American orchestra, originally the Chicago Orchestra, formed in 1891 by the conductor Theodore Thomas and named after him from 1906; it was renamed in 1912. Its home is Orchestra Hall (opened 1904, cap. 2566); summer concerts are given at Ravinia Festival. Under Frederick Stock (1905-42) many new works were presented and children's concerts instituted. The orchestra's international renown is based on its recordings, especially under Fritz Reiner (1952-63) and Georg Solti (music director from 1969), as well as on tours abroad. Other conductors have included Rafael Kubelík (1950-53), Jean Martinon (1963-8), Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado and Henry Mazer.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891 when businessman Charles Norman Fay invited the German-born conductor Theodore Thomas to establish and lead a new city orchestra; he conducted it until his death in 1905. Orchestra Hall, designed by Daniel H. Burnham, was built for it in 1904 with funds raised by public subscription; the hall is now part of Symphony Center, which was completed in 1997. Frederick Stock, Thomas's assistant, succeeded him and conducted the orchestra until 1942. Rafael Kubelík (see under Kubelík, Jan), its conductor from 1950 to 1953, was followed by Fritz Reiner, who conducted until 1962. Sir Georg Solti conducted from 1969 to 1991 and was succeeded by Daniel Barenboim, who served as its conductor until 2006. Bernard Haitink subsequently became interim conductor, and in 2008 Ricardo Muti was named principal conductor, beginning in 2010. The orchestra plays a summer season at Ravinia Park, in the suburbs north of Chicago.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the three most acclaimed orchestras in America at the end of the century (the others being the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and one of the few serious rivals that the New York Philharmonic has had in its long history. Curiously, the histories of the two orchestras are somewhat intermingled.
Theodore Thomas had organized and led orchestras in New York during the 1870s and 1880s, competing with the Philharmonic Society of New York for audiences, soloists, and American premieres of works. His orchestra did very well as a major rival to the orchestra that would become the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra had visited Chicago for a number of seasons, and it was intended that he would be music director of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in that city. In 1891, however, he abandoned New York entirely in favor of Chicago, and arrived as the first conductor of what was then called the Chicago Orchestra. Thomas held that position until his death in 1905. In his honor, the Chicago Orchestra was renamed the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1906. Six years later, the orchestra was renamed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
It was under the leadership of Thomas' assistant, Frederick Stock, that the Chicago Symphony's modern reputation was formed. From 1905 until his death in 1942, Stock led the orchestra in decades of programs that featured not only the established classics but the American premieres of many post-romantic works. Additionally, Stock raised the level of performing and the financial status of his players, and established the orchestra in a major teaching role for aspiring musicians in its home city. Their recordings were relatively few in number, because the long-playing record -- central to the appreciation of classical music -- had not yet been invented, which means there is little evidence by which modern listeners can judge the work of the orchestra during this period, but some of the recordings from that era were among the best in the world at the time. Among the few available from the period on major labels are the Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 as performed by Arthur Schnabel, with Stock conducting, on BMG.
Stock's death in 1942 precipitated a difficult decade for the orchestra. Apart from the general complications of World War II, they had a great deal of trouble finding acceptable leadership. Desire Defauw lasted for only four years, from 1943 until 1947, and Artur Rodzinski (best known for his leadership of the New York Philharmonic) was in the job for only one year, 1947 and 1948. Youthful, Czech-born Rafael Kubelik served three years as music director from 1950 until 1953, but his gentlemanly manner and decidedly modern, European-centered taste in music proved unsuited to the players, critics and management -- although it was under Kubelik that the orchestra made its first successful modern recordings, for the Mercury label, many of which are finally being reissued in the mid-1990s.
Finally, in 1953, Fritz Reiner became the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Thus began the modern renaissance and blossoming of the orchestra. Under Reiner, the orchestra's playing sharpened and tightened, achieving a clean, precise, yet rich sound that made it one of the most popular orchestras in the United States. The Chicago Symphony under Reiner became established once and for all as an international-level orchestra of the first order, rivaling the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony.
Moreover, Reiner's arrival with the orchestra coincided with its move to RCA Victor Records, which, in 1954, was beginning to experiment with stereo recording. With Reiner as conductor, these "Living Stereo" recordings -- characterized by vivid textures, sharp stereo separation, and microphone placement that gave the impact of a live performance -- became some of the best-selling classical albums of all time, and have since been reissued numerous times on compact disc to new acclaim from critics and listeners, more than a generation removed from their original era.
Reiner's death in 1963 led to another interregnum period, during which the French conductor Jean Martinon led the orchestra (1963-68). Finally, in 1969, Sir Georg Solti joined the orchestra as its music director. Under Solti, the orchestra's national and international reputations soared, as did their record sales. Reiner had begun the process of cultivating the burgeoning audience for late romantic composers such as Mahler, but it was with Solti that the works of Mahler and Bruckner became standard fare in the orchestra's programs, right alongside those of Beethoven and Mozart. The playing standard achieved during Solti's tenure, in concert and on record, was the highest in the history of the orchestra. Additionally, the orchestra under Solti began a quarter-century relationship with London Records that resulted some of the best-sounding recordings of their era.
