A wide array of concerts designed “to explore (Ludwig van Beethoven’s) individuality, power and genius” highlight the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-2020 season.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Verdi’s monumental and altogether ravishing “Requiem” is a signature work of Maestro Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In light of recent shootings, Thursday’s performance brought even greater potency and fire to this work.

At an intimate press conference celebrating his return visit to the city, conductor Daniel Barenboim expressed his delight at what will be a two-part homecoming at Symphony Center.

You have just one more chance to catch a concert at Symphony Center that brings you into direct contact with absolute genius. Beg, borrow (or maybe even steal) a ticket to hear 27-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov in an electrifying performance.

This past weekend saw the last Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts to be conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti until November, and they should not go without notice for several reasons.

Music is not apolitical. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s season opening concerts take note of this, with impassioned comments made by Maestro Riccardo Muti.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti joins Hedy Weiss in conversation.

Just as many Italian Renaissance paintings of the crucifixion possess a breathtaking beauty that defies the brutality of the event, this music continually captures a vivid sense of transcendence.

The often stormy and repressive nature of life in the Soviet Union clearly infused the music of Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Although I don’t ordinarily write about fundraisers, the 29th annual Corporate Night concert at Symphony Center on Monday was so beguiling that it deserves attention.

Here is the formula for an astonishing evening of music: Take Bela Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and put it in the astonishing hands of pianist Mitsuko Uchida, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Although everything they touch turns to gold these days, nothing quite reveals the brilliance of the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra quite like the challenge of a Mahler masterwork.

The beautifully thought-out program serves as a subtle but revealing portrait of the deep but varied influences that have taken root in this country.

The concert now being performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus – with the German conductor-composer Matthias Pintscher in flawless command – is sure to serve as a vivid reminder that Maurice Ravel’s genius was far more complex than “Bolero.”

The human voice is a remarkable instrument. And when the 115 heavenly souls of the Chicago Symphony Chorus gather on stage with the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, something extraordinary happens.

A memorable moment from the film version of Peter Shaffer’s play, “Amadeus,” came rushing back to mind as I listened to this weekend’s glorious, spirit-altering concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which opened with Haydn’s “Symphony No. 89” and was followed by two works by his younger contemporary, Mozart.