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Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Sundays at 8pm
CSO_Muti-Photo-High-Res_credit-Todd-Rosenberg

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Hear live performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra alongside selections from the orchestra’s expansive catalog of recordings. Find out the fascinating stories found inside the music; get insights from the CSO musicians, guest artists, and composers themselves; and learn more about the music and programmatic themes highlighted during the CSO’s concert season. Hosted by Lisa Simeone.

Schedule
  • February 16
    Afkham & Gluzman

    On today’s broadcast, David Afkham leads the CSO in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, featuring soloist Vadim Gluzman, followed by Vadim Gluzman’s encore, Serenade by Valentin Silvestrov. Also included in this program are Debussy’s La Mer and two pieces by Ravel: Menuet antique and La valse. Closing out the program, Bernard Haitink conducts Webern’s Im Sommerwind.

    Maurice Ravel

    em>Menuet antique

    Dimitri Shostakovich

    Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 77
    Vadim Gluzman violin

    Valentin Silvestrov

    Serenade
    Vadim Gluzman violin

    Claude Debussy

    La Mer

    Maurice Ravel

    La valse
    David Afkham conductor
    May 2023

    Anton Webern

    Im Sommerwind
    Bernard Haitink conductor
    2009 (CSO Resound)

  • February 23
    Glover & Jacobs

    Jane Glover makes her CSO subscription debut, leading the orchestra in a program bookended by Haydn’s Symphony No. 71 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29. Also on the program, Principal Oboe William Welter solos in Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major, and Paul Jacobs performs Handel’s Organ Concerto No. 4 and J.S. Bach’s Sinfonia to Cantata BWV 29. To close, Claudio Abbado conducts Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, featuring Dale Clevenger.

    Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 71 in B-flat Major

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314
    William Welter oboe

    George Frederic Handel

    Organ Concerto No. 4 in F Major, Op. 4, No. 4
    Paul Jacobs organ

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Sinfonia to Cantata BWV 29
    Paul Jacobs organ

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 447
    Jane Glover conductor
    March 2022

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, K. 447
    Claudio Abbado conductor
    Dale Clevenger horn
    1981 (Deutsche Grammophon)

  • March 2
    Muti & the CSO

    This week, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads the world premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Megalopolis Suite, commissioned by the CSO. The program also includes Donizetti’s Overture to Don Pasquale, Verdi’s The Four Seasons from I vespri scilliani, Chabrier’s España, and Maurice de Falla’s Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat. Rounding out the broadcast, Fritz Reiner conducts Ravel’s arrangement of Mossorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

    Gaetano Donizetti

    Overture to Don Pasquale

    Giuseppe Verdi

    España

    Osvaldo Golijov

    Megalopolis Suite

    Maurice de Falla

    Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat
    Ricardo Muti conductor
    November 2024

    Modest Mussorgsky/
    Maurice Ravel

    Pictures at an Exhibition
    Fritz Reiner conductor
    1957 (RCA)

  • March 9
    Celebrating Women’s History Month

    This week, we celebrate women in composition and performance. Violinist Kyung-Wha Chung performs Berg’s Violin Concerto, led by Sir Georg Solti. Cellist Jacqueline Du Pré has the spotlight in Dvořák’s Silent Woods, led by Daniel Barenboim, who also conducts Ran’s Legends. The program also includes Pierre Boulez conducting Augusta Read Thomas’s … words of the sea … and Sir Georg Solti leading Strauss’ Four Last Songs, featuring soprano Lucia Popp. To open the broadcast, Riccardo Muti and the CSO present Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone.

    Jessie Montgomery

    Hymn for Everyone
    Riccardo Muti conductor
    2023 (CSO Resound)

    Alban Berg

    Violin Concerto
    Sir Georg Solti conductor
    Kyung-Wha Chung violin
    1983 (London)

    Shulamit Ran

    Legends
    Daniel Barenboim conductor
    1993 (Albany)

    Antonín Dvořák

    Silent Woods
    Daniel Barenboim conductor
    Jacqueline Du Pré cello
    1970 (Angel)

    Augusta Read Thomas

    … words of the sea …
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    1996 (ARTCD)

    Richard Strauss

    Four Last Songs
    Sir Georg Solti conductor
    Lucia Popp soprano
    1977 (Decca)

  • March 14, 2025
    Great Guest Soloists

    This week, we celebrate some of the guest soloists who have appeared alongside the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over the years. The program begins with Sibelius’ Violin Concerto led by Walter Hendl and featuring Jascha Heifetz, followed by Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer led by Sir Georg Solti and sung by Yvonne Minton. Next, hear Strauss’ Burleske in D Minor, led by Fritz Reiner and featuring Byron Janis. The broadcast concludes with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, featuring Jacqueline du Pré.

    Jeanne Sibelius

    Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
    Jascha Heifetz violin
    Walter Hendl conductor
    1959 (RCA)


    Gustav Mahler

    Songs of a Wayfarer
    Yvonne Minton mezzo-soprano
    Georg Solti conductor
    1970 (London)


    Richard Strauss

    Burleske in D Minor
    Byron Janis piano
    Fritz Reiner conductor
    1957 (RCA)


    Antonín Dvořák

    Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
    Jacqueline du Pré cello
    Daniel Barenboim conductor
    1970 (Angel)

  • March 23
    Pierre Boulez at 100

    The CSO celebrates Pierre Boulez’s 100th birthday! In this broadcast, we hear Pierre Boulez, the CSO’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, conducting the CSO in Stravinsky, Scriabin, Varèse, Schoenberg and Bartók. In between, the CSO’s Ninth Music Director Daniel Barenboim conducts Boulez’ Notations VII.

    Igor Stravinsky

    Fireworks, Op. 4
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    1992 (Deutsche Grammophon)

    Alexander Scriabin

    Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, Op. 60
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    Duain Wolfe director, Chicago Symphony Chorus
    Anatol Ugorski piano
    1996 (Deutsche Grammophon)

    Edgard Varèse

    Ionisation
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    1995 (Deutsche Grammophon)

    Arnold Schoenberg

    Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    1991 (Erato)

    Béla Bartók

    Rhapsody for Violin No. 2
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    Gil Shaham violin
    1998 (Deutsche Grammophon)

    Pierre Boulez

    Notations VII
    Daniel Barenboim conductor
    2000 (Teldec)

    Igor Stravinsky

    Pulcinella
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    Roxana Constantinescu mezzo-soprano
    Nicholas Phan tenor
    Kyle Ketelsen bass-baritone
    2009 (CSO Resound)