Solti's approach to performance is very flamboyant yet intensely serious -- even his performances of lighter opera and concert overtures strike a perfect balance between broad gestures and finely wrought detail, attributes that have made him perhaps the most admired conductor of a major American orchestra, if not the most famous (Leonard Bernstein in New York inevitably got more headlines, especially with his knack for publicity, during the 1960s). He is both popular and respected, and his tenure with the Chicago Symphony coincided with his becoming the winner of the greatest number of Grammy Awards of any musician in history, in any field, although Solti has also recorded with orchestras in London and Vienna.
Currently, the orchestra's music director is Daniel Barenboim, with Solti remaining in the post of music director emeritus. As with other major American orchestras, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has found itself in recent years competing with its own history, especially where recordings are concerned. The compact disc reissues of their work under Reiner and Solti continue to sell well, and are comparable or superior to Chicago's current recordings in sound and interpretive detail. Even their early 1950s work under Rafael Kubelik has been reissued by Mercury Records in the late 1990s, while RCA-BMG and some specialty collector's labels have re-released the Chicago recordings under Frederick Stock. The success of the Reiner and Solti recordings has created a problem for the current Chicago Symphony, even as sales of their classic recordings flourish. ~ Bruce Eder
Note: The recordings of Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are uniformly excellent, and can virtually all be recommended. The same goes for the Chicago recordings with Fritz Reiner, although there are highlights to be considered, listed below.
Reiner cond.:
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra RCA/BMG [8]
Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste [8]
Debussy La Mer RCA/BMG [8]
Mahler Symphony No. 4 RCA/BMG [7]
Strauss Ein Heldenleben RCA/BMG [9]
Also Sprach Zarathustra RCA/BMG [7]
Kubelik cond.:
Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition Mercury [8]
Smetana My Fatherland Mercury [9], All Music Guide
Music Director Designate Riccardo Muti Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez Civic Orchestra Conductor
Cliff Colnot Chorus Director
Duain Wolfe
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".[1] Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director designate is Riccardo Muti, due to begin his tenure in 2010.
Orchestra Hall, now a component of the Symphony Center complex, was designed by Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham and completed in 1904. Maestro Thomas served as music director for thirteen years until his death shortly after the orchestra's newly built residence was dedicated on December 14, 1904. The orchestra was renamed "Theodore Thomas Orchestra" in 1905 and today, Orchestra Hall still has "Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall" inscribed in its façade.
In 1905, Frederick Stock became music director, a post he held until his death in 1942. The orchestra was renamed "Chicago Symphony Orchestra" in 1913.
Maestro Barenboim resigned from his post in 2006 in order to focus on his career in Europe with the Staatskapelle Berlin opera company, La Scala in Milan, and also with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra which he co-founded. Barenboim's final concerts leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra took place on June 15–17 2006. On 27 April 2006, the orchestra named Bernard Haitink to the role of principal conductor and Pierre Boulez to the role of conductor emeritus "while [the] music director search continues."[2] These appointments began in the 2006–2007 season.
On May 5, 2008, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Deborah Rutter announced that the orchestra had named Riccardo Muti as its 10th music director, starting with the 2010–2011 season, for an initial contract of 5 years.[3]
Music performed by the orchestra has been heard in movies, including Casino conducted by Sir Georg Solti, and Fantasia 2000 conducted by James Levine.
The Chicago Symphony holds an annual fundraiser, originally known as the Chicago Symphony Marathon, more recently as "Radiothon", and now "Symphonython", in conjunction with Chicago radio station WFMT. As part of the event, the Orchestra has, since 1986, released tracks from their broadcast archives on double LP/CD collections.
Ravinia Festival
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra maintains a summer home at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois. The orchestra first performed there during Ravinia Park's second season in November 1905 and continued to appear there on and off through August 1931, after which the Park fell dark due to the Great Depression. The Orchestra helped to inaugurate the first season of the Ravinia Festival in August 1936 and has been in residence at the Festival every summer since.
Many conductors have made their debut with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, and several have gone on to become the artistic director, or primary summertime guest conductor at Ravinia, including Seiji Ozawa (1964–1968), James Levine (1973–1993), and Christoph Eschenbach (1995–2003). As of 2005, James Conlon holds the title of Ravinia music director.
Recordings and broadcasts
The Chicago Symphony has amassed a discography numbering more than 900. Recordings by the Orchestra have earned sixty Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. These include several Classical Album of the Year awards, awards in Best Classical Performance in vocal soloist, choral, instrumental, engineering and orchestral categories.
