Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO May 4-9. In the first of two programs devoted to Brahms' symphonies, Riccardo Muti presents the first and second of the cycle. The First Symphony, its opening one of the most arresting in symphonic literature, shows Brahms triumphantly meeting the daunting challenge posed by Beethoven's mighty symphonic cycle. The Second Symphony, composed just months later, reflects Brahms' summer in an idyllic lakeside town.