The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family wishes the legendary American pianist Byron Janis a very happy ninety-fifth birthday!
Janis made his professional debut at the age of fifteen in 1943, performing Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The following year, he was chosen by Vladimir Horowitz as his first student, and at eighteen, he became the youngest artist signed to a contract by RCA Victor Records. On October 29, 1948, Janis made his Carnegie Hall debut, and Olin Downes in the New York Times wrote, “Not for a long time had this writer heard such a talent allied with the musicianship, the feeling, the intelligence and artistic balance shown by the twenty-year-old pianist, Byron Janis. . . . Whatever he touched he made significant and fascinating by the most legitimate and expressive means.”
On March 4, 1954, Janis made his debut with the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall. “Mr. Janis played a performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto uncommonly beautiful for what it was, and uncommonly exciting for what it can be. . . . If you have it, you have it, and Mr. Janis does,” wrote Claudia Cassidy in the Chicago Tribune. “He has temperament and fire and he wants, perhaps more than anything in the world, to play the piano. You can always tell that by the sound. It comes out in the explosions of the double octaves, in the instinctive sensing of the crest of a phrase . . . his Tchaikovsky was big, beautiful and dynamic, yet with all its tensions it sensed the relaxed sweep of the grand style. . . . Reiner and the Orchestra gave superb collaboration, part Russian song, part Russian bear.”
For more than twenty years, Byron Janis was a regular visitor, as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and as a recitalist in Orchestra Hall. A complete list of his appearances is below.
July 10, 1952, Ravinia Festival BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor
March 4 and 5, 1954, Orchestra Hall TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 Fritz Reiner, conductor
July 27, 1956, Ravinia Festival BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2 (The Age of Anxiety) Leonard Bernstein, conductor
December 6 and 7, 1956, Civic Opera House RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1 STRAUSS Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor Fritz Reiner, conductor
August 2, 1957, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 William Steinberg, conductor
August 3, 1957, Ravinia Festival TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 William Steinberg, conductor
January 20, 1958, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor
July 17, 1958, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1 Walter Hendl, conductor
July 22, 1958, Ravinia Festival BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Igor Markevitch, conductor
February 19 and 20, 1959, Orchestra Hall SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 Fritz Reiner, conductor
February 24, 1959, Orchestra Hall LISZT Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra Fritz Reiner, conductor
March 23, 1959, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 Fritz Reiner, conductor
July 9, 1959, Ravinia Festival TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 Walter Hendl, conductor
July 11, 1959, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 Walter Hendl, conductor
February 4 and 5, 1960, Orchestra Hall LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major Fritz Reiner, conductor
February 9, 1960, Orchestra Hall LISZT Concerto for Piano No. 2 in A Major Fritz Reiner, conductor
July 5, 1960, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 Walter Hendl, conductor
Fritz Reiner and Byron Janis in Orchestra Hall
July 7, 1960, Ravinia Festival SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 Walter Hendl, conductor
July 20, 1961, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1 Joseph Rosenstock, conductor
July 22, 1961, Ravinia Festival LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major Joseph Rosenstock, conductor
January 4 and 5, 1962, Orchestra Hall TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 Leopold Stokowski, conductor
August 4, 1962, Ravinia Festival LISZT Concerto for Piano No. 2 in A Major RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 André Cluytens, conductor
November 1, 2, and 3, 1962, Orchestra Hall November 4, 1962, Edgewater Beach Hotel (WGN Great Music from Chicago television broadcast) November 5, 1962, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 Hans Rosbaud, conductor
July 11, 1963, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 Walter Hendl, conductor
July 16, 1963, Ravinia Festival GRIEG Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 Seiji Ozawa, conductor
December 31, 1964, January 1 and 2, 1965, Orchestra Hall January 4, 1965, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 Willem van Otterloo, conductor
July 26, 1966, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1 RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 Seiji Ozawa, conductor
July 28, 1966, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 Seiji Ozawa, conductor
April 20 and 21, 1967, Orchestra Hall PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10 STRAUSS Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor Irwin Hoffman, conductor
June 27, 1967, Ravinia Festival PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 Seiji Ozawa, conductor
June 29, 1967, Ravinia Festival GERSHWIN Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra Seiji Ozawa, conductor
June 29, 1968, Ravinia Festival BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Seiji Ozawa, conductor
July 6, 1971, Ravinia Festival STRAUSS Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major Lawrence Foster, conductor
June 29, 1973, Ravinia Festival PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 James Levine, conductor
August 15, 1974, Ravinia Festival SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 (Egyptian) David Zinman, conductor
Janis also made several recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as follows:
LISZT Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra Fritz Reiner, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on February 23, 1959, for RCA
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1 Fritz Reiner, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on March 2, 1957, for RCA
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 Fritz Reiner, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on February 21, 1959, for RCA
STRAUSS Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor Fritz Reiner, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on March 4, 1957, for RCA
Under the auspices of Allied Arts, Janis has appeared as piano recitalist on several occasions, as follows:
March 25, 1956 March 15, 1958 April 9, 1961 April 29, 1962 January 16, 1966 January 29, 1967 December 1, 1968 May 5, 1974 December 16, 1975 February 8, 1976
Wishing a very happy eighty-fifth birthday to John Corigliano!
