Classical concertos are a great entry point for beginners. High-flying, exciting, virtuosic, they are often a pinnacle of solo performance.

Another packed summer of live music awaits.

Italian conductor Guido Cantelli — Toscanini’s appointed “spiritual heir” — leads works by Brahms, Debussy, and Tchaikovsky.

We take you to Paris for a live performance of this perennial favorite.

We visit Lyadov’s Enchanted Lake and Swan Lake of Tchaikovsky before hearing the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Alan Gilbert conducts.

Stunning renditions of contemporary works, stirring early music performances, and more.

As we look forward to the festivities, we have compiled some of Chicago’s most enticing holiday offerings!

This broadcast features symphonies by Haydn and Prokofiev, plus a selection of songs by Franz Schubert orchestrated by various composers and the Fantasy-Overture, Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky. The orchestra is joined by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter for the Schubert.

Hilary Hahn — the CSO’s first artist-in-residence — performs Dvořák’s Violin Concerto.

Julia Fischer performs Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto.

Fast-rising pianist Beatrice Rana is heard in music by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev.

It’s hard to pinpoint a single genre for which music is more indispensable than horror. Here are 13 horror movie soundtracks to give you thrills and chills.

Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Violinist James Ehnes takes center stage in a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto. Music by Jessie Montgomery, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky rounds out the performance.

Not only are these composers’ musical works an inspiration, but their words are, too! Here are some of the most beautiful insights you’ll read all day.

Josefowicz takes on Thomas Adès’ “Concentric Paths” Violin Concerto. The high-powered Elim Chan leads music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Clarice Assad.

Two fast-rising stars, conductor Dalia Stasevska and violinist Randall Goosby, team up for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. We also hear works by Jean Sibelius and contemporary Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi.

In a performance from June 29, 2023, Valentina Peleggi conducts music by Valerie Coleman, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Stewart Goodyear appears.

Alan Gilbert conducts works by Ravel, Nielsen, and Tchaikovsky.

Lahav Shani makes the CSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Included in the program is Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini featuring Beatrice Rana.

Pianist Joyce Yang, a 2023 artist-in-residence for the festival, joins conductor Gemma New to perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Whether you are looking to rev up for the race or drown out the din, this playlist of cacophonous classical music is for you.

A dedication from Oliver Knussen to his late wife, and Tchaikovsky’s romantic reflections on Florence, Italy. Performers include the Miami String Quartet, soprano Tony Arnold, pianist Zoltán Fejérvári, and more.

“I belong to another period of making music, of approaching the scores, of asking for a lot of time for rehearsals, especially in opera.”

Celebrate Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti’s remarkable tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at this free concert in Millennium Park.