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CSO bassist Alexander Hanna, in solo light, finds singing voice in his grand instrument

Dec 21, 2015 – 6:23 am
12/17/15 8:16:29 PM -- Chicago Symphony Orchestra 125th Year.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon Conductor

Vanhal Double Bass Concerto in D Major Featuring Principal Bass Alexander Hanna


© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015

Review: Often forgotten but integral, the double bass is the foundation of the orchestra. Without its supportive heft, the majestic edifice of the orchestra would crumble, and the driving harmonic motion it provides would be lost. So it was satisfying and just to see this taken-for-granted but vital instrument move to the front of Orchestra Hall’s stage on Dec. 19 in the hands of Alexander Hanna, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal bass.

CSO’s ‘French Reveries and Passions’: Spirit and imagination set crown on a dream festival

May 24, 2015 – 12:09 am
Night falls on the final act of CSO's Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy. (Todd Rosenberg)

Festival Review: It’s that time of the year when orchestras change their pace, kick back a bit and come a-bloom with new ideas in the spirit of the warming clime. Thus the New York Philharmonic celebrates its 50th season of Concerts in the Parks, the Cincinnati Symphony’s May Festival gets underway, the Boston Symphony is deep into its Pops concerts. But the place to be this season is in the Windy City, where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is midway through an extravagant multidimensional festival “French Reveries & Passions.”

Musical accent unmistakable, French pianist Tiberghien gives CSO fest pitch-perfect start

May 4, 2015 – 3:03 pm
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Review: The French pianist Cédric Tiberghien turns 40 years old on May 5, but it was he passing out the presents May 3 at Orchestra Hall. His recital, devoted largely to Ravel and Debussy as the official opening event of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s three-week festival titled “French Reveries & Passions,” was a veritable shower of musical gifts from a pianist making his Chicago debut and, incredibly enough, still just barely known in the U.S.

Lessons of Riccardo Muti’s Schubert cycle tell as CSO caps season with poetic Mahler First

Jun 21, 2014 – 1:18 pm
The Chicago Symphony's horn section stands at the finale of Mahler's First Symphony. June 2014 (© Todd Rosenberg)

Review: What Riccardo Muti has brought to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in his first four years as music director was on display June 19 as the orchestra crowned its season with a revelatory pairing of Schubert’s graceful Fifth Symphony and Mahler’s splendorous First.