The recipient of numerous honors—including a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, the Grawemeyer Award, and multiple Grammy awards—Corigliano served as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first composer-in-residence from 1987 until 1990.
The Orchestra first performed Corigliano’s Concerto for Piano in February 1969, with Sheldon Shkolnik as soloist and acting music director Irwin Hoffman on the podium. Under the baton of Sir Georg Solti, the Orchestra performed the Concerto for Clarinet with Larry Combs, as well as the Tournaments Overture on concerts in Orchestra Hall and during the 1985 tour to Europe, performing the work in Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, and London.
On March 15, 1990, music director designate Daniel Barenboim led the world premiere of Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1, jointly commissioned for the Orchestra’s centennial by the Chicago Symphony and the Meet-the-Composer Orchestra Residencies Program.
“During the past decade I have lost many friends and colleagues to the AIDS epidemic, and the cumulative effect of those losses has, naturally, deeply affected me. My First Symphony was generated by feelings of loss, anger, and frustration,” wrote Corigliano in the program note for the premiere. “A few years ago, I was extremely moved when I first saw ‘The Quilt,’ an ambitious interweaving of several thousand fabric panels, each memorializing a person who had died of AIDS, and, most importantly, each designed and constructed by his or her loved ones. This made me want to memorialize in music those I have lost, and reflect on those I am losing.”
The live recording—Barenboim and the Orchestra’s first on the Erato label—featured principal cello John Sharp and, offstage, pianist Stephen Hough. The recording was recognized with two 1991 Grammy awards for Best Orchestral Performance and Best Contemporary Composition. Barenboim programmed the symphony again in 1992, also taking it on tour to Carnegie Hall, Madrid, and London.
Corigliano’s First Symphony also has been performed at the Ravinia Festival under the batons of Christoph Eschenbach in 1996 and Marin Alsop in 2003; Eschenbach also led performances in Orchestra Hall in 1998.
With the Orchestra, Neeme Järvi conducted the Pied Piper Fantasy with Sir James Galway; Eschenbach led The Red Violin: Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra with Joshua Bell; William Eddins conducted Phantasmagoria on The Ghosts of Versailles; and Leonard Slatkin has led Three Hallucinations, Fantasia on an Ostinato, and The Mannheim Rocket.
To celebrate Sir Georg Solti’s seventy-fifth birthday in 1987, associate conductor Kenneth Jean led the Orchestra in the world premiere of Corigliano’s Campane di Ravello. Written while on vacation in Ravello, Italy, the composer remarked, “On Sundays, the multitude of churches in Ravello and the surrounding towns play their bells, each in a different key and rhythm. The cacophony is gorgeous, and uniquely festive. My tribute to Sir Georg attempts to make the sections of the symphony orchestra sound like pealing bells: that tolling, filigreed with birdcalls in the woodwinds, provides the backdrop for a theme that grows more and more familiar as it is clarified. At the end, it is clear and joyous—a tribute to a great man.”
