Wynne Delacoma was classical music critic for the Chicago
Sun-Times from 1991 to 2006. She is currently a freelance arts writer, lecturer,
and adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University's Medill School of
Journalism.
The San Francisco Symphony opened the 10-day road show of its American Mavericks project on March 21 with works by Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, and John Adams in Chicago’s Symphony Center. The young, enthusiastic audience clearly relished what they heard from Michael Tilson Thomas and his excellent players.
Riccardo Muti, who became the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 10th music director in September 2010, is one of the world’s most distinguished opera and symphony conductors. But at this point in his career, the 70-year-old Italian maestro is interested in more than leading one of the world’s great orchestras.
The Riccardo Muti era is finally under way at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It has been a long time coming. The results will be sampled when they perform in San Francisco on Feb. 14 and 15, as part of the “American Orchestras” series at Davies Symphony Hall.