Eighth music director Sir Georg Solti leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and a stellar cast of soloists in the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. Next, the CSO Brass performs music by Gabrieli, and sixth music director Fritz Reiner closes this holiday celebration with selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet.
Handel Messiah & Tchaikovsky Nutcracker
Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello in a Saturday matinee broadcast on February 9, 1974 (Photo: Metropolitan Opera Archives)
Playlist
George Frideric Handel: Messiah, Part 1
Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano; Anne Gjevang, contralto; Keith Lewis, tenor; Gwynne Howell, bass-baritone; David Schrader, harpsichord; Chicago Symphony Chorus; Margaret Hillis, director; Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Giovanni Gabrieli / Eric Crees: Sacrae Smphoniae No. 6, Sonata Pian e forte
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass; Mark Ridenour, conductor
Giovanni Gabrieli / Eric Crees: Canzon duodecimi toni à 10
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass; Mark Ridenour, conductor
Giovanni Gabrieli / Robert Paul Block: Canzon septimi toni à 8 (No. 2)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass; Mark Ridenour, conductor
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Selections from The Nutcracker, Op. 71
Fritz Reiner, conductor