CSO Audio Program Notes

In his 2019 CSO debut, Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas thrilled with “the profundities of his art,” along with “the sheen of his tone and the nobility of his rhythms,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Sáinz-Villegas joins the ensemble in two pieces with bright Mediterranean character. Bernard Labadie, making a welcome return to the CSO, conducts the program, which also features dark-hued symphonies by Mozart and Boccherini. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/boccherini-vivaldi-and-mozart-40

Thomas Wilkins conducts three works featuring unique musical visions of America, capped with Dvořák’s majestic New World Symphony, which draws on African American and Native American source materials. Coleridge-Taylor’s ballet suite captures the spirit of Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. CSO Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson performs Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, premiered by Benny Goodman, which features a rollicking blend of jazz and classical sounds. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/coleridge-taylor-copland-and-dvorak-9

Carl Orff’s choral celebration of love, lust and youthful excess in medieval times is as iconic as ever — at once gloriously bawdy and touchingly beautiful. Rautavaara’s ethereal “concerto for birds and orchestra” features bird calls recorded in arctic Finland. Banner, by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery, is a vibrant rhapsody on The Star-Spangled Banner. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/carmina-burana

Eminent Swedish American conductor Herbert Blomstedt leads two Dvořák landmarks — the restless, bucolic Eighth Symphony and the impassioned Cello Concerto — each imbued with the composer’s hallmark warmth and Bohemian charm. Joining the CSO is the young Romanian Andrei Ioniţă, “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade” (The Times of London). Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/blomstedt-conducts-dvorak-8

Tchaikovsky’s turbulent Manfred Symphony takes its inspiration from Lord Byron’s dramatic poem about a world-weary traveler who wanders the Alps and is bewitched by supernatural forces. German violinist Julia Fischer, acclaimed for her “pure and fine-spun tone” (Chicago Tribune), joins Riccardo Muti and the CSO for Schumann’s poetic and autumnal Violin Concerto. Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Daniel Schlosberg in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed. Classic Encounter Thursday, February 23: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host John Yeh, CSO assistant principal clarinet and E-flat clarinet. You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/muti-fischer-and-tchaikovsky-manfred

In his Fifth Symphony, Mahler embraces all aspects of life. After a tumultuous funeral march, the work’s five movements include folk-inspired dances, a tender love song and a boisterous finale. Noted for his "great affinity with Mahler" (Le Monde), Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä pairs the composer’s Fifth Symphony with the U.S. premiere of Aino by Peruvian American composer Jimmy López Bellido. Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Steve Rings in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/makela-conducts-lopez-and-mahler-5

In a program celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninov’s birth, Lahav Shani conducts the composer’s Symphonic Dances, which marries diabolical, jazzy melodies with plush, old-world grandeur. Italian pianist Beatrice Rana is soloist in Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody, a set of 24 variations that crackle with wit and furious energy. Prokofiev’s delightful Classical Symphony opens the program. Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Kyle Dzapo in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/shani-conducts-rachmaninov-symphonic-dances

Conductor Marin Alsop leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in three pivotal works by 21st-century women composers. This Midnight Hour, a single-movement orchestral composition by former Mead Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne, evokes a visual journey for the listener. Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, commissioned for and performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt, is inspired by the constancy, rhythms and duality of life that impact all living things. Closing the program is Her Story, a CSO co-commission by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe that captures the passion and perseverance of women who have led the fight for representation and gender equality. A 40-minute theatrical experience for orchestra and women’s vocal ensemble, the piece is the latest in a series of compositions by Wolfe that highlights monumental and turbulent moments in American history. Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Max Raimi in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/alsop-conducts-wolfe-her-story

Iconoclastic organist Cameron Carpenter, “one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument” (Los Angeles Times), takes on Poulenc’s sparkling, Baroque-infused concerto, followed by the elegance and floor-shaking grandeur of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Classic Encounter December 15: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host Miles Maner, CSO bassoon and contrabassoon. You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/the-sorcerers-apprentice-and-saint-saens-organ-symphony

Dalia Stasevska leads the CSO in Bartók’s glittering late masterpiece — which shows off every section of the orchestra — and the scampering, playful sounds of Tarrodi’s Birds of Paradise II. CSO Artist-in-Residence Hilary Hahn joins the Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s thrilling and tender Violin Concerto. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Carl Grapentine in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/hilary-hahn-tchaikovsky-and-bartok

Sibelius’ intense love of nature is mirrored in his Second Symphony, which inhabits a world of rugged, windswept beauty. In his kaleidoscopic choral masterpiece, Stravinsky creates an otherworldly aura. Beethoven’s ebullient concerto features pianist Francesco Piemontesi in his CSO debut. “Piemontesi made a wonderful impression… [He] drew out the reflective undercurrents even while playing with grace and élan” (The New York Times). Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Max Raimi in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/stravinsky-beethoven-and-sibelius-2

A journey from brooding despair to rousing triumph, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony rescued him from the grips of official Soviet disfavor. But to many listeners, it’s a more subversive critique of life under Stalin. This program, led by Manfred Honeck, also showcases the U.S. premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Diary of a Madman, composed for and performed by Gautier Capuçon. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Laura Sauer-Shah in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/honeck-capucon-and-shostakovich-5

Dancers from Chicago’s world-renowned Joffrey Ballet invigorate the Symphony Center stage with two newly commissioned choreographies set to Siegfried Idyll, Wagner’s glowing birthday gift to his wife, and Rameau’s vivid ballet, composed for a royal wedding at the Palace of Versailles. Ravel evokes Baroque dance in Le tombeau de Couperin, with each movement becoming a touching tribute to friends who died in World War I. The program opens with the beguiling elegance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 34. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Stephen Alltop in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/cso-and-the-joffrey-ballet

As Great Britain endured the Blitz in 1943, the 71-year-old Vaughan Williams produced his Fifth Symphony. To celebrate 150 years since the composer's birth, Edward Gardner conducts this work of warmth and gentle contemplation. Christian Tetzlaff, “a meticulous and refined virtuoso” (The New York Times), presents Bartók’s rhapsodic Second Violin Concerto. Wagner’s serene and somber prelude to Act 3 of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opens the program. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Steve Rings in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Classic Encounter Thursday, November 3: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host and CSO viola Max Raimi. You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/wagner-bartok-and-vaughan-williams

Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony was a risky undertaking in post-World War II Russia: a personal meditation on suffering and loss that he described as agitated, lyrical and austere. Pianist Simon Trpčeski animates the romantic flourishes of Grieg’s Piano Concerto while Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message is a fantasia inspired by the 1974 Aricebo interstellar radio transmission. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation Daniel Schlosberg in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/22-23/cso-classical/grieg-piano-concerto-and-prokofiev-6