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What truly set Orchestra Hall on fire came in the second half of the program as Maestro Riccardo Muti, in subtle but wonderfully expressive balletic form, led an altogether blazing performance of Prokofiev’s “Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major,” a 1944 masterwork composed at the height of World War II.
It is a mighty work that requires a mighty performance, and it got that Thursday evening, the kind that is only possible when a top-level conductor and top-level orchestra are completely in sync.
Thu Dec 17, 2020 at 11:10 am By John von Rhein Chicago Symphony Orchestra members perform Dvořák’s Wind Serenade in Episode 9 of CSO Sessions. Photo: Todd Rosenberg Ten months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in company with several other top-tier U.S. ensembles, is refusing to sing the lockdown blues. October 1 brought the debut of CSO Sessions, a set of hour-long chamber music concerts performed by members of the orchestra and filmed onstage the previous month at Orchestra Hall, Symphony Center. Available on demand at the organization’s website ( cso.org/cso...