Adès Conducts Adès with Gerstein
Apr 6 - Apr 11, 2023

Overview

Come along for an engrossing program of musical storytelling as Thomas Adès conducts Liszt’s swirling treatment of the Faust legend, Janáček’s depiction of a 17th-century Cossack warrior and Sibelius’ incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Kirill Gerstein presents Adès’ own Piano Concerto, “an affectionate, joyous, remarkably uncomplicated tribute to tradition” (The New York Times).

Critical Acclaim
“This breathless, 20-minute concerto, structured in three essentially traditional movements (fast, slow, fast), comes across as zesty and accessible. But don't be fooled. Just below the surface, the music sizzles with modernist harmonies, fractured phrases, gaggles of counterpoint and lyrical strands that keep breaking into skittish bits. The finale is a riotous, clattering, assaultive romp. I can’t wait to hear it again.” — The New York Times
Schedule
Thursday, April 6, 2023
7:30 PM
Friday, April 7, 2023
1:30 PM
Saturday, April 8, 2023
8:00 PM
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
7:30 PM
Program
Liszt

Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Adès

Piano Concerto

Sibelius

Overture and Suite No. 1 from The Tempest

Janáček

Taras Bulba

Adès

Berceuse from The Exterminating Angel [April 8 Encore]

Ligeti

Étude No. 5 “Arc-en-ciel” [April 11 Encore]
Kirill Gerstein, piano

 

Extras

Enhance your concert experience with these additional events.

Preconcert Conversation

Explore the music in the free preconcert conversation featuring John Novak in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets are needed.


Preconcert Ensembles

Honors chamber ensembles from the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras will perform in the Rotunda beginning 45 minutes prior to each concert.

Thursday, April 6: Brass quintet
Friday, April 7: Flute trio
Saturday, April 8: String quartet
Tuesday, April 11: String quartet


Terri Hemmert

Classic Encounter

Thursday, April 6: Preconcert lecture hosted by Chicago’s favorite radio DJ, WXRT’s Terri Hemmert, with co-host Cynthia Yeh, CSO principal percussion.

You will have the opportunity to add Classic Encounter to your order after selecting your seats for the concert.

Sponsors

Discover more on Experience CSO
Muti & Gerstein
Riccardo Muti is on the podium to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring Russian-American Kirill Gerstein in Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, plus a suite from Strauss’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Puccini’s Preludio sinfonico, and Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain!
Explore more
For pianist Kirill Gerstein, Beethoven lives in 'the spur of the moment'
When pianist Kirill Gerstein plays Beethoven, he makes a lot of decisions on the spur of the moment. For any given sonata, “perhaps there are four or five different ways to play this passage here, seven ways here,” he said. “And those decisions can be made rather spontaneously.”
Explore more
Boulez Conducts Messiaen & Janáček
The legendary Pierre Boulez leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a colorful program of works by Bach, Debussy, Janáček, Mahler, and Messiaen.
Explore more

Support your orchestra
Give today