An autumn of music, music, and more music!

As fall rolls in, there are a good number of artistic diversions to consider, from classical concerts to Broadway musicals. And many of them are the creations of Jewish artists. Here is a sampling of just some of what will be arriving soon on Chicago area stages.

A world premiere work by Osvaldo Golijov

An exciting program featuring a world premiere-and the return of Maestro Riccardo Muti-will be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 8 and 9 at Orchestra Hall. The program features the world premiere of composer Osvaldo Golijov’s Megalopolis Suite, a CSO commission adapted from his score for the epic 2½ hour film of the same name directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which will be released just a few weeks earlier. They also will mark a return visit to the podium by Maestro Riccardo Muti, now the CSO’s Music Director Emeritus for Life. Golijov’s 17-minute work will be part of a program that also will include pieces by Donizetti, Verdi, Chabrier, and de Falla.

“I sent Maestro Muti the score this summer and was as excited as a kid, because I adore him,” said Golijov when we chatted by phone. “The movie takes place in what I call ‘the near future’ in New York, as well as in ancient Rome. And my Suite- which is both heroic and sensual in nature-and very condensed-is divided into four movements: a big love scene; a sort of ‘noir’ scene; a glorious Hollywood-ish scene; and finally to a bacchanal, an Italian pagan celebration of sorts.”

Golijov is now working on several pieces, including the soundtrack for Soul on Fire, a PBS film about the late Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Golijov also traveled to Israel this past June to see his new granddaughter, whose family lives in a kibbutz next to Gaza.

As we chatted, Golijov-the son of Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine- noted that he grew up in Argentina, where he was born in 1960. He listened to chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and “the nuevo tango” of Astor Piazzolla. In 1983, he emigrated to Israel, then attended the University of Pennsylvania, and now lives in Massachusetts. His favorite composers range from Beethoven, Schubert, Sibelius, Verdi, and Bartok to the American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the British composer and pianist Thomas Ades.

For tickets, visit cso.org or phone 312-294-3000.

A powerful new recording on the Cedille label

Cedille Records is a Chicago-based, Grammy Award-winning record company founded in 1989 by James Ginsburg, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It is devoted to an “off-the-beaten-path repertoire from the Baroque era to the present day.”

The company’s recent release, Silenced: Unsung Voices of the 20th Century , captures the mostly lesser-known, richly poetic art songs of four composers, who were active from the 1930s to the early 1940s, as the Holocaust raged in Europe. The songs are performed by Ian Koziara, an operatic tenor, backed by his piano accompanist Bradley Moore. Born in Chicago, Koziara, now in his early 30s, made his Metropolitan Opera House debut in 2017, and he is currently featured in the Chicago Opera Theater production of Leonora (on Oct. 1, 4 and 6 at the Studebaker Theatre).

The four composers featured on this recording are of varied backgrounds and time periods. 

Franz Schreker, the son of a Bohemian Jewish father and Catholic mother, was a victim of rising antisemitism in Germany. The Vienna-born Alexander von Zemlinsky was the son of a Catholic father and Sephardic Jewish mother; in 1933, he fled to the U.S. from Nazi Germany. Victor Ullmann, of Jewish descent, was a chorus director, conductor, and composer mentored by Zemlinsky. But along with his wife, he was deported to the Terezin concentration camp in 1942, where he composed more than 20 works, including an opera, only to be murdered at Auschwitz in 1944.

Vitezslava Kapralova, a productive young female Czech composer (not Jewish), died at age 25 from what may have been typhoid fever.

To preview excerpts from this recording, or to purchase the CD of Silenced, visit cedillerecords.org.

Musicals

The Chicago theater scene is in full swing this month, and among its many offerings are revivals of classic musicals created by Jewish composers, lyricists, and writers in the 20th century. They include:

Into the Woods : This superb work dating from 1986 features a glorious score with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by James Lapine; it draws on classic fairy tales.

The show runs Oct. 10-Dec. 22 at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Ave. For tickets, visit kokandyproductions.com.

Little Shop of Horrors : This quirky rock musical is a zany horror-comedy- with music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. In it, Seymour, a poor nebbish, and Audrey, his pretty blonde co-worker, confront a mysterious plant that invades the flower shop where they work.

The musical plays Oct. 24-Nov. 17 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie. For tickets, visit MusicTheatreWorks.com or phone 847-673-6300.

Some Like It Hot: This musical, set during Prohibition, features a score by the Jewish team of composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman. The story, which begins in Chicago, follows two musicians who witness a mob hit, and then catch a cross-country train to escape from the gangsters.

Runs Oct. 27-Nov. 3 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St. For tickets, visit broadwayinchicago.com.

White Christmas : Based on the 1954 classic film, the musical is driven by Irving Berlin’s unforgettable score, from the title song, to such enduring classics as “Heat Wave,” “Blue Skies,” “Count Your Blessings” and “I Love a Piano.” Adapted for the stage in 2000, and set in Europe on Christmas Eve, 1944, at the height of World War II; it begins as two actors from the U.S. arrive to entertain soldiers, then follows them as they return home and become a show biz duo.

Runs Oct. 30-Dec. 29 at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. For tickets, visit marriotttheatre.com or phone 847-634-0200.

Hedy Weiss, a longtime Chicago arts critic, was the Theater and Dance Critic for the  Chicago Sun-Times  from 1984 to 2018, and currently writes for WTTW-TV ‘s website and contributes to the  Chicago Tonight  program.