BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast Series

The CSO goes Beyond the Score to explore Gustav Holst’s The Planets, in a program conducted by Charles Dutoit.

• Haydn: Symphony No. 85 in B-Flat Major, La Reine
• Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
• Debussy: Nocturnes
• Holst: The Planets, Op. 32

An all-American program which includes rarely-heard works by Copland and Bernstein.

• Copland: Old American Songs (Kevin Deas, bass-baritone; Alan Gilbert, conductor)
• Adams: Century Rolls (Olli Mustonen, piano; David Robertson, conductor)
• Bernstein: Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah (David Robertson, conductor)
• Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, From the New World (David Robertson, conductor)

James Levine leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a retrospective that features the complete incidental music to Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

• Schubert: Overture and Ballet Music from Rosamunde
• Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
• Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Incidental Music

Charles Dutoit conducts this concert, as well as the accompanying multi-media production of Beyond the Score: Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

• Sibelius: Finlandia
• Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 (Lang Lang, piano)
• Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)
• Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Lorin Maazel conducts a program that includes a Chicago premiere by Augusta Read Thomas.

• Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107 (John Sharp, cello)
• Thomas: Gathering Paradise, Emily Dickinson Settings (Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano)
• Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39
• Rossini: William Tell Overture (Charles Dutoit, conductor)

Leonard Slatkin conducts a program from June 2008, featuring violist Pinchas Zukerman.

• Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48 (Pinchas Zukerman, conductor)
• Hindemith: Overture to Neues vom Tage
• Hindemith: Trauermusik (Pinchas Zukerman, viola)
• Friedman: Sacred Heart: Explosion
• Berlioz: Harold in Italy (Pinchas Zukerman, viola)

A retrospective from our commercial archive by the CSO and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Margaret Hillis.

• Verdi: Gloria all’Egitto from Aïda (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)
• Verdi: Va, pensiero from Nabucco (Sir Georg, Solti, conductor)
• Debussy: Nocturnes for Orchestra (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)
• Brahms: A German Requiem, Op. 45 (James Levine, conductor)

A return to the CSO by conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen for the CSO premiere of his Piano Concerto.

• Berio: Four Original Versions of Luigi Boccherini’s Ritirata notturna di Madrid
• Salonen: Piano Concerto (Yefim Bronfman, piano)
• Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K. 495 (Daniel Gingrich, horn)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

Myung-Whun Chung conducts an all-French concert, plus a work by Bartók, led by Pierre Boulez.

• Bartók: Four Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 12 (Pierre Boulez, conductor)
• Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Manfred Honeck guest conducts the CSO in concerts from 2005 and 2008.

• Saint-Saens: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 (John Sharp, cello)
• Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
• Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98

This retrospective features violinist Cho-Liang Lin playing Bruch. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble join the CSO for music by Zhou Long.

• Bruch: Scottish Fantasy (Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Leonard Slatkin, conductor)
• Zhou Long: Poems from Tang: Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets (Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor)
• Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 (Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Leonard Slatkin, conductor)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)

Nicholas McGegan conducts a program from November 2008.

• Purcell: Suite from King Arthur
• Hummel: Piano Concerto in A Minor (Stewart Goodyear, piano)
• Handel: Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 6
• Mozart: Symphony No. 33 in B-Flat Major, K. 319
• Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major (Mark Ridenour, trumpet)

Retrospective: Music about winter, from the commercial archive.

• Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé Suite (Fritz Reiner, conductor)
• Haydn: Winter from The Seasons (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)
• Bruckner: Helgoland (Daniel Barenboim, conductor)
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G Minor (Winter Dreams) (Claudio Abbado, conductor)

Mitsuko Uchida leads the CSO from the keyboard in a mostly Mozart program.

• Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050 (Mathieu Dufour, flute; Robert Chen, violin; Mitsuko Uchida, piano)
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415 (K. 387b)
• Mozart: Divertimento in D Major, K. 136 (no conductor)
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
• Purcell: Suite from Abdelazer (Nicholas McGegan, conductor)

Concertmaster Robert Chen is the featured soloist in the Symphonie Espagnole by Eduard Lalo. Charles Dutoit conducts a program that also includes the Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky.

• Ravel: Mother Goose Suite (Sir Andrew Davis, conductor)
• Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra

Retrospective: The rare opportunity to hear A Faust Symphony by Liszt, from the CSO archive of commercial recordings. Sir Georg Solti conducts.

• Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
• Kodály: Háry János
• Liszt: A Faust Symphony (Siegfried Jerusalem, tenor; Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus; Margaret Hillis, director)

A study in contrasts as the Chicago Symphony Chorus sings Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s C Minor Mass, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

• Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 2
• Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms (Chicago Symphony Chorus; Duain Wolfe, director)
  Knussen: Violin Concerto (Leila Josefowicz, violin)
• Mozart: Mass in C Minor (Susanna Phillips, soprano; Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Lawrence Brownlee, tenor; Eric Owens, bass; Chicago Symphony Chorus; Duain Wolfe, director)

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Ravel: Menuet antique
Lieberson: Neruda Songs (Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major

A program led by Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor singing Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs.

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Ravel: Menuet antique
Lieberson: Neruda Songs (Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major

English conductor Harry Bicket is a renowned early-music specialist. He led the CSO in a program last May featuring two CSO musicians as soloists.

Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto in C Major (Jennifer Gunn, piccolo)
Rameau: Suite from Les Boreádes
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Yuan-Qing Yu, violin)
Haydn: Symphony No. 59 in A Major (Fire) (Nicholas McGegan, conductor)

Retrospective: The Chicago Symphony Chorus is featured in a pair of rarities by Bartók and Barber from our archive of commercial recordings.

Liszt: Les préludes (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)
Bartók: Cantata profana (Pierre Boulez, conductor)
Kodály: Dances of Galánta (Neeme Järvi, conductor)
Barber: The Lovers (Dale Duesing, baritone; Andrew Schenk, conductor)
Gershwin: An American in Paris (James Levine, conductor)

Barenboim conducts concertos for flute, piano, and violin in live concert performances from 2005.

Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313 (Mathieu Dufour, flute)
Schoenberg: Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 (Lang Lang, piano)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 (Nikolaj Znaider, violin)

Kent Nagano conducts the CSO in a subscription concert from April, plus a broadcast opener from a 2005 Daniel Barenboim concert.

Haydn: Symphony No. 1 (Daniel Barenboim, conductor)
Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Chin: Rocana
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Shakespeare’s immortal tale of Romeo and Juliet is interpreted by two romantic-era composers.

Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet (David Alan Miller, conductor)

Berlioz: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 17 (Isabel Leonard, soprano; Michael Schade, tenor; Laurent Naouri, bass; Chicago Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe, chorus director; Valery Gergiev, conductor)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
Stravinsky: Symphony in C Major
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 (Evgeny Kissin, piano)

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner and pianist Robert Levin provide their unique insight into this March 2008 performance of Beethoven s Fourth Piano Concerto.

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks (Nicolas McGegan, conductor)
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony for Strings in C Minor, Op. 110a (John Eliot Gardiner, conductor)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (John Eliot Gardiner, conductor; Robert Levin, piano)
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, Rhenish (John Eliot Gardiner, conductor)

Gerard McBurney directs a multimedia production of Beyond the Score, exploring the disturbing social context of the Symphony No. 4 by Shostakovich. Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink leads the CSO in a concert performance of it. The entire production is being released as a digital download on CSO Resound.

Ravel: Menuet antique
Haydn: Symphony No 101 in D Major, The Clock
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 43

Retrospective/Season Preview: The theme of the 2008-2009 season is Echoes of Nations, showcasing nationalistic characteristics of music from many countries. The repertoire on this program draws from our archive of commercial CDs, but all of these pieces will be performed live during the season and will appear on future BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts.

Ives: The Unanswered Question (Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor)
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (Fritz Reiner, conductor)
Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 (James Levine, conductor)
Berlioz: Excerpts from The Damnation of Faust (Sir Georg Solti, conductor)

Conductor Semyon Bychkov and Russian-born oboist Eugene Lzotov share their somber thoughts about the condition of the Russian people portrayed in the Symphony No. 7 by Shostakovich. And the young Chinese pianist Yundi Li plays Ravel.

Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 (Leonard Slatkin, conductor)
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major (Semyon Bychkov, conductor; Yundi Li, piano)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, Leningrad (Semyon Bychkov, conductor)

Due to WABE’s convention coverage, this show will air only on WABE Classical, Wednesday at 2pm.

