HEADS UP: Riccardo Muti and Chicago Symphony tonight in Costa Mesa

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

Although this weekend is ultra-full, one of the concerts that I missed in my “Five Spot” post yesterday (LINK) was an oversight. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra comes to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall tonight for the first of three Southern California concerts (next week, the CSO is in Palm Desert and San Diego).

Riccardo Muti, now in his second year as the CSO’s music director, brings an interesting program, especially considering that it’s for a tour: Honegger’s: Pacific 231 (Mouvement symphonique No. 1), a piece based on railroads; Alternative Energy, a new work by Mason Bates, the CSO’s Composer-in Residence; and Franck’s Symphony in D minor, which used to be played often but has in the past couple of decades has slipped into obscurity.

Timothy Mangan on his Blog Classical Life (LINK) and CK Dexter Haven in All is Yar (LINK) have posted this week on the CSO’s visit to the Southland. Concert information: www.philharmonicsociety.org
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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.