Counting Down…Best of 2023
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire
3M ago
The end of 2023 has arrived and all I can say is what a year it’s been — filled with incredible highs, poignant and emotional “goodbyes”, and of course, absolutely wonderful, sublime music. Here are my top ten highlights from this year: 10. Maestro Muti conducts Concert for Chicago. To end the ’22-’23 season, Maestro Muti led one last Concert for Chicago at Millennium Park, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. It was kind of a full circle moment, considering that Maestro Muti began his tenure as music director at Millennium Park in 2010, and was now officially concluding it at Millennium Pa ..read more
Visit website
Una trilogia secondo Riccardo Muti
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire
3M ago
Teatro Alighieri – one of my favorite places! It’s been almost 30 years since Maestro Muti conducted Bellini’s Norma, with the last time being in Ravenna 1994 with Jane Eaglen singing the titular role (FYI – there’s a fantastic live recording of the performance from EMI). And it’s been 10 years since Maestro conducted Verdi’s Nabucco. Now, both Norma and Nabucco have been two of my favorite operas for a very long time, so the fact that Maestro Muti was going to be conducting both of them, in addition to a special “Gala Verdiano” for this year’s Autumn Trilogy at the Ravenna Festival meant that ..read more
Visit website
Maestro Muti & the Concert for Chicago
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
9M ago
This past Tuesday’s “Concert for Chicago” in Millennium Park, the annual free concert performed by Maestro Muti and the CSO featured two pieces: Florence Price’s Andante moderato (first performed in the opening concerts of the ’21-’22 season) and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. As the end of the concert approached, with the final triumphant chords of Tchaikovsky’s 5th ringing throughout the park, I just couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy because although this last concert of Maestro Muti as music director isn’t a goodbye by any means, it still feels sad when you know this special rela ..read more
Visit website
Muti Conducts Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
9M ago
What should have been the conclusion of the Beethoven 250th anniversary celebration in 2020 was moved to this past week—the final week of the CSO’s ’22-’23 subscription concert season—featuring Beethoven’s crowning masterpiece, the Missa Solemnis. And indeed, what a way to end this season. Throughout the past few years—partly due to the 250th anniversary—Beethoven’s music (especially the 9 symphonies) has permeated the facets of my daily life. It isn’t all that uncommon to find myself listening to the 1st movement of Eroica, or the 3rd movement of the 9th, or the finale of the Pastorale. Howe ..read more
Visit website
Muti Conducts Strauss, Schifrin, and Schubert 9
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
10M ago
One of my favorite concerts that Maestro Muti led in Chicago last season was in January 2022, when he conducted Johann Strauss II’s Kaiser-Walzer, a piece that he had previously led in Vienna during the 2021 Neujahrskonzert. Considering Maestro Muti’s incredible, longstanding relationship with the Wiener Philharmoniker (+50 years!) and how he has led the famed Vienna Neujahrskonzert more times than anyone else today (after the change in ’87), it’s always such a pleasure being able to experience his conducting of this repertoire, not only filled with beautiful melodic lines, but also with a se ..read more
Visit website
Muti Conducts Respighi’s Pini di Roma
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
10M ago
Apologies for the late post, but that’s because I just defended my PhD dissertation and was hooded by my advisor last week! It was hectic finishing the written dissertation as well as putting all my slides together over the past couple of weeks, especially towards the last couple of days right before the final defense presentation, but in the end, it all went well and I was finally able to receive that coveted PhD hood (see some photos below from graduation)! Anyways, right before my dissertation defense was the third and final week of Maestro Muti’s May residency in Chicago, which first feat ..read more
Visit website
Muti Conducts Mozart’s Gran Partita
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
11M ago
Another week in May has passed by and that means another week of incredible music-making with Maestro Muti and the CSO has finished. The second week of this spring residency featured a classical program, including Cimarosa’s overture to Il matrimonio segreto, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 (w/ CSO concertmaster Robert Chen as soloist), and Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 for 13 instruments (otherwise known as the Gran Partita). The connections between the Neapolitan school (think composers like Cimarosa, Paisiello, Jommelli, Scarlatti, etc.) and Mozart have always been strongly apparent, and to hav ..read more
Visit website
Muti Conducts Tannhäuser & Rachmaninov 2!
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
11M ago
It’s May in Chicago, and guess who’s back to conduct these next three weeks…Maestro Muti! And, indeed, we’ve just finished the first week, which featured an incredible program, consisting of Wagner’s overture to Tannhäuser and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2. (FYI there is one last performance tomorrow evening, for those who are so inclined…I definitely will be there :D). When Maestro Muti conducted Wagner’s overture to Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) back in 2019 (which feels like ages ago), I remember experiencing such a vividly colorful and superbly dramatic performance that de ..read more
Visit website
Maestro Muti Conducts Tchaikovsky’s Manfred
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
1y ago
Sold out concert! We’re approaching the end of month, and it’s been a busy couple of weeks! Most importantly, however, was that we just wrapped up a phenomenal set of concerts this past week, with Maestro Muti back in Chicago! The featured pieces on the program? Schumann’s Violin Concerto with Julia Fischer (who performed an amazing Beethoven Violin Concerto in 2016) and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. Maestro Muti has recorded both of these great (but often neglected) works before with the Philharmonia Orchestra (the Schumann with Gidon Kremer), so while I’ve heard these recordings before on ..read more
Visit website
Muti & the CSO on Tour: From Chicago to Stanford
Le Corso del Destino
by Claire Liu
1y ago
Happy 2023! We’re just about finished with the first month of the new year, and already there’s been a lot of great music happening. Fresh off of last month’s incredible trip to Italy (I’m still constantly listening to both Don Giovanni and Verdi’s Requiem these days!), I definitely entered 2023 with huge excitement and curiosity for what was to come in the new year. And indeed, into the middle of January, Maestro Muti and the CSO were back in Chicago preparing for the first tour since the pandemic began! It was so nice to be back in Orchestra Hall—my first time in the new year—to hear again t ..read more
Visit website

Follow Le Corso del Destino on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR