United States Nabors, Mozart, Stravinsky: Jan Lisiecki (piano), Seattle Symphony Orchestra / Peter Oundjian (conductor). Benaroya Hall, Seattle, 14.3.2025. (ZC)
Seattle Symphony offers dramatic range with Stravinsky, Mozart and a local premiere
Zach Carstensen
Stephen Williamson premieres Christopher Theofanidis’s clarinet concerto with the CSO on 6 March
From friendship to music: Stephen Williamson premieres Christopher Theofanidis’s clarinet concerto at the CSO
On a summer day in 2022, Stephen Williamson stood outside with his clarinet in Aspen, Colorado. Surrounded by an endless blue sky, mountains and the sun, Williamson – the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal clarinetist – worked through intricate passages of a new concerto. Its composer, Christopher Theofanidis, was there with Williamson, shaping the music in real time. ‘Playing it outside in the fresh air, with the mountains around us, brought a whole new dimension to the sound’, Williamson recalls.
After almost three years of anticipation – due in part to an unexpected health setback – Williamson is finally set to premiere the concerto, Indigo Heaven, which was written specifically for him.
Esa-Pekka Salonen and Iveta Apkalna bring his Sinfonia concertante to life in its Chicago debut
United States R. Strauss, Salonen, Bartók: Iveta Apkalna (organ), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 30.1.2025. (ZC)
Minkowski and Music of the Baroque take a leap from Baroque to Classical with ‘Jupiter’ and Les Boréades
United States Handel, Rameau, Mozart: Music of the Baroque / Marc Minkowski (conductor). Harris Theater, Chicago, 25.1.2025. (ZC)
Hannu Lintu and Vilde Frang lead the CSO through a program of palindromic beauty
United States Various: Vilde Frang (violin), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 21.11.2024. (ZC)
Strauss’s Don Quixote with John Sharp and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 24 to 26 October 2024
John Sharp and Don Quixote: Chicago Symphony’s principal cellist returns to a classic role
‘It was intimidating and it was thrilling. That is what I remember about my first audition week’, John Sharp says, reflecting on his first moments with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. ‘To see Solti conduct and the way the orchestra played – it was really incredibly exciting’.
Sharp, now the CSO’s principal cellist, began his musical journey far from the concert stage. Growing up in Texas, it was a stroke of luck that led him to the cello. ‘It was complete chance, really. I raised my hand’, he recalls, thinking back to his early days with the cello. ‘I was trying all kinds of things and ended up choosing the cello’. The choice propelled him on a professional journey that, starting on 24 October, will see him perform Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with the CSO under the baton of Sir Donald Runnicles.
Chicago Opera Theater’s Leonora shines light on Ferdinando Paër’s overlooked masterpiece
United States Ferdinando Paër, Leonora: Soloists and Orchestra of Chicago Opera Theater / Dame Jane Glover (conductor). Studebaker Theater, Chicago, 4.10.2024. (ZC)
Tension and drama abound in the Chicago Symphony’s Tchaikovsky Fourth and Walton Viola Concerto
United States Vaughan-Williams, Walton, Tchaikovsky: Antoine Tamestit (viola), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (conductor). Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 26.9.2024. (ZC)
