CSOradio
CSOtv
CSOradio
A second day in Luxembourg provided the tour participants a much-needed break from travel. Tuesday, January 16 was spent with a midday rehearsal followed by some downtime before a second performance at Philharmonie Luxembourg that evening. Luxembourg City is one of three locations during the Europe 2024 Tour that includes two performances; the other two are Frankfurt, Germany, and Vienna, Austria.
CSO principal oboe William Welter examines his reed inventory prior to the day’s rehearsal. Double reed players spend a lot of time whittling away at cane in pursuit of making their own reeds—ones they can reliably count on to create a desired tone.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti, CSO music director emeritus for life, shares a smile with CSO concertmaster Robert Chen as he takes the podium to begin rehearsal. With a second program scheduled for this hall, the musicians are using this rehearsal to reacquaint themselves with the remainder of the tour repertoire after repeating the same program in all previous tour concerts.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
A bird’s-eye-view shows several violinists during a rehearsal. Many professional violinists began their musical training as young children, some as early as age three. It is also common for some young violinists to transition to other instruments, particularly the viola, for various reasons, such as filling a need in an ensemble.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO principal percussion Cynthia Yeh performs on the xylophone during a rehearsal of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3. Yeh’s musical beginnings were on the piano. Do you see the similarities between the wooden bars on the xylophone and the keys on a piano?
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Violinist Gabriela Lara, pictured here, is the first musician selected through the CSO’s Fellowship Program, which was established in the 2022/23 season as an initiative to help early career musicians become better equipped to win auditions with top U.S. orchestras, including the CSO. As a CSO fellow, Lara regularly rehearses and performs with the CSO, works with top conductors, and receives training and mentorship from CSO musicians.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO principal timpani David Herbert tunes his instrument in rehearsal on Tuesday. Timpani consist of flat synthetic or calfskin heads stretched across large, rounded bowls traditionally made of copper. Foot pedals typically allow for pitch adjustments of the instruments, which each have a different size and pitch range across the usual set of four or five.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Following rehearsal, CSO oboe and english horn Scott Hostetler filled Philharmonie Luxembourg’s Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall with the sound of its organ. Hostetler began studying the organ when he was in high school and even held a job as a church organist during his college years.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
The late-afternoon sun sets on Luxembourg City. The CSO has previously visited this city four times, all with Maestro Muti.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Director of orchestra personnel John Deverman pulls a chair up to his trunk to create a makeshift office in the backstage area at Philharmonie Luxembourg. In addition to serving as a liaison between the orchestra musicians and management, Deverman is responsible for ensuring that the personnel requirements for each musical work are met for rehearsals and performances while navigating myriad issues.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Before the evening’s concert, assistant concertmaster David Taylor makes an adjustment to his violin. Taylor plays a J.B. Guadagnini violin, made in 1744.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 on Tuesday, January 16, at Philharmonie Luxembourg. The concert marks the first performance of this work by the CSO in Europe.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO trumpet John Hagstrom and principal trumpet Esteban Batallán perform Symphony No. 3 by Florence Price, whose music was long overlooked, neglected and dismissed. The CSO performed the premiere of Price’s First Symphony at the 1933 World’s Fair, an event that marked the first performance of a large-scale composition by a Black woman composer given by one of the major U.S. orchestras.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
During intermission, several musicians relax in the backstage lounge.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Maestro Riccardo Muti leads the CSO in the second half of the concert. Eight recordings featuring Muti and the CSO have been released on the CSO Resound label, with three Grammy awards among them.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO assistant principal clarinet John Bruce Yeh plays E-flat clarinet in Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. In addition to his weekly appearances with the CSO, he occasionally can be spotted on his daughter Molly Yeh’s Food Network show, Girl Meets Farm. Like her father, Molly also studied music at the Juilliard School.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Guest musician Joseph Bricker strikes a bass drum during performance. A former member and fellow of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Bricker now is assistant principal timpani and section percussion with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
That’s a wrap for the fifth concert of the CSO’s Europe 2024 Tour. The next stop: Frankfurt, Germany.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
During the bows, Maestro Riccardo Muti shakes the hand of Richard Hirschl, who was asked to fill in as principal cello for the night. Hirschl has been a member of the CSO’s cello section since 1989 and is the head of the string department at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
