CSO Audio Program Notes

Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado leads a program of Russian masterworks including Tchaikovsky's First Symphony, which showcases the composer's sense of drama, orchestral color and melody. Simon Trpčeski brings his “electrifying virtuosity” (The London Times) to Rachmaninov’s formidable Third Piano Concerto.

"In song, you have one of the most amazing diaries of any generation's culture at a given time," states Thomas Hampson. The esteemed baritone joins Bramwell Tovey for a concert of American music and songs, followed by Elgar's portraits of his own circle of friends in the Enigma Variations.

Since its premiere in 1742, Handel’s Messiah has brought audiences to their feet with its triumphant choruses and dazzling arias. Witness this glorious oratorio—performed by the combined forces of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and an exceptional cast of soloists—as part of a stirring holiday celebration.

"Music is life, and, like life, inextinguishable" wrote Danish composer Carl Nielsen of his Fourth Symphony, written during the early years of World War I. His life-affirming composition is preceded by Strauss' poignant Four Last Songs, which has been called "the most beautifully delivered farewell in all of music."

CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen leads his fellow orchestra members in a delightful all-Mozart program featuring some of the composer’s most popular music. Chen and CSO Principal Flute Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson will each be featured in one of the composer’s brilliant early concertos. Tickets and more info: https://cso.org/ticketsandevents/production-details-2018-19/chicago-symphony-orchestra/chen-lea...

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård leads two Russian masterpieces: Rachmaninov's powerful First Symphony, imbued with heroism and pathos, and Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. Alexander Gavrylyuk, a pianist who "enchants with his incredible virtuosity and thought-provoking playing" (De Telegraaf), makes his CSO debut with this monumental work.

Daniel Barenboim makes his highly anticipated return to the Orchestra Hall podium. He conducts Smetana's landmark set of six symphonic poems that weave a rich tapestry celebrating the composer's native Bohemia. https://cso.org/barenboimconductssmetana

“There could be no more impressive demonstration of modern orchestral virtuosity at its committed best than the pairing of Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra” (Chicago Tribune). Former principal conductor Bernard Haitink, renowned for his transformative interpretations of symphonic masterworks with the CSO, returns to lead Bruckner’s rich, kaleidoscopic Sixth Symphony. These performances a...

Brahms' lively Hungarian Dances are paired with Hindemith's symphony Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter), a work that explores the role of an artist in society. David Fray performs Beethoven's dramatic Third Piano Concerto.

Riccardo Muti leads two of Mozart's most popular works, followed by Rimsky-Korsakov's mesmerizing tone poem inspired by The Arabian Nights. Experience an evening of dramatic masterpieces, filled with vivid orchestral color and memorable themes that highlight Maestro Muti’s assertion that "the essence of our spirit is melody."

"If one function of art is to make us ponder difficult questions, there could not be a more potent example than Shostakovich's 13th" (The Guardian). Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti opens a season of reflection with Shostakovich's gripping setting of poetry by Yevgeny Yevtushenko condemning anti-Semitism and the barbarous acts that took place near Kiev in September 1941.

"Rossini's Stabat mater is a longstanding specialty of Mr. Muti's. It moves in several directions at once: the arias are as operatic as can be, yet the two unaccompanied choruses are sublimely devotional. The music is unquestionably dramatic: not the extroverted drama of a costumed operatic pageant, but of a prayerful supplicant's interior passion" (The New York Times). Riccardo Muti leads the CSO...

When Riccardo Muti and Yo-Yo Ma join forces, it is "music-making at the highest level" (Chicago Tribune). The incomparable cellist, renowned for his "technical command, purity of tone and generosity of spirit" (Chicago Sun-Times), collaborates with Muti and the CSO in Shostakovich's introspective and dark-hued Second Cello Concerto. This program of works by 20th-century Russian masters also featur...

"Superstar mandolinist" (The New York Times) Avi Avital and Italian conductor Giovanni Antonini make their CSO debuts with an exceptional program featuring rarely heard Baroque masterpieces, including the first CSO performances of mandolin concertos by Bach and Vivaldi. "Avital's mandolin breathes captivating new life into Vivaldi's music, giving it a luminous performance with a lovely lyrical jeu...

Conductor Marek Janowski and the CSO, both great masters of music from the Austro-German tradition, perform a program of works by Weber, Beethoven and Wagner. Janowski, in his subscription series debut, leads the CSO in glorious orchestral excerpts from two of Wagner's grandest operas. Also on the program is Beethoven's sunny Fourth Symphony, a work imbued with romantic pathos.

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads a program that pairs Brahms' captivating Variations on a Theme by Haydn with Schoenberg's hauntingly beautiful Transfigured Night and Bartók's serene and expressive Third Piano Concerto, featuring Mitsuko Uchida. “It was in the otherworldly slow movement that Uchida's profound poetic sensibility rose to the fore, building to an eloquent emotional climax from the simple, hus...

Emmanuel Krivine leads the CSO in the shimmering and majestic Organ Symphony. After completing his third and final symphony, Saint-Saëns declared: "I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again." Also on the program is Brahms’ turbulent Tragic Overture and Schumann's heart-wrenching Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust, an artist of "disarming...

Legendary composer John Williams returns to the Orchestra Hall podium to conduct the incomparable CSO in some of his most beloved and unforgettable works. Sharing the podium with longtime CSO at the Movies guest conductor, Richard Kaufman, John Williams has crafted a thrilling concert that will feature music from E.T., Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Lincoln, and more.

Muti caps a season-long celebration of the 125th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's death with two of his most celebrated and tragically romantic works: the symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini and his treasured ballet Swan Lake. In a rare treat, Muti pairs these works with two by French composer Claude Debussy, another master of vivid orchestral colors. His ethereal Sacred and Profane Dances will feature...

Nikolaj Znaider has appeared as a virtuoso soloist of "fine technical control, deep musical understanding and even greater feeling" (Chicago Tribune) and a conductor with "no shortage of fireworks" (Bachtrack). He makes his Orchestra Hall podium debut performing and conducting Beethoven's lyrical Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's landmark Symphony No. 5. More info and tickets: https://cso.org/tic...

Join us for a rousing start to the 2014/15 season when Riccardo Muti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Beethoven’s most glorious and jubilant masterpiece. An exhilarating testament to the human spirit, Beethoven’s Ninth bursts with brooding power and kinetic energy and culminates in the exultant hymn, “Ode to Joy.”