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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Muti Conducts Beethoven Missa solemnis
June 23-25, 2023
Overview
Few mass settings pose more questions of listeners than Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. A fervent meditation on faith and doubt, the piece spans moments of ecstasy and angst, soaring beauty and near-operatic theatricality. Riccardo Muti leads this rarely performed score with a thrilling quartet of international singers and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Program
Beethoven
Missa solemnis
Performers
Extras
Enhance your concert experience with these additional events.
Preconcert Conversations
Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring Stephen Alltop in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.
Transit Alert
Chicago is hosting a NASCAR street race weekend this summer in Grant Park. As the city prepares for this event, patrons coming to concerts June 23 – July 1 are encouraged to review transit options, leave extra time for travel and plan to arrive early. Learn more about getting to Symphony Center June 23 – July 1.
North Shore Shuttle Service for June 24
A special shuttle service will be offered for patrons coming from the North Shore on Saturday, June 24. With this service, you will avoid the stress of driving downtown and instead sit back, relax and enjoy the company of other CSO patrons. The shuttle departs from Winnetka at 5:00 p.m. and will arrive early enough for you to either attend the preconcert conversation or dine at Symphony Center before the performance.
Exchange Deadline
Ticket holders for concerts June 23 – July 1, 2023, must request ticket exchanges by June 20, 2023. No refunds or exchanges are permitted after June 20, 2023.
Sponsors & Partners
Maestro Residency Presenter
Official Airline of the CSO
The appearance of the Chicago Symphony Chorus has been made possible by a generous gift from The Grainger Foundation.
These performances are generously sponsored by the Zell Family Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich M. Gross, William R. Jentes, Josef and Margot Lakonishok, the Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Family Fund for the Canon, an anonymous donor, Estate of Christopher L. Culp, the Sargent Family Foundation, Betty W. Smykal, Nelson D. Cornelius Endowed Concert Fund, the Julian Family Foundation, Ling Z. and Michael C. Markovitz, Nancy A. Abshire, Peter and Betsy Barrett, James and Sylvia Franklin, Martha C. Nussbaum, John and Suzanne Borland, Mr. and Mrs. James J. Glasser, Sue and Melvin Gray, Mark and Gale Kozloff, Dr. Michael Krco, Sharon L. Manuel, Ms. Britt Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Schnadig, Gene and Jean Stark, and Mr. Michael Welsh and Ms. Linda Brummer-Welsh.
Muti & Vienna Philharmonic
For the Vienna Philharmonic’s Ascension Day concert in 2021, Riccardo Muti took the podium to conduct Beethoven’s Missa solemnis — a work he had never conducted before. This momentous occasion was captured by Unitel Edition and is available now on DVD and Blu-ray at the Symphony Store.
Order now
Discover more on Experience CSO
Riccardo Muti compares Beethoven's Missa solemnis to “climbing Mount Everest. It is the greatest religious sermon in music. It is the Sistine Chapel of music — a work so complex that it makes every interpreter’s wrists tremble.”
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Patron Services associates offer their own choices for the must-see CSO and SCP performances of 2022-23. First up, Robert Coad, VIP Services manager, who's mad for Mahler.
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Muti conducts Beethoven's Missa solemnis at the 2021 Salzburg Festival and receives the Austrian Medal of Honor
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Patron Services associate Emily Uddenberg has attended concerts at Orchestra Hall her whole life. This season, she says, "I have every intention of attending every concert when the Chorus is performing."
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The Met's Donald Palumbo returns to Chicago, once his artistic home, to prepare the Chicago Symphony Chorus in "Un ballo in maschera," under Riccardo Muti. "I have such respect for him as a conductor," he says, "especially in Verdi."
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Pavan Singh, manager of Patron Services, goes all out for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this season, with CSO concerts occupying four of his Top 5 picks for 2022-23.
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