Chicago Philharmonic presents The Roaring Twenties

Dust off your glad rags, brush up your Charleston, and step back in time with Chi Phil to a golden era of decadence and fun.

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major are both enduring masterpieces of the 1920s, infusing elements of popular jazz with the finest classical technique. Ravel wrote his popular piano concertos after a trip to America, inspired by the cities, music, and people. Gershwin’s Rhapsody is also a tribute to the great American spirit; he once called the piece “a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness.”

Kurt Weill’s Suite from The Threepenny Opera encapsulates the seedy underworld of the gangster antihero Mack the Knife through the eyes of Weill’s 1920s Berlin. Rounding out the program is living composer John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby, inspired by Scott Fitzgerald’s great novel. Chicago Philharmonic joins orchestras around the world in commemorating Harbison’s recent 80th birthday.

Award-winning Cuban jazz and classical pianist Aldo López-Gavilán joins the Chicago Philharmonic with his “dazzling technique and rhythmic fire” (Seattle Times). López-Gavilán has impressed audiences across the world with classical repertoire, jazz improvisation, and his own original compositions.

Chicago Philharmonic
Scott Speck, conductor
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano

Weill - Suite from The Threepenny Opera
Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major
Harbison - Remembering Gatsby
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue

Tickets and more information available at chicagophilharmonic.org/the-roaring-twenties