On May 1, 1916, Frederick Stock recorded the Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohn's music to A Midsummer Night's Dream for what was then known as the Columbia Graphophone Company. Stock and the orchestra made numerous recordings for Columbia Records and the Victor Talking Machine Company, renamed RCA Victor in 1929. The orchestra's first non-acoustic electrical recordings were made for Victor in 1925, including a performance of Karl Goldmark's In Springtime overture. These early electrical recordings were made in Victor's Chicago studios; within a couple of years Victor began recording the orchestra in Orchestra Hall. Stock continued recording until 1942, the year he died.
In 1951, Rafael Kubelík made the first modern high fidelity recordings with the orchestra, in Orchestra Hall, for Mercury. Like the very first electrical recordings, these performances were made with a single microphone. Philips has reissued these performances on compact disc with the original Mercury label and liner notes.
In March 1954, Fritz Reiner made the first stereophonic recordings with the orchestra, again in Orchestra Hall, for RCA Victor, including a performance of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra. Reiner and the orchestra continued to record for RCA through 1962. These were mostly recorded in RCA's triple-channel "Living Stereo" process. RCA has digitally remastered the recordings and released them on CD and SACD. Jean Martinon also recorded with the orchestra for RCA Victor during the 1960s, producing performances that have been reissued on CD.
Sir Georg Solti recorded primarily for Decca in recordings that were issued in the U.S. on the London label, including a highly-acclaimed Mahler series, recorded in the historic Medinah Temple. Many of the recordings with Daniel Barenboim have been released on Teldec.
The Chicago Symphony first broadcast on the radio in 1925. There have been broadcasts ever since, except for a few years during World War II and a hiatus between October 2002 and April 2007. The reason for the latter break was a dispute between the musicians' union and CSO management over extra pay for musicians for radio broadcasts.[4] The Orchestra offered to match the broadcast fees of the highest-paying US orchestra, but the union refused the offer. Henry Fogel, then president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, told the Tribune, "I think the musicians' representatives believe we should find a way to fund payments at the levels they expect, and frankly we just cannot."[5] With the resolution of the dispute, the Chicago Symphony radio syndication resumed with a 52-week series. The broadcasts are sponsored by BP and air on 98.7 WFMT in Chicago and the WFMT Radio Network. They consist of 39 weeks of recordings of live concerts, as well as highlights from the CSO's vast discography.[6]
The CSO has also appeared on a series of telecasts on WGN-TV, beginning in 1953. The early 1960s saw the videotaped telecast series Music from Chicago, conducted by Fritz Reiner and guest conductors including Arthur Fiedler, George Szell, Pierre Monteux, and Charles Münch. Many of these televised concerts, from 1953 to 1963, have since been released to DVD by VAI Distribution.
Georg Solti also conducted a series of concerts with the Chicago Symphony that were broadcast in the 1970s on PBS.
In 2007, the Chicago Symphony formed its own recording label, CSO Resound. After an agreement was reached with the Orchestra's musicians, arrangements were made for new recordings to be released digitally at online outlets and on compact disc.[6] The first CSO Resound CD, recording Bernard Haitink's rendition of Mahler's Third Symphony, was released in the spring of 2007. The following releases were Bruckner's Seventh symphony conducted by Haitink, Shostakovich's Fifth by Chung, Mahler's Sixth and Shostakovich's Fourth by Haitink.
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Frederick Stock founded the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the first training orchestra in the United States affiliated with a major symphony orchestra, in 1919. Its goal is to recruit pre-professional musicians and train them as high-level orchestra players. Many alumni have gone on to play for the CSO or other major orchestras.
The Civic Orchestra performs half a dozen orchestral concerts and a chamber music series annually in Symphony Center and in other venues throughout the Chicago area free of charge to the public.
Bernard Haitink, principal conductor, has won two Grammy Awards, including one with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the recording of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony on the CSO Resound label.
Pierre Boulez, conductor emeritus and former principal guest conductor, has won twenty-six Grammy Awards including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Boulez is tied with Alison Krauss as the third all-time Grammy winner, behind Sir Georg Solti (thirty-one) and Quincy Jones (twenty-seven).
The late Sir Georg Solti, former music director and music director laureate, won thirty-one Grammy Awards—more than any other recording artist. He received seven awards in addition to his twenty-four awards with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In addition, Sir Georg Solti and producer John Culshaw received the first NARAS Trustees’ Award in 1967 for their "efforts, ingenuity, and artistic contributions" in connection with the first complete recording of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Vienna Philharmonic. Sir Georg Solti also received the Academy's 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award.
The late Margaret Hillis, founder and longtime director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, won nine Grammy Awards for her collaborations with the Orchestra and Chorus.
Rated as the top orchestra in the United States and the fifth best orchestra in the world by the British classical music magazine Gramophone in November, 2008.[7]