Jean also led the work on the Centennial Gala concert on October 6, 1990, and current music director Riccardo Muti conducted it on September 19, 2015, on the Symphony Ball concert launching the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 125th season.
Current and former CSO composers-in-residence at MusicNOW’s twentieth anniversary concert : Augusta Read Thomas, Samuel Adams, Elizabeth Ogonek, John Corigliano, Shulamit Ran, and Mason Bates (Todd Rosenberg photo)
MusicNOW, the Orchestra’s contemporary music series, kicked off its twentieth season on October 2, 2017, at the Harris Theater with a concert celebrating past composers-in-residence. Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek honored their predecessors by programming works by Anna Clyne, Osvaldo Golijov, and Mark-Anthony Turnage, along with—in attendance—Mason Bates, Shulamit Ran, Augusta Read Thomas, and Corigliano.
Most recently, in January 2019, the Orchestra performed “One Sweet Morning” from the song cycle of the same name, with baritone Thomas Hampson as soloist and Bramwell Tovey conducting. In Chicago Classical Review, Lawrence A. Johnson wrote that Corigliano’s song, “made an apt and hopeful coda, envisioning a world with no more war . . . Hampson was able to convey the gentle optimism of the Yip Harburg text, and Corigliano’s fragile, bird-like rising line.”
Program biography for Sergei Rachmaninov’s November 1935 appearances
Sergei Rachmaninov made his first appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on December 3 and 4, 1909, conducting his Isle of the Dead and performing as soloist in his Second Piano Concerto with second music director Frederick Stock conducting. Over the next thirty-four years, the composer was a regular visitor to Orchestra Hall—as conductor, concerto soloist, and recitalist—and his appearances were consistently sold-out events.
On November 7 and 8, 1935, Rachmaninov presented his new Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini to Chicago audiences. “Last night a new star was added to music’s firmament,” wrote Glenn Dillard Gunn in the Chicago Herald and Examiner. “The composer was present to play the solo part and to stir the staid patrons of the symphony in shouts of excited approval, punctuated by fanfares from the orchestra, while the audience and the players stood in homage to the master.” The response was so great that, at Stock’s invitation, the composer repeated the last section of his new composition, “a thrilling page, a harsh and sardonic utterance, diabolically brilliant and, at moments, strangely wistful.”
“There are other faultless pianists,” added Eugene Stinson in the Chicago Daily News, “though none who plays with Mr. Rachmaninoff’s nobility of tone [and] icy luminosity of color. There is no pianist I can think of who, playing faultlessly and playing without ardor, yet plays at such a pitch of perfection as he.”
Chicago Herald & Examiner, November 8, 1935
In the fall of 1940, during the first month of the fiftieth season, Stock had invited Rachmaninov to lead the Orchestra’s first performance of his choral symphony The Bells, but it was postponed to the following March, due to a pending revision of the score. Instead, the composer appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto and his Rhapsody, on October 22. “So pervasive was the festal mood,” commented Edward Barry in the Chicago Tribune, “that Mr. Stock actually grinned and even Mr. Rachmaninoff almost smiled. An audience that filled Orchestra Hall from top to bottom wore itself out with ovations . . . so smooth and delicate was his passage work [in Beethoven’s concerto, and] Mr. Rachmaninoff’s own Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini[‘s] big passages shone with the easy brilliance of sunlight.”
Woodcut by Curt Gfroerer for the Chicago Daily News, also used in a program book advertisement for Lyon & Healy, exclusive distributor of Steinway pianos in Chicago
For his final appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on February 11 and 12, 1943, Rachmaninov again presented Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto and his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, under the baton of associate conductor Hans Lange. “Sergei Rachmaninoff evoked a series of ovations when he appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall last night,” wrote Claudia Cassidy in the Chicago Tribune. “His entrance won standing tribute from orchestra and capacity audience, his Beethoven stirred a storm of grateful applause, and his own Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini ended the concert in a kind of avalanche of cumulative excitement.”
