Neue Kritikenmehr...
Muti in his element in Italian opera excerpts
For the final week of the CSO season, Muti led a stirring program of operatic excerpts by Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni, along with a rarity by Boito.
Sublime Easter: Chicago Symphony and Dutoit
A religious-themed program made for a particularly moving Easter weekend concert from Dutoit and the CSO, highlighted by the serenity of Fauré’s Requiem.
Explosive drama in Ivan the Terrible
The CSO’s season-long celebration of Prokofiev’s 125th birthday had its watershed moment with the composer’s monumental score to Ivan the Terrible.
Kraemer’s ebullient all-Handel in Chicago
Nicholas Kraemer led the Chicago Symphony in a spirited program of Handel that included some rarely heard vocal works with the chorus and soprano Amanda Forsythe.
A profound meditation on the end of life
Jaap van Zweden returned to the CSO with a probing account of Brahms’ German Requiem, along with shorter but no less moving works of Mozart and Wagner.
Levine makes triumphant Ravinia homecoming
James Levine returned to Ravinia to conduct the Chicago Symphony for the first time since stepping down as music director in 1993 in a monumental performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony – the same piece with which he debuted in 1971.