Cso Muti

10501369

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The orchestra's most recent music director is Riccardo Muti, whose tenure spanned 13 seasons, from 2010–2023. The CSO is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".

This new live recording pairs profound works by two of the twentieth century's greatest composers: Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. Writer Phillip Huscher describes Schoenberg's Kol Nidre a "stark, strong modernist statement," set to the prayer said on the eve of Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement. Schoenberg, who had fled Europe in 1934, premiered the work in Los Angeles in 1938, one month before the devastating the anti Jewish pogroms of Kristallnacht took place throughout Nazi-Germany. Shostakovich's suite explores similarly weighty concerns, including themes of love, morality, death, and the human spirit through the poetry of the Renaissance master Michelangelo. Although originally conceived to honor the fifth centenary of the artist's birth, Shostakovich's settings became a highly personal testament to concerns the two men shared across the centuries.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure in 2010. The CSO is one of five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".