In early 1973, Sir Georg Solti Solti receives Grammy statuettes for the CSO’s recordings of Mahler’s Seventh and Eighth symphonies. (Terry’s Photography)
Georg Solti—who would serve as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s eighth music director from 1969 until 1991—received his first Grammy at the Recording Academy’s fifth awards ceremony in May 1963, for the RCA recording of Verdi’s Aida with Leontyne Price in the title role. Over the next two decades, he steadily increased his count, and at the 26th ceremony in February 1984, Solti received four awards, bringing his total to twenty-three and surpassing Henry Mancini’s record of twenty awards. Ultimately, Sir Georg would receive thirty-one awards—twenty-four with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus—and he reigned as the all-time Grammy champ for nearly forty years.
At the the 65th Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023, Beyoncé received four statuettes, bringing her total to thirty-two and crowning her as the new champ. Quincy Jones follows Solti with twenty-eight awards, Alison Krauss and Chick Corea each has twenty-seven, and Pierre Boulez—former CSO conductor emeritus and principal guest conductor—is in fifth place, with twenty-six Grammy awards, including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
In addition, Solti and producer John Culshaw received the Academy’s first Trustees’ Award in 1967 for their “efforts, ingenuity, and artistic contributions” in connection with the first complete recording of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Vienna Philharmonic. Sir Georg also received the Academy’s 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Following is a complete list of Sir Georg Solti’s thirty-one Grammy awards and seventy-four nominations.*
Best Opera Recording (nom 1, win 1) VERDI Aida Georg Solti, conductor Leontyne Price, Rita Gorr, Jon Vickers, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi Rome Opera House Orchestra Rome Opera House Chorus Giuseppe Conca, director RCA
STRAUSS Salome Best Opera Recording (nom 2) Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Gerhard Stolze, Grace Hoffman, Eberhard Wächter, Waldemar Kmentt Vienna Philharmonic London
6th Annual Grammy Awards (1963) Best Opera Recording (nom 3) WAGNER Siegfried Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Gerhard Stolze, Gustav Neidlinger, Joan Sutherland Vienna Philharmonic London
7th Annual Grammy Awards (1964) Album of the Year–Classical (nom 4) Best Opera Recording (nom 5) VERDI Falstaff Georg Solti, conductor Geraint Evans, Giulieta Simionato, Ilva Ligabue, Robert Merrill, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus, Rosalind Elias RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra RCA Italiana Opera Chorus Nino Antonellini, director RCA
8th Annual Grammy Awards (1965) Best Opera Recording (nom 6) WAGNER Götterdämmerung Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig, Claire Watson, Gustav Neidlinger Vienna Philharmonic Men of the Vienna State Opera Chorus Wilhelm Pitz, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 7) Best Opera Recording (nom 8, win 2) WAGNER Die Walküre Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Régine Crespin, Christa Ludwig, James King, Hans Hotter, Gottlob Frick Vienna Philharmonic London
10th Annual Grammy Awards (1967) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 9) MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection) Georg Solti, conductor Heather Harper, Helen Watts London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Chorus John Alldis, director London
11th Annual Grammy Awards (1968) Best Opera Recording (nom 10) STRAUSS Elektra Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Marie Collier, Regina Resnik, Gerhard Stolze, Tom Krause Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus London
Best Opera Recording (nom 12) STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Georg Solti, conductor Régine Crespin, Yvonne Minton, Helen Donath, Luciano Pavarotti, Manfred Jungwirth Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director London
14th Annual Grammy Awards Best Opera Recording (nom 13) MOZART The Magic Flute, K. 620 Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Christina Deutekom, Stuart Burrows, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Martti Talvela Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 14, win 3) Best Choral Performance–Classical (other than opera) (nom 15, win 4) MAHLER Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major Georg Solti, conductor Heather Harper, Lucia Popp, Arleen Augér, Yvonne Minton, Helen Watts, René Kollo, John Shirley-Quirk, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus Singverein Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Helmut Froschauer, director London
Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 16, win 5) MAHLER Symphony No. 7 in E Minor Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 17) Best Opera Recording (nom 18) WAGNER Tannhäuser Georg Solti, conductor René Kollo, Christa Ludwig, Hans Sotin, Helga Dernesch Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Wilhelm Pitz, director London
16th Annual Grammy Awards (1973) Album of the Year–Classical (nom 19) BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 (Emperor) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano London
Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 20) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Yvonne Minton, Stuart Burrows, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 21) WAGNER Parsifal Sir Georg Solti, conductor René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hans Hotter, Gottlob Frick, Zoltán Kélémen, Christa Ludwig Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Anton Neyder, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 22, win 6) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 23, win 7) BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 24, win 8) PUCCINI La bohème Sir Georg Solti, conductor Montserrat Caballé, Judith Blegen, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Vicente Sardinero, Ruggero Raimondi London Philharmonic Orchestra John Alldis Choir John Alldis, director Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir Russell Burgess, director RCA
Best Opera Recording (nom 25) MOZART Così fan tutte, K. 588 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Ryland Davies, Tom Krause, Gabriel Bacquier, Pilar Lorengar, Teresa Berganza, Jane Berbié London Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Opera House Chorus Douglas Robinson, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom, 26, win 9) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 27) Beethoven’s Symphonies BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major, Op. 55 (Eroica) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major, Op. 60 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 (Pastoral) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 BEETHOVEN Overture to Coriolan, Op. 62 BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b Sir Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Yvonne Minton, Stuart Burrows, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 28, win 10) STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 29) Best Opera Recording (nom 30) BIZET Carmen Sir Georg Solti, conductor Tatiana Troyanos, Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, José van Dam London Philharmonic Orchestra John Alldis Choir John Alldis, director Boys’ Chorus from Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, Elstree Alan Taylor and Jean Povey, directors London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 31) ELGAR Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 32, win 11) VERDI Messa da Requiem Sir Georg Solti, conductor Leontyne Price, Janet Baker, Veriano Luchetti, José van Dam Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director RCA
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 33) DEBUSSY Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun and La mer RAVEL Boléro Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 34) RAVEL Boléro Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 35) WAGNER The Flying Dutchman Sir Georg Solti, conductor Norman Bailey, Martti Talvela, Janis Martin, René Kollo Chicago Symphony Orchestra Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 36, win 12) BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Lucia Popp, Yvonne Minton, Mallory Walker, Gwynne Howell Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 37) WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast Sir Georg Solti, conductor Benjamin Luxon, baritone London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Choir John Alldis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 38, win 13) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 39, win 14) Brahms’s Symphonies BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 BRAHMS Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 BRAHMS Tragic Overture, Op. 81 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 40, win 15) BRAHMS A German Requiem, Op. 45 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Bernd Weikl Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 41) HOLST The Planets Sir Georg Solti, conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Women of the London Philharmonic Choir John Alldis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 42) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 43, win 16) BRUCKNER Symphony No. 6 in A Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 44) BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kolos Kováts, Sylvia Sass, István Sztankay London Philharmonic Orchestra London
Best Classical Album (nom 45, win 17) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 46, win 18) MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Isobel Buchanan, Mira Zakai Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 47) Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 48, win 19) BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Frederica von Stade, Kenneth Riegel, José van Dam, Malcolm King Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus Doreen Rao, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 49, win 20) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 50, win 21) MAHLER Symphony No. 9 in D Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 51, win 22) MOZART The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Lucia Popp, Frederica von Stade, Samuel Ramey, Thomas Allen, Kurt Moll London Philharmonic Orchestra London Opera Chorus London This recording tied with the soundtrack for Verdi’s La traviata with James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil.
