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 CSO Principal Harp Sarah Bullen as soloist.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Apr 19-21. 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 CSO Principal Harp Sarah Bullen as soloist.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Apr 12-17. Riccardo Muti presents an extraordinary celebration of music that embodies the American spirit. Distinguished Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated actor John Malkovich joins the CSO to narrate Copland's inspirational Lincoln Portrait, which uses the words of Abraham Lincoln to highlight Lincoln's life and the nation's diversity. Dvorak's New World Symphony, one his most beloved works, was influenced by the sounds of American folk music.

A centennial celebration of musical icon Leonard Bernstein continues with Kent Nagano conducting one of his most profound compositions, The Age of Anxiety Symphony. A jazzy, concerto-like work inspired by a poem written by W.H. Auden, it tells the story of four strangers in a New York bar who connect through a shared search for the meaning of life. The evening closes with Schumann's First Symphony, a joyous celebration of spring.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Mar 22-24. The celebrated Chicago Symphony Chorus, marking its 60th anniversary in 2017/18, joins Riccardo Muti, the CSO and international soloists for a moving performance of Schubert's exquisite final Mass, written at the end of the young composer's life.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Mar 15-17. Riccardo Muti, a superlative interpreter of Classical-era works, conducts a program of compositions by Haydn and Mozart. CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen is featured soloist in Mozart's celebrated Sinfonia concertante. "Chen gave an intense and impassioned performance in a work that is virtuosically demanding, and the result was a powerful experience" (Seen and Heard International).

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Mar 8-11. This colorful program ranges from Shostakovich's haunting First Violin Concerto, performed by Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos, to Debussy's portrait of the sea. "Shostakovich's Violin Concerto brought out the best in Kavakos...an intriguing mixture of fierce energy and fierce self-restraint" (Financial Times). An atmospheric and dramatic entr'acte from Berlioz's epic opera The Trojans portrays Dido and Aeneas' journey through a royal hunt and storm.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Mar 1-3. Eminent conductor Herbert Blomstedt returns to Orchestra Hall in a program that pairs two great works linked by their undeniable power and passion. The driving introduction of Mozart's Symphony No. 39 served as inspiration for the first movement of Beethoven's magnificent, revolutionary Eroica Symphony.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Feb 22-27. French pianist David Fray's Symphony Center recital last spring was called "musical poetry" by the Chicago Tribune. He returns to perform Chopin's tenderly lyrical Second Piano Concerto. Christoph Eschenbach, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, rounds out a richly romantic program with Carl Maria von Weber's noble overture to his opera Der Freischütz and two of Mendelssohn's most beloved masterpieces.

Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO Feb 1-3. Riccardo Muti conducts a program of expressive works ranging from Stravinsky's brilliantly colorful showpiece Scherzo fantastique to two evocative works inspired by the sea. Witness the spectacular CSO low brass section, distinguished for its purity of sound and clarity of attack, in a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, whose compositions have been acclaimed as "the most inventive and substantive additions to American music in years" (The Baltimore Sun).