This program celebrates the legacy of the CSO’s second music director Frederick Stock, who was born on November 11, 1872. Stock was appointed the second music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1905, a position he held for a record 37 years. During his tenure, Stock led the CSO in its first recording, numerous North American and US premieres, and the debuts of CSO-commissioned works.
The broadcast opens with the CSO’s first-ever recording from 1916 of the “Wedding March” from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Next, we’ll hear modern recordings of significant works associated with Stock: Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which had its US premiere in 1939 with Stock conducting pianist Storm Bull and the CSO; Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, which Stock commissioned for the CSO’s 50th season; and excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 1, which premiered in the US in 1937, at Stock’s invitation under the baton of the composer.
The program concludes with Stock’s final recording, a 1942 performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” with pianist Artur Schnabel.