# Chicago Symphony today



## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

I used to be a huge, huge fan of the Chicago Symphony during their Solti days in the 70s and 80s. Barenboim proved to be a big disappointment to me because of the way that he so severely toned down the orchestra's hallmark in-your-face style of performing, but when I found out that Riccardo Muti was coming, I thought it would be a dream come true after all the demonstration-quality recordings that he made with Philadelphia back in the 80s.

Unfortunately, Muti has hardly made any recordings at all with the CSO, and the ones that I've heard have proven to be a letdown (to me, at least).

I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area, so it's really hard to keep up with the CSO on an ongoing basis, so I was wondering if somebody with more up-to-date knowledge about the CSO could tell me (1) Why has Muti made so few recordings with them, and (2) How do they sound these days (especially compared with years past)?


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

Don't know about the scarcity of recordings, nor how they compare now to years past, but I heard them at Carnegie Hall last year about this time, 6th row center, and they sounded incredible. I was braced for the famous brass, but what impressed me was the lush strings and the unified energy of the orchestra. They were a force. And of course flawless, to my ear.

They performed Mendelssohn's "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage," Debussy's "La Mer" and Scriabin's Third Symphony, "The Divine Poem" in a water-themed affair. 

A stirring concert and although my sample size is relatively small, the CSO is the best orchestra I've had the pleasure of listening to live, hands down. (Cleveland comes a close second, NYPO probably third, among the big boys and girls). -- Granted, the CSO at Carnegie has a little more (a lot more) pizzaz and sense of "an event" than the NYPO performing one among countless concerts at the Lincoln Center.

I'm a fan of what Muti has accomplished with the orchestra.


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

I sure do wish they would record more.........


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

CSO Audio

CSO Resound record label ... thin selection, as you say.

CSO Radio


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

I was already aware of the CSO Resound label, but the Audio and Radio links might keep me very busy for a while. Thanks.


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