For the masterful clarinetist David Shifrin, Mozart’s 1789 Clarinet Quintet sets “a standard that has never been surpassed for great music for the clarinet.” In this edition of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival radio series, David Shifrin joins forces with the Escher String Quartet. Escher cellist Brook Speltz tells us, “I have no problem being hyperbolic about the Mozart …

In Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, Brahms travels in time, using ancient musical forms to explore possible futures. In Beethoven’s Second Symphony, anarchic glee subverts Classical elegance. Between the two big Bs, precisely in the present, Esa-Pekka Salonen debuts his longtime friend Anders Hillborg’s witty and colorful new Piano Concerto, performed with genial sophistication by soloist Emanuel Ax.

This week, we take a look back at Grammy-winning performances by the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Music directors Daniel Barenboim and Sir Georg Solti conduct Bruckner’s Psalm 150 and Brahms’s A German Requiem. Former principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez conducts Bartók’s Cantata profana.

Both Alban Berg and Johannes Brahms hail from the Viennese school of classical composing and the works -featured on this program showcase the strength and musicality that came out of that period.

Trifonov’s not-to-be-missed performance of Brahms’s well-loved concerto is paired with a late symphony by Prokofiev, filled with powerful atmospheric writing and dark, thrilling melodic lines.

Any chamber music demands a deceptive level of coordination and mastery. But what about when two artists are playing the same instrument, side-by-side?

Daniel Harding conducts Schumann’s Overture to Manfred and Holst’s The Planets, and the Chicago Symphony Chorus joins for Brahms’s Schicksalslied. Plus, former Music Director Sir Georg Solti leads in a 1997 recording of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms featuring the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the first Black musician to win the BBC Young Musician Award, is the soloist in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

The Brazilian pianist — with the backing of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra — in unreleased music by Brahms, Chopin, Bartók, and Liszt.

Situated in a wooded area just outside Berlin, the Waldbühne is one of Europe’s largest and most popular open-air concert venues.

An autumnal assortment of songs in German, French, English, and even Swedish, each with their own take on the fall season.

20th-century maestro Thomas Beecham leads works by Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, and Mily Balakirev.

Pianist Gilbert Kalish, violinist Nicolas Dautricourt, violist Yura Lee, and cellist Keith Robinson join forces for this landmark — and longform — chamber piece.

With pianist Daniil Trifonov, “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”

The distinguished German baritone previews his upcoming recital at Ravinia Festival.

A journey through Bruckner’s compelling extremes.

Tired of Pachelbel’s Canon in D and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March? Here are other romantic selections to consider!

The renowned string group celebrates their 20th anniversary with a concert of works ranging from Astor Piazzolla to Stacy Garrop. This concert was recorded on November 10th, 2023 at Bennett Gordon Hall.

Alan Gilbert conducts Brahms and Beethoven.

Xian Zhang leads the CSO in Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony and Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message. In between, Simon Trpčeski joins her in Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Opening the program, Sir Georg Solti leads the CSO in Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Op. 56a from 1997 London recording.

The renowned Hungarian violinist in music by Bach, Brahms, Schubert, and Mendelssohn.

Wrapping up a retrospective with highlights by Ernest Chausson and Johannes Brahms.

EXPO by Magnus Lindberg begins our broadcast and will be followed by the Brahms Violin Concerto in D performed by Frank Peter Zimmerman. The program concludes with the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz.

A 2007 broadcast from CSO’s archives: Bernard Haitink—the Orchestra’s principal conductor from 2006 until 2010—leads Beethoven’s Seventh and Brahms’s Second symphonies. The program opens with Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz and includes Webern’s Passacaglia for Orchestra.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has announced its 2024–2025 season, a full year of concerts in its mainstage subscription series, as well as chamber, solo, family, and other programming.