Mother's Day Music Guide

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on May 8, 2009 6:15PM

Problem: You want to treat your mom to some classy tunes this Sunday, but you don't know which concert to see.

Solution: Choose how you want to tell your mom "I love you," and Chicagoist will point you in the right direction.

1. I love you so much, I would've taken you to this great concert of modern music even if it weren't free.
   Mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang perform works by Olivier Messiaen ("Poemes pour Mì"), Benjamin Britten ("A Charm of Lullabies"), John Adams ("La Anunciación" from "El Niño"), Francis Poulenc ("La Fraicheur et le Feu"), and John Corigliano ("Cabaret Songs"). Free at the Cultural Center, 3:00 p.m.


2. I love you so much, but I need you to buy my ticket, O.K.? Look, I'll get a better job soon, get off my back.
   The good news: The always-strong Chicago Opera Theater is putting on a condensed, ultra-dramatic version of Georges Bizet's hit opera "La Tragédie de Carmen." The bad news: Unless you and your mother are students or under 18, each ticket will cost at least $70. Harris Theater, 3:00 p.m. (Other performances Wednesday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m.)


3. Alright, alright, today is your day. I love you so much, not even music written under tyrannical Soviet rule could ruin things. Unless you bring up my career one more time, I swear to God.
   Bernard Haitink and the CSO perform the Fifteenth Symphony (and final orchestral work) of frequent Central Committee target Dmitri Shostakovich. Also on the concert will be Britten's "Les illuminations," featuring tenor Ian Bostridge, and an arrangement of Henry Purcell's "Funeral Music for Queen Mary." Symphony Center, $10 (for students) and up, 3:00 p.m. (Other performances today at 1:30 p.m. and Saturday at 8:00 p.m.)


4. You know what? Let's just stop talking and enjoy some trippy lights. Yeah, I love you, happy Mother's Day.
   The Chicago Sinfonietta plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, an arrangement of a movement from George Handel's "Water Music," the final movement from Claude Debussy's "La Mer," and the world premiere of Michael Abels's "Aquadia." To accompany the water theme, the Shedd Aquarium will show aquatic image projections and cover the performers and audience in watery lighting. Dominican University, $10 (for students) to $40, 6:00 p.m. (Other performance Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Symphony Center.)