Chicago Symphony Orchestra
“Christmas came early for Chicago Symphony audiences on December 18. I refer not to the orchestra’s holiday music concerts … but to what was the first of three regular subscription performances of stunning virtuosity and uncommonly thought-provoking programming … The CSO sounds remarkably transparent under Mäkelä’s baton. We feel like we can hear every single instrument that makes up the CSO’s gleaming, sumptuous sound.”
Musical America, Wynne Delacoma, 22 December 2025
“For many, the most encouraging aspect of Thursday’s concert was not just the outstanding quality of the performances but the fact that Mäkelä programmed not one but two contemporary works – both inspired by Beethoven and each a CSO premiere … Opportunities for the CSO to tackle a challenging modern score with this kind of density and musician demands (Jörg Widmann’s Con brio) – and for Chicago audiences to hear such music – have been all too rare over the past 15 years.”
Chicago Classical Review, Lawrence A. Johnson, 19 December 2025
” … a winning evening that will doubtlessly stand as one of the highlights of the 2025-26 season … The CSO has performed Beethoven’s Seventh no doubt hundreds of times, but Mäkelä put his own worthy mark on it here. His interpretation brimmed with joyous verve, immaculate dynamics, rhythmic vigor and due spaciousness. It offered the perfect cap on a sensational evening of musicmaking.”
Chicago Sun-Times, Kyle MacMillan, 19 December 2025
“As has become a Mäkelä hallmark, this Beethoven 7 saw many stretches of hands-off leadership, an opening of the floor to group discussion. The music, in turn, flowered with open-hearted curiosity – a Beethoven 7 for the ages, most especially our own.”
Chicago Tribune, Hannah Edgar, 19 December 2025
“While Mäkelä’s previous appearances with the Chicago Symphony had been consistently impressive, his unfurling of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony struck a different note. This concise, crisp, fluent, ultimately flat-out dazzling performance by the orchestra and its youthful Finnish conductor felt like his true confirmation, the specific augury of a formidable association.”
Classical Voice North America, Lawrence B. Johnson, 22 December 2025
PROGRAMME:
Unsuk Chin: subito con forza
Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto
Jörg Widmann: Con brio
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Soloist: Yunchan Lim
