For all of the glorious performances of Mahler symphonies that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has given us over the years, performances of Mahler song cycles have been far rarer, which is why a complete CSO performance of Mahler’s “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” is so significant: here are all of the songs that obsessed Mahler so deeply in his early years as a composer that settings of these songs ended up in his monumental early symphonies. German baritone Matthias Goerne, a student of leider masters Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, is the soloist. The Shostakovich Tenth Symphony, which Shostakovich held back until the death of Stalin and changed the course of Russian music, has been a tour de force for the CSO since Solti recorded it back in 1990. Rounding out the program is the American premiere of Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür. Fellow Estonian Paarvo Järvi conducts this first of two CSO programs that he will lead this fall. (Dennis Polkow)
Music 45: Who Keeps Chicago In Tune 2020 This year’s Music 45 arrives at an unprecedented moment. Our city’s musicians have responded to these crises with ingenuity, vigor and creative brio.