Stephen Hough is a scholar as well as a pianist. Hear a fascinating interview with him about Rachmaninov s unusual Fourth Piano Concerto, plus a performance by cellist Lynn Harrell of the Elgar Cello Concerto and 20th century Czech music, all conducted by Mark Elder.

Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 (Lynn Harrell, cello)
Janácek: Jealousy
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 40 (Stephen Hough, piano)
Kancheli: la Duduki
Janácek: Taras Bulba

Due to WABE’s convention coverage, this show will air only on WABE Classical, Wednesday at 2pm.

A 2008 subscription concert led by conductor Antonio Pappano. Cellist Han-Na Chang is the soloist in the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2, which she learned from her teacher Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom the concerto was written.

Liadov: The Enchanted Lake
Debussy: Syrinx (Mathieu Dufour, flute)
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126 (Han-Na Chang, cello)
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27

Kodály: Háry János, Suite for Orchestra, Op. 35a (Sir Georg Solti, conductor) Ran: Legends for Orchestra (Daniel Barenboim, conductor) Orff: Carmina Burana (James Levine, conductor)

CSO commentator Gerard McBurney delves into the literary and historical roots of Tchaikovsky s Symphony No. 4, in excerpts from a new edition of Beyond the Score. Alexander Polianichko conducts this performance from January.

Beethoven: Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 (Alexander Polianichko, conductor)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (Alexander Polianichko, conductor; Piotr Anderszewski, piano)
Tchaikovsky: Marche slav in B-Flat Minor, Op. 31 (Claudio Abbado, conductor)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor (Alexander Polianichko, conductor)

CSO principal oboist Eugene Izotov sheds new light on Mozart s Oboe Concerto in a program conducted by the young French conductor Ludovic Morlot.

Dvor k: Slavonic Dances
Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C Major, K. 314 (Eugene Izotov, oboe)
Bizet: Suite No. 2 from L’arlésienne
Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (Jonathan Biss, piano)

Osvaldo Golijov’s award-winning chamber opera, Ainadamar, depicts the life and work of poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts.

Ravel: Mother Goose Suite (Daniel Barenboim, conductor)
Golijov: Ainadamar (Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Jessica Rivera, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano)

Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez leads a program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and pianist Daniel Barenboim.

Berio: Quatre Dédicaces
Berlioz: Les nuits d t (Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano)
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Daniel Barenboim, piano)

Commercial recordings of programmatic music from the Fritz Reiner era, encompassing many of his best-known performances.

R. Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20
Falla: El amor brujo (Leontyne Price, soprano)
Falla: Neighbor s Dance (Seguidillas) from The Three-Cornered Hat
Wagner: Dawn and Siegfried s Rhine Journey from G tterd mmerung
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (Rosalind Elias, mezzo-soprano; Chicago Symphony Chorus, Margaret Hillis, director)

Williams Times Two: John Williams conducts a concert of his own music, including his bassoon concerto, The Five Sacred Trees. And the orchestra plays Ralph Vaughan Williams. A London Symphony from a concert conducted by Robert Spano.

John Williams: Fanfare for a Festive Occasion (John Williams, conductor)
John Williams: Tributes! (for Seiji) (John Williams, conductor)
John Williams: The Five Sacred Trees (John Williams, conductor; David McGill, bassoon)
John Williams: Four Pieces from American Journey (John Williams, conductor)
John Williams: Sayuri s Theme from Memoirs of a Geisha (John Williams, conductor)
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (Robert Spano, conductor)

During Riccardo Muti’s residency in the fall of 2007, he conducted several concerts and took the orchestra on tour to Europe. This music is from those performances.

Verdi: Overture to La Forza del Destino
Hindemith: Suite from Nobilissima Visione
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, Pathétique
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54

A much-requested concert by Daniel Barenboim.

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for Winds, K. 297b
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major

Lorin Maazel is best known as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, but he guest-conducted the CSO in this program from February 2005.

Brahms: Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16
Bartok: Two Pictures, Op. 10
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 100

Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (Jacqueline du Pré, cello; Daniel Barenboim, conductor)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano; Sir Georg Solti, conductor)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (Jascha Heifetz, violin; Fritz Reiner, conductor)

Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink leads the CSO in an all German/Austrian program, featuring pianist Emanuel Ax.

Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, K. 183
Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 (Emanuel Ax)