http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/articles.sec-30-1-classical-music-dance.html Milwaukee Ballet Artistic Director Michael Pink has often said that the company's winter and spring programs of contemporary one-act ballets are designed to provide the dancers with exciting challenges. Freed to be themselves...]]> Instead of the catcalls and raised fists that confronted The Rite of Spring at its 1913 premiere, the audience for the Jan. 27 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concert rose in a standing ovation. Stravinsky's once revolutionary ballet...]]> Long considered one of classical music's most addictive guilty pleasures, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana may not command the respect of more prestigious choral works, but its rollicking hedonistic decadence seems in tune with the moral indifference...]]> With each concert the string section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra seems to acquire greater dynamic precision and an increasingly subtle refinement, which brought a warm sense of repose to guest conductor Evan Rogister's beautiful performance...]]> It must have been a treat for Kevin Stalheim, Present Music's founding artistic director, to nominate a slew of works that excited him and let the audience choose its favorites. “It's power-to-the-people time,” Stalheim declared at the start of...]]> George Frideric Handel's timeless Messiah is a December inevitability. Last week the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presented five performances of its annual Messiah in three locations. I heard the oratorio on Saturday evening at the Cathedral...]]> I've never enjoyed The Nutcracker as much as at the matinee opening of Michael Pink's Milwaukee Ballet production last Saturday. I found it funnier and more poignant this year, my third annual viewing. The dances and the story they...]]> The art of collaboration between humans is a continuing life lesson. Sometimes when individuals come together, even with shared ideals, things can go south. Other times people work together in a happy and rich process, and remarkable...]]> The Florentine Opera Studio Artists and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra...]]> Early Music Now presents the young British choral ensemble Stile Antico for a performance of Thomas Tallis' 16th-century Christmas mass, Missa Puer natus est. The concert also will feature works by other British Renaissance songwriters...]]> Albert Einstein stated about music, “I never like a work if I cannot intuitively grasp its inner unity.” Architectural unity came to mind listening to J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations at Frankly Music last week. A soulful aria theme is taken through...]]> Now that December is upon us, Milwaukee can look forward to superb holiday music. One such delightful option is the MSO Pops' “Holiday Pops Spectacular” under conductor Jeff Tyzik, a Grammy winner considered one of the nation...]]> Bach's Goldberg Variations, published in 1741, were originally performed on the harpsichord before evolving into the modern iteration for violin, viola, cello and piano. The history of the variations hinges on Goldberg's desire to receive musical...]]> Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong will lead the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in “Bach and More,” the second concert of this season's Basilica Series. The program will begin with Bach's great Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, arguably the most popular...]]> The Chamber Orchestra of the Theatre of Early Music, under artistic director/countertenor Daniel Taylor, will fill Wisconsin Lutheran College with the beautiful music of George Frideric Handel—specifically, operatic arias and duets from...]]>