CSOradio
CSOradio
For the first time in nearly 20 years, the CSO returned to the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary. Another country rich with musical history, Hungary is the birthplace of musical luminaries such as Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi, Liszt and the CSO’s own Sir Georg Solti. The CSO’s visit to this city as part of the Europe 2024 Tour featured a performance led by Maestro Riccardo Muti, CSO music director emeritus for life, of the music of Glass, Mendelssohn and R. Strauss on Wednesday, January 24.
On Wednesday morning, CSO viola Sunghee Choi boards train bound for Budapest. After a few days in Vienna, the tour heads to Hungary, followed by Italy.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association Jeff Alexander strides through the backstage area at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary. A former horn player with more than 30 years of orchestra management experience, Alexander has developed a strong working relationship with the CSOA Board of Trustees, volunteer associations and administration in support of the work of CSO music director emeritus for life Riccardo Muti and the members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO director of operations Heidi Lukas and artist assistant Pietro Fiumara check in with each other about tour logistics. Lukas has managed nearly 50 CSO tours, which includes contracting with presenters, coordinating concert production details, working with the musicians’ committee and managing all logistics of passenger and cargo travel.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Patrons enter the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, for the CSO’s performance with Maestro Riccardo Muti on Wednesday, January 24. The CSO has long been associated with the music of Béla Bartók, and the composer himself appeared as soloist with the Orchestra in Chicago in 1941.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti, CSO music director emeritus for life, and the CSO perform together at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, for the first time.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO violin Gina DiBello performs Philip Glass’ The Triumph of the Octagon in Wednesday’s concert in Budapest. Performing with the CSO is a family affair for DiBello. Her father, Joseph DiBello, is a retired member of bass section, and her husband, Ian Ding, is regularly invited to perform as an extra musician with the percussion section.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti turns the page of Philip Glass’ The Triumph of the Octagon. The inspiration for this work, which was commissioned by the CSO, came from a photo that the composer saw in Muti’s studio that depicts the octagon-shaped Castel del Monte, a 13th-century citadel in the Apulia region of Muti’s native Italy.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 (Italian). Mendelssohn failed to find satisfaction in his Italian Symphony and made several revisions in the years following its premiere in 1833. After Mendelssohn’s death in 1847, several of his scores, including the Italian Symphony, were finally published, widely performed and welcomed into the repertoire.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Gábor Zoboki, the architect of the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, enjoys the CSO’s performance in the space he designed. Zoboki, who studied music in addition to architecture while in university, worked closely with acoustician Russell Johnson to create a performance space with a shoebox design and acoustics that have been praised since its opening in 2005.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO assistant principal bassoon William Buchman performs Richard Strauss’ Aus Italien with the CSO in Budapest. A member of the Orchestra since 1992, Buchman studied physics at Brown University and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany before focusing his studies on bassoon performance at the Yale University School of Music and the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
The camera zooms in on John Hagstrom, CSO trumpet, during Wednesday’s concert in Budapest. Hagstrom is a Chicago native and former member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. During the 2020/21 season, Hagstrom was host of Intermission at the CSO, a podcast showcasing the voices of numerous CSO musicians through individual features or within topical episodes.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Another Chicago native, CSO flute Emma Gerstein is focused during the CSO’s performance at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall on Wednesday evening. Before joining the CSO in 2017, Gerstein was principal flute with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in a performance of Richard Strauss’ Aus Italien. Muti conducted Aus Italien at the Ravinia Festival in 1973—his debut residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO assistant principal clarinet John Bruce Yeh smiles as he is acknowledged by Maestro Riccardo Muti, his CSO colleagues and the audience for his performance. In 1977, at the age of 19, Yeh was the first Asian musician appointed to the CSO. Today, more than 20 percent of the Orchestra’s roster includes Asians and Asian Americans.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti and the CSO perform Puccini’s Intermezzo to Act 3 from Manon Lescaut as an encore in Budapest.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO assistant principal oboe Lora Schaefer delights in a basset hound sculpture she spotted while sightseeing in Budapest on Thursday, January 25. Schaefer and her husband share a passion for rescuing senior basset hounds and volunteering for a Chicago-area basset rescue.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Oto Carrillo, CSO horn, talks with a patron at a reception in Budapest. Earlier in the day, participants in the patrons tour enjoyed a sightseeing adventure to many cultural landmarks including the Parliament Building, Heroes’ Square, the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and Kodaly Square.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO cello David Sanders and viola Youming Chen pay at visit to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where a sculpture honors Hungarian native Sir Georg Solti, eighth music director of the CSO. Solti’s Hungarian roots run deep, and his ashes were returned to his native country and interred next to the grave of his teacher Béla Bartók, who is buried in Budapest’s Farkasreti Cemetery.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
