CSO Audio Program Notes

CSO Audio Program Notes

By Chicago Symphony Orchestra AssociationSociety & CultureMusicHistory
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CSO Audio Program Notes episodes

  • CSO Program Notes: Alsop & Vondráček
    With his Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich outwitted Soviet authorities with the finesse of a double agent. Threatened by Stalin’s regime, the composer skillfully appeased Soviet officials with this gripping work packed with triumphant Russian themes, but also subversive satire and daring irony. Chief conductor of the Ravinia Festival Marin Alsop also leads the CSO in a captivating work about Harriet Tubman and a beloved Chopin concerto featuring pianist Lukáš Vondráček.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/alsop-and-vondracek
    17 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Eschenbach with Lucas & Arthur Jussen
    Lose yourself in the idyllic landscapes of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Inspired by the composer’s country hikes, the piece summons rippling streams, a raging thunderstorm and plenty of warmth. Mozart’s double piano concerto showcases the deft teamwork of Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, who make two pianos “sound for all the world like a single instrument” (Gramophone).
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/eschenbach-jussen
    14 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Tchaikovsky 4
    Starting with a ferocious fanfare representing fate, Tchaikovsky pours his soul into his Fourth Symphony, a fearless musical autobiography packed with surging melodies and dazzling colors. Antoine Tamestit brings his “gorgeous smoky sound” (The Guardian) to Walton’s Viola Concerto, a work of wistful beauty and quicksilver energy.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/tchaikovsky-4
    16 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Orozco-Estrada Conducts Romeo and Juliet
    Forbidden love is in the air as Andrés Orozco-Estrada takes listeners from the streets of Bernstein’s New York to Tchaikovsky’s fantasy on Shakespearean Verona. The Argentine Pampas region is the setting of Ginastera’s vibrant ballet about a city boy who wins the heart of a rancher’s daughter.
    Barber’s lush and virtuosic Violin Concerto features Benjamin Beilman, whose “rich sound conveys both dreamy lyricism and heated intensity” (The New York Times).
    Please note: Hilary Hahn must regrettably withdraw from her planned September 19 and 20 performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Earlier this summer, Hahn suffered from a double pinched nerve; as part of her treatment, her medical team advised her to abstain from performing. While Hahn is expected to recover in time for the majority of her fall engagements and is improving steadily, she is not yet cleared to perform.
    Original ticket orders for this concert remain valid; no additional action is needed. For order adjustments, please contact Patron Services.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/orozco-estrada-conducts-romeo-juliet
    15 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Tchaikovsky Pathétique & Trifonov
    Lahav Shani conducts Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique, a symphony that the composer premiered less than a week before his death and was later nicknamed for the passion and suffering it expresses. Daniil Trifonov takes the spotlight in a piano concerto composed for him by former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates, which “shows off the pianist’s virtuosity first and foremost, but also captures a listener’s attention with jazzy rhythms, ear-catching tunes … and a number of big climaxes” (Seen and Heard International).
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/tchaikovsky-pathetique-and-trifonov
    18 min
  • CSO Program Notes: The Elements with Joshua Bell
    Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell presents The Elements, a suite of five works for violin and orchestra, commissioned by Bell and written by leading American composers Kevin Puts (Earth), Edgar Meyer (Water), Jake Heggie (Fire), Jennifer Higdon (Air), and CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery (Space). Conductor Juraj Valčuha frames the program with Weber’s Oberon Overture and Shostakovich’s jaunty, mischievous First Symphony.
    The June 15 performance of The Elements with Joshua Bell is a part of the 2023/24 Season of CSO MusicNOW.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/the-elements-with-joshua-bell
    14 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Ravel Boléro
    Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet brings his customary joie de vivre to Saint-Saëns’ Egyptian Concerto, inspired by a trip down the Nile in 1896. Conductor Stéphane Denève unpacks the French fascination with Spanish culture in Debussy’s sultry Ibéria and Ravel’s ever-popular Boléro, with its sensuously hypnotic theme building to a volcanic climax.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/ravel-bolero
    14 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Montgomery & Bruckner 7
    Conductor Manfred Honeck leads the CSO in two captivating works. Principal Percussion Cynthia Yeh takes the spotlight in the premiere of a new concerto by Jessie Montgomery, the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony awes with its breadth, drama and rapturous intensity. This enthralling score includes a radiant tribute to Bruckner’s idol, Richard Wagner, and a boisterous Austrian country dance.
    The June 1 performance of Montgomery & Bruckner 7 is a part of the 2023/24 Season of CSO MusicNOW.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/montgomery-and-bruckner-7
    19 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Mahler Resurrection
    In his Second Symphony, Mahler constructs a universe all his own, exploring themes of death and afterlife using a massive orchestra, offstage brass and percussion, chorus and vocal soloists. Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi — whose music-making is “as dynamic and exhilarating as ever” (Chicago Classical Review) — guides the CSO from the great, tragic opening march, through pastoral dances and gentle songs to a final tableau of trumpet calls, percussive thunderbolts and the hymn of resurrection.
    Conductor Neeme Järvi replaces Esa-Pekka Salonen, who has withdrawn from these performances for personal reasons.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/mahler-resurrection
    15 min
  • CSO Program Notes: Helmchen Plays Beethoven
    Martin Helmchen, “who brings both freshness and expressive depth to everything he plays” (Chicago Classical Review), takes on Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, a work of youthful bravura and pensive elegance. To open the program, Kazuki Yamada conducts Takemitsu’s shimmering How slow the Wind and Franck’s D Minor Symphony, featuring a mix of soaring lyricism and brooding intensity.
    Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/helmchen-plays-beethoven
    19 min

About CSO Audio Program Notes

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Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. In collaboration with the best conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the CSO performs well over one hundred concerts each year at its downtown home, Symphony Center, and at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago’s North Shore, where it is in residency each summer. Music lovers outside Chicago enjoy the sounds of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through best-selling recordings and frequent sold-out tour performances in the United States and around the globe.

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