Remembering Theodore Thomas

In January 1906, second music director Frederick Stock began a tradition of honoring founder and first music director Theodore Thomas on the first anniversary of his death. We continue that tradition with a program of works given their U.S. premieres with the Orchestra under Thomas’s baton. Former music directors Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim, along with first principal guest conductor Carlo Maria Giulini, lead works by Bruckner, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky, and Stock closes the program with Thomas’s arrangement of “Träume” (Dreams) from Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder.

Strauss Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28
Daniel Barenboim conductor
September 1990 (Erato)

Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
Carlo Maria Giulini conductor
December 1976 (Angel)

Tchaikovsky Selections from The Nutcracker
Sir Georg Solti conductor
January 1986 (London)

Wagner/Thomas Träume from Wesendonck Lieder
Frederick Stock conductor
December 1928 (Victor)

From the CSO’s Archives: The First 130 Years—featuring recordings from the CSO’s vast discography, including releases on CSO Resound—is a cultural and community partnership between the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and WFMT, Chicago’s Classical Music Station.

FTA130-16