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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
  • January 11
    Canellakis and Gerstein

    This week, Karina Canellakis makes her CSO debut in Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. Opening the program is Augusta Read Thomas’s Brio, followed by Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, featuring Kirill Gerstein.

    Gioachino Rossini

    Overture to The Barber of Seville
    Sir Georg Solti, conductor
    1972 (London)

    Augusta Read Thomas

    Brio

    Robert Schumann

    Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54

    Frédéric Chopin

    Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 42
    Kirill Gerstein, piano

    Richard Strauss

    Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
    Karina Canellakis, conductor
    May 2022

  • January 18
    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’s 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’s 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 (RCA)

    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 Pre, cello
    Daniel Barenboim, conductor
    1970 (Angel)

  • January 25
    Contemporary American Composers

    We celebrate CSO Resound’s Grammy-winning recording, Contemporary American Composers. The broadcast features works by Jessie Montgomery, Max Raimi and Philip Glass.

    Richard Strauss

    Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
    Fritz Reiner, conductor
    1962 (RCA)


    Jessie Montgomery

    Hymn for Everyone

    Max Raimi

    Three Lisel Mueller Settings
    Elizabeth DeShong, soprano

    Philip Glass

    Symphony No. 11
    Riccardo Muti, conductor
    2023

  • February 1
    Salonen and Apkalna

    This week, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his own composition, Sinfonia Concertante for Organ and Orchestra, with soloist Iveta Apkalna. The program also includes Richard Strauss’ Don Juan and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Opening the broadcast, Pierre Boulez leads Stravinsky’s Four Studies for Orchestra.

    Igor Stravinsky

    Four Studies for Orchestra
    Pierre Boulez, conductor
    1992 (DGG)

    Richard Strauss

    Don Juan, Op. 20

    Esa-Pekka Salonen

    Sinfonia Concertante for Organ and Orchestra

    Encore: Aivars Kalejs

    Toccata on the Chorale “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr”
    Iveta Apkalna, organ

    Béla Bartók

    Concerto for Orchestra
    Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
    January 2025

  • February 8
    Solti Conducts Beethoven and Liszt

    This week, we hear two Grammy Award-winning recordings of Sir Georg Solti and the CSO. Opening the broadcast is Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Vladimir Ashkenazy. Next, we hear Liszt’s A Faust Symphony, featuring vocal soloist Siegfried Jerusalem and the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 19
    Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
    Sir Georg Solti, conductor
    1972 (London)

    Franz Liszt

    A Faust Symphony
    Siegfried Jerusalem, tenor
    Sir Georg Solti, conductor
    1986 (London)

  • February 15
    Haitink Conducts Mahler 2

    In honor of the Mahler Festival 2025, Bernard Haitink leads the CSO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, featuring vocalists Miah Persson and Christianne Stotijin, alongside the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Opening the broadcast, Pierre Boulez leads Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy.

    Alexander Scriabin

    The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54
    Pierre Boulez, conductor
    1995

    Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection)
    Miah Persson, soprano
    Christianne Stotijin, mezzo-soprano
    Bernard Haitink, conductor
    2008

  • February 22
    Mäkelä and Trifinov

    This week, Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä leads the CSO in Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto featuring Daniil Trifonov. Two historic RCA recordings open the broadcast: Dvořák’s Carnival Overture and Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess, both under sixth music director Fritz Reiner.

    Antonín Dvořák

    Carnival Overture, Op.92
    Fritz Reiner, conductor
    1956 (RCA)


    Maurice Ravel

    Pavane for a Dead Princess
    Fritz Reiner, conductor
    1957 (RCA0
)

    Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

    Pyotr Tchaikovsky
    Arr. Pletnev

    Vision from The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66
    Daniil Trifinov, piano


    Pierre Boulez

    Initiale for Brass Septet

    Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70
    Klause Mäkelä, conductor
    April 2025

  • March 1
    Shani and Rana

    Lahav Shani makes his CSO debut in Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. Included in the program is Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1 and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini featuring Beatrice Rana. Rounding out the program, Daniel Barenboim leads the CSO in Wagner’s The Ride of The Valkyries, Forest Murmurs, and Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March.

    Sergei Prokofiev

    Symphony No. 1 in D Major (Classical)

    Sergei Rachmaninov

    Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
    Beatrice Rana piano

    Encore: Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, Op. 71
    (for piano four hands)
    Beatrice Rana and Lahav Shani, piano

    Sergei Rachmaninov

    Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
    Lahav Shani conductor
    February 2023

    Richard Wagner

    The Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre

    Richard Wagner

    Forest Murmurs from Siegfried

    Richard Wagner

    Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March from Götterdämmerung
    Daniel Barenboim conductor
    1991 (Erato)

  • March 8
    Mäkelä Conducts Symphonie fantastique

    This week, Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä returns to Symphony Center with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy with viola soloist Antoine Tamestit. The broadcast concludes with a London recording of Berlioz’s Les-francs-juges Overture led by eighth music director Sir Georg Solti.

    Hector Berlioz

    Harold in Italy, Op. 16
    Antoine Tamestit viola

    Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

    Encore:
    Georges Bizet

    Adiagetto from Suite No. 1 from L’arlésienne
    Klaus Mäkelä conductor
    October 2025

    Hector Berlioz

    Les francs-juges Overture, Op. 3
    Sir Georg Solti conductor
    1973-1974 (London)

  • March 15
    Hrůša Conducts Má vlast

    This week, we hear Jakub Hrůša’s CSO debut concert program, Smetana’s Má vlast. Opening the broadcast is Pierre Boulez conducting Mahler’s Totenfeier from a 1996 Deautsche Grammophon recording.

    Gustav Mahler

    Totenfeier
    Pierre Boulez conductor
    1996 (Deutsche Grammophon)

    Bedřich Smetana

    Má vlast
    I. Vyšehrad
    II. The Moldau
    III. Sárka
    IV. From Bohemia’s Fields and Groves
    V. Tábor
    VI. Blanik
    Jakub Hrůša, conductor
    May 2017

  • March 22
    Muti & Batallán

    This week, Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti leads concertos by Telemann and Michael Haydn—featuring Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán in his CSO solo debut—along with Schubert’s Fourth Symphony. The program also includes historic RCA recordings of Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite and R. Strauss’s Der Bürger als Edelmann under the baton of sixth music director Fritz Reiner.

    Georg Philipp Telemann

    Trumpet Concerto in D Major, TWV 41: D7
    Esteban Batallán trumpet
    Riccardo Muti conductor
    June 2025

    Sergei Prokofiev

    Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60
    Fritz Reiner conductor
    1957 (RCA)

    Michael Haydn

    Concerto for Trumpet in D Major, MH 104

    Franz Schubert

    Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, D. 417 (Tragic)
    Esteban Batallán trumpet
    Riccardo Muti conductor
    June 2025

    Richard Strauss

    Der Bürger als Edelmann, Op. 60
    Fritz Reiner conductor
    1956 (RCA)