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Labadie leads the CSO in an amiable if anodyne Messiah

By Sam Jacobson, 17 December 2015
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Reviewed at Chicago Symphony Center, Chicago on 10 December 2015
Programme
Handel, Messiah
Performers
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Bernard Labadie, Conductor
Lydia Teuscher, Soprano
Allyson McHardy, Mezzo-soprano
Jeremy Ovenden, Tenor
Kyle Ketelsen, Baritone
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Duain Wolfe, Choirmaster / chorus director
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Matthew Aucoin’s Song of the Reappeared premieres in Chicago
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Manfred Honeck brings his über-dramatic Mozart Requiem to Chicago
Graham Meyer, 20th November
The Austrian conductor's loudest fortes and softest pianos pull together a dramatic arc from the Requiem, other Mozart works and chant. But it's not really a funeral. 
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Daniela Candillari makes her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut
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Without a baton, the contemporary-music specialist showcases the Chicago Symphony strings in an intimate program ranging from music of the last decade all the way back to Pergolesi. 
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Polished Ravel x 2 from Alice Sara Ott with the Chicago Symphony
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Three hands for two concertos: Alice Sara Ott joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Ravel's Piano Concerto for the left hand and the Piano Concerto in G major.
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Read reviews of
Allyson McHardyBernard LabadieChicago Symphony ChorusChicago Symphony OrchestraDuain WolfeGeorge Frideric HandelJeremy OvendenKyle KetelsenLydia TeuscherMessiah
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Sam Jacobson
Sam Jacobson

Sam Jacobson has been writing for Bachtrack since 2015 and is currently in Pittsburgh, having previously lived throughout the Midwest. A keen traveler, he endeavors to see all the great orchestras and opera houses across the US and abroad. Outside of music, he works as a software engineer. He also maintains a blog which can be read here.