The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Riccardo Muti, opened its 125th anniversary season in grand style, with a sold-out house rapturously applauding the program of Liszt’s From the Cradle to the Grave, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. After the traditional playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Muti addressed the audience and reminded the crowd of music’s role in society. Referring to Arturo Toscanini’s famous words on the subject, Muti emphasized that “to be in an orchestra means not only to play your own part, but to live in a community, because the orchestra itself represents a society.”
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs the National Anthem to lead off the 125th season’s opening-night concert. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
Riccardo Muti addresses the audience before the CSO’s opening-night concert of its 125th anniversary season. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
Riccardo Muti takes the podium for the first concert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 125th anniversary season. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
The CSO’s flute section, including principal flute designate Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, takes the spotlight. | Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, the CSO’s principal flute designate, sits in on the opening-night concert. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in the opening-night concert of the 125th anniversary season. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015
Always a model of intensity, Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in what he calls an unjustly ignored work, Liszt’s From the Cradle to the Grave. | © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015