In its second of three return concerts, the CSO sounds ‘undeniably glorious’

For the second of its three “Welcome Back” programs, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed works ranging from a Classical-era symphony to a contemporary masterpiece for string orchestra. The program, which premiered June 3 (with repeats June 4 and 6) before a restricted-size audience at Orchestra Hall, featured Erina Yashima in her CSO conducting debut. A former Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprentice, Yashima is now assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The performance showcased, as Lawrence A. Johnson observed in the Chicago Classical Review, “the largest complement of the full symphonic ensemble heard live or online since the pandemic shuttered concert venues last March. And while there were compromises, as with the single-desk strings, hearing the fire, corporate virtuosity and quirky individuality of the CSO for the first time in 15 months was undeniably glorious.”

The eclectic program consisted of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Novelettes No. 3 and 4, Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Jessie Montgomery’s Strum (in a string-orchestra arrangement) and Zoltán Kodály’s Dances of Galánta. Montgomery is the CSO’s next Mead Composer-in-Residence, taking up the post in July, and of her Strum, Johnson wrote: “Montgomery packs a lot of activity into just seven minutes, and this striking debut makes one eager to hear more of her music.”

Next week, the CSO welcomes guest conductor Edo de Waart in Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni and Symphony No. 40 and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll. All four concerts, June 10 to 13, are at capacity, but are being filmed for a possible online release.