saw on the Ravinia calendar was the one by Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela which happened last night. They were full of energy and the sound of dueling acoustic guitars (even though they had wireless mics in them) was awesome. I had ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/08/29/rodrigo-y-gabriela-at-ravinia/ The Dame Myra Hess concert today, 8/25, was played to a standing-room-only house in Preston Bradley Hall. The guest artists were a trio from the International Chamber Artists, Elizabeth Choi violin (why do they always get 1st billing?), Jocelyn Butler cello and Patrick Godon piano. The program they selected for ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/08/25/interesting-fare-played-to-a-standing-crowd/