Plenty of Bang for the Buck…and More

Sewell and WCO end the indoor season with a triple helping of Beethoven Rarely have I been more torn about which event to attend than last Friday night—and they both took place in the same building! While the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra was concluding its Masterworks Series in the Capitol Theater, organist Greg Zelek was giving…

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Stronger Than Ever

Sewell’s group tackles the usual varied program   Between the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra changing their five-concert Masterworks series to a January-May schedule, and my own conflicts earlier this year, attending Friday night’s concert at the Capitol Theater meant that I had not heard Andrew Sewell and his wonderful chamber orchestra for nearly a year. The…

Homegrown Mozart from Madison Opera Tastier Than Ever

Abduction from the Seraglio warms up the Capitol Theater   We are often admonished to “buy local,” but to the degree this can be done in the world of opera, it’s a real rarity. Even the largest companies still co-produce new works and new stagings with other companies, and in the case of regional companies,…

Closing the Season with a World Premiere

Sewell, WCO and soloists end indoor season with Cabaniss’s Double Rainbow   We are happily accustomed to the stimulating programming of Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra music director Andrew Sewell, but the occasion of a world premiere is always an added treat. In the case of Friday night’s final Masterworks concert in the Capitol Theater, the new…

New Year—But “Old” Tricks from Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

Sewell, Vidovic, WCO instruct and delight all night long If Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra music director Andrew Sewell adopted any New Year’s resolutions, it had to be simply “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The ensemble’s first program of 2017, last Friday night at the Capitol Theater, gave ample evidence that both Sewell’s programming, and…

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Season Opens with Balancing Act

Maestro Sewell does his usual thing; Ilya Kaler does some extraordinary things The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra returned to their beautiful “winter” home last Friday night at the Capitol Theater, and for a couple of hours everything seemed right with the world. Music director Andrew Sewell did his usual spot-on job of programming, sandwiching Tchaikovsky’s Violin…

Sewell and Sitkovetsky Bring Out the Best of a Couple of “Bs”

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra reminds us that March isn’t always about “madness”   In their penultimate offering of this season’s Masterworks Series, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra brought breadth and beauty to Barber and Beethoven…and while the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team may have indulged in another round of “March Madness” just minutes before the first downbeat, Sewell…