Edo de Waart will replace ailing Riccardo Muti in Chicago Symphony’s Beethoven fare

Submitted by Lawrence B. Johnson on Jan 8, 2013 – 5:50 pm | 3,090 views

Report: Program with pianist Radu Lupu unchanged for concerts Jan. 9-15.

Conductor Edo de Waart will replace ailing Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti in concerts Jan. 9-15 at Orchestra Hall.

Muti, in Chicago to begin two weeks of concerts followed by an Asian tour with the CSO Jan. 21-Feb. 8, withdrew from his opening week because of flu. The all-Beethoven program remains unchanged: “Leonore” Overture No. 3, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major with soloist Radu Lupu and Symphony No. 3 in E-flat (“Eroica”).

De Waart, 71, born in Amsterdam, is music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. He served as music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1977-85 and music director of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1986-95. He is conductor-laureate of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, which he served as music director from 1989-2004.

In addition to subscription concerts Jan. 10-12 and Jan. 15, De Waart will conduct the CSO’s streamlined Afterwork Masterworks concert Jan. 9 that will include only the “Leonore” Overture No. 3 and the “Eroica” Symphony.

Muti is still scheduled to conduct concerts Jan. 17-19 featuring Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and music by Stravinsky and Busoni. Those works, along with Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, will be performed on the CSO’s Asian tour during stops in Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Seoul.

Related Link:

Performance dates and times: Details at CSO.org

Tags: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart, Radu Lupu, Riccardo Muti

Chicago Wine Journal »

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Burgundy’s range is reflected in two beauties from Leclerc, Gille

Tasting Report: The power, the finesse and the sheer intellectual engagement that stamp top-quality red Burgundy wines were amply displayed in youthful, sharply contrasting examples I recently tasted from two producers in the famed Côte d’Or, Domaine Gille and Domaine René Leclerc.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Sbragia’s Merlot makes a regal splash from a bargain bottle

Tasting Report: It’s always such a smile-inducing pleasure to come upon a wine that exceeds all expectations in its price class. A terrific example is Sbragia Family Vineyards’ Dry Creek Valley Sonoma Home Ranch Merlot 2012, a wine stuffed with the goods to compete well beyond its modest price of $24.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Santa Duc draws arc of splendor with old-vines Gigondas

Mulling Wine: To glimpse the poor, stony soil is to wonder how it could ever produce the grapes that Domaine Santa Duc in turn translates into some of the most seductive wine in the Southern Rhône Valley appellation of Gigondas. But the proof was there in a palate-pleasing, indeed eye-opening vertical sampler of Santa Duc’s single-vineyard, old-vine Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Brancaia delivers three Tuscans that are super and then some

Tasting Report: The wines of Tuscan producer Brancaia are well worth seeking out. There’s something exceptional here to meet budgets across a wide range. An array of Brancaia wines were served at an off-beat cheese party at the East Loop Chicago restaurant Tesori, when chef Danny Sweis sliced into a new 80-pound wheel of parmesan.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: With elegant 2014 Viognier, Darioush does a beauty one better

Tasting Report: One of the great pleasures of a visit to France’s Northern Rhone Valley is the luscious Viognier produced in Condrieu. I would have said it was matchless – until I had the equally happy experience of the Viognier from Darioush in California’s Napa Valley. The Darioush Viognier is a recent discovery for me. I first tasted it in the 2013 vintage – a lovely expression of white wine that in its combination of buttery depth and finesse evoked not only the Viognier of Condrieu but also the plush majesty of the top Chardonnays in Burgundy. And the newly released 2014 may prove to be even better.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Classic art of Jaboulet’s new Chapelle mistress

The Hermitage Hill provides ideal conditions for Syrah, the stuff of Jaboulet's La Chapelle.

Tasting Report: Since my earliest forays into French wines, the brightest stars in my firmament have consistently included the patrician Hermitage La Chapelle produced by Paul Jaboulet Aîné in France’s Northern Rhône Valley. So it was little short of enchanting to step back through time at a vertical tasting of this great expression of Syrah at a recent Chicago seminar sponsored by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Aged Burgundian glory from three négociants

Mulling Wine: By chance or perhaps my natural gravitation, I just completed a sort of hat trick – meal accompaniments from three of my favorite Burgundy producers, all of whom fall into the somewhat misunderstood category of négociants.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: Burgundy-style Pinot Noir from an Oregon star

Tasting Report: Since its founding in 1989, Domaine Serene in Oregon’s Willamette Valley has emerged as one of the top producers of Pinot Noir in a region famous for that wine. In a horizontal tasting with friends of four different Domaine Serene bottlings from the 2011 vintage, it became readily apparent why this house continues to enjoy such high esteem.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: A new Spanish horizon for old-vine Garnacha

Spain's Cariñena DOP (NextGrapeGrape.com)

Tasting Report: With the dramatic emergence of Spanish wines in recent years, Grenache has gained familiarity in its Spanish robes as Garnacha – which might lead one to assume that the “two” grapes are one and the same. Indeed they are, and yet there’s a world of difference between them. That became clear during a Chicago seminar last week presented by Spanish producers of Garnacha from Cariñena, a small appellation long overshadowed by the likes of Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

CHICAGO WINE JOURNAL: The pleasures (and alluring price) of Chablis

Tasting Report: Somewhat to the northwest of the heart of what we think of as Burgundy – that is, the glorious Côte-d’Or with its world-famous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay — lies the appellation of Chablis. Technically, Chablis is part of Burgundy, though it’s more like an island. Or perhaps an unfavored stepchild. But for wine lovers, especially devotees of Chardonnay, Chablis is a discovery-in-waiting.