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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but if you want to avoid looking like you only care about your sweetheart on one day of the year, might I suggest taking him/her out for a romantic evening of music BEFORE the big day!? How (pleasantly) surprised your honey will be when you whisk her/him off to see the awe-inspiring Avalon String Quartet present Viennese Song aided by the vocal talents of Julia Bentley!
The show is next Thursday, February 10 at 7.30 pm at the Gottlieb Hall of the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria Street, and there are still tickets available!
The Avalon String Quartet
I will openly admit that the first time I saw the Avalon String Quartet, I was skeptical. I had never seen them play and had also never been to the tiny Gottlieb Hall of the Merit School of Music to see any performances, by anyone. The venue was rather small and I thought for sure that the quartet would produce a tiny sound to go along with the tiny venue.
I was very, very wrong.
Instead, this dynamic quartet knocked the socks off of everyone and produced one of the most moving musical performances I have ever seen. Their passion and excitement for the music they handpick is evident in every bow stroke.
According to the programme I received, the performance will open with Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz, “a late Romantic work with soaring melodies and rich harmonies”, and will continue with Alban Berg’s “Lyric Suite”, and Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, where Bentley will join the quartet singing the part of the Maiden, “pleading with Death to pass her by, while Death in response sings his own song of imploring for the Maiden to not fear his embrace”.
Certainly, nothing will get your lovebug to hold onto you tighter as they contemplate your ultimate demise. Not even Saw IV will get someone to nuzzle closer!!
The Viennese Song programme will close with Schubert’s String Quartet in D Minor, “a work that ranges from light and lyrical to dark and compelling, ending with a dramatic tarantella”.
When I think of Valentine’s Day, I think of love, which makes me think of music. Surprise your darling with great music, and well, you might have this holiday in the bag!
Dev xx
Don’t be so surprised if you notice a new ornament on your Christmas tree this year. Several shops at the ever-popular Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza are selling glass pickle ornaments that supposedly an old German tradition. Whether it is true or not, Chicagoans seem to be eating it up and these pickles are flying off the shelves out of the woven baskets.
The tag on the ornament says that it is an old German tradition to hide a pickle ornament in the tree and whichever child finds it gets an extra gift on Christmas morning. According to several urban myth sites online, this is a bunch of BS, and it probably is. I am sure the Germans are getting a good laugh as we all “ooh” and “ahh” over glass pickles, hiding them in our trees and patting ourselves on the backs for integrating an “old German” custom into our very American ways of celebrating the holiday. Yes, how worldly and cultured we are with our German pickles!
Just for a chuckle, check them out. They come in all shapes and sizes, colours and covered in glitter! Fun!
Dev :o) xx
The holiday season is upon us! And to kick off my 25 Days of Holiday posts, I would like to start by wishing everyone a Happy Hanukkah!
The massive Menorah in Daley Plaza in the Loop
Check out the gigantic menorah in Daley Plaza and have yourself a great holiday!
Dev xx