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 52, win 23) HAYDN The Creation Sir Georg Solti, conductor Norma Burrowes, Sylvia Greenberg, Rüdiger Wohlers, James Morris, Siegmund Nimsgern Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
27th Annual Grammy Awards (1984) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 53) MAHLER Symphony No. 4 in G Minor Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 54, win 24) SCHOENBERG Moses und Aron Sir Georg Solti, conductor Franz Mazura, Philip Langridge Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 55, win 25) LISZT A Faust Symphony Sir Georg Solti, conductor Siegfried Jerusalem, tenor Chicago Symphony Orchestra Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 56) MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56 (Scottish) MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 (Italian) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 57) VERDI Un ballo in maschera Margaret Price, Kathleen Battle, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti, Renato Bruson National Philharmonic Orchestra London Opera Chorus Terry Edwards, director Royal College of Music Junior Department Chorus Vaughan Meakins, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 58) Best Orchestral Recording (nom 59, win 26) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Jessye Norman, Reinhild Runkel, Robert Schunk, Hans Sotin Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 60) MOZART The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Edita Gruberová, Kathleen Battle, Gösta Winbergh, Heinz Zednik, Martti Talvela Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Concert Choir Martha Heigl, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 61) Best Opera Recording (nom 62, win 27) WAGNER Lohengrin Sir Georg Solti, conductor Jessye Norman, Eva Randová, Plácido Domingo, Siegmund Nimsgern, Hans Sotin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Concert Choir London
Best Chamber Music Performance (nom 63, win 28) BARTÓK Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion Sir Georg Solti and Murray Perahia, pianos Evelyn Glennie and David Corkhill, percussion CBS
Best Orchestral Recording (nom 64) BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 in E Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 65) BACH Saint Matthew Passion, BWV 244 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Olaf Bär, Tom Krause Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
33rd Annual Grammy Awards Best Orchestral Performance (nom 66) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Performance of a Choral Work (nom 67, win 29) BACH Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Felicity Lott, Anne Sofie von Otter, Hans Peter Blochwitz, William Shimell, Gwynne Howell Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 68) Best Opera Recording (nom 69, win 30) STRAUSS Die Frau ohne Schatten Sir Georg Solti, conductor Hildegard Behrens, Júlia Várady, Sumi Jo, Reinhild Runkel, Plácido Domingo, José van Dam Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Boys’ Choir Helmuth Froschauer, director
Best Classical Album (nom 70) Best Opera Recording (nom 71, win 31) WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Sir Georg Solti, conductor Karita Mattila, Iris Vermillion, Ben Heppner, Herbert Lippert, José van Dam, Alan Opie, René Pape Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 72) MOZART Don Giovanni, K. 527 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Bryn Terfel, Renée Fleming, Ann Murray, Michele Pertusi, Herbert Lippert, Monica Groop, Robert Scaltriti, Mario Luperi London Philharmonic Orchestra London Voices Terry Edwards, director London
41st Annual Grammy Awards (1998) Best Classical Album (nom 73) Best Choral Performance (nom 74) BARTÓK Cantata profana WEINER Serenade for Small Orchestra, Op. 3 KODÁLY Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Tamás Daróczi, Alexandru Agache Budapest Festival Orchestra Choir of the Hungarian Radio and Television Kálmán Strausz, director Children’s Choir of Hungarian Radio and Television Gabriella Thész, director Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis Tamás Bubnó, director
*A database of former Grammy Award winners can be found using the search function here; category titles have changed over the years. For opera recordings, only principal soloists are listed.
In early 1973, Sir Georg Solti Solti receives Grammy statuettes for the CSO’s recordings of Mahler’s Seventh and Eighth symphonies. (Terry’s Photography)
Georg Solti—who would serve as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s eighth music director from 1969 until 1991—received his first Grammy at the Recording Academy’s fifth awards ceremony in May 1963, for the RCA recording of Verdi’s Aida with Leontyne Price in the title role. Over the next two decades, he steadily increased his count, and at the 26th ceremony in February 1984, Solti received four awards, bringing his total to twenty-three and surpassing Henry Mancini’s record of twenty awards. Ultimately, Sir Georg would receive thirty-one awards—twenty-four with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus—and has continued to reign as the all-time Grammy champ for nearly forty years.
In addition, Solti and producer John Culshaw received the Academy’s first Trustees’ Award in 1967 for their “efforts, ingenuity, and artistic contributions” in connection with the first complete recording of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Vienna Philharmonic. Sir Georg also received the Academy’s 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Beyoncé and Quincy Jones currently tie for the number two slot with twenty-eight awards each, Alison Krauss has twenty-seven, and Pierre Boulez—former CSO conductor emeritus and principal guest conductor—is number four, with twenty-six Grammy awards, including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
But keep an eye on Queen Bey . . . she goes into this Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony with nine nominations—including Album, Song, and Record of the year. If she receives three wins, she will tie with Sir Georg; if she takes home four or more, she will become the all-time champ. The 2023 Grammy Awards will air live on CBS on Sunday, February 5.
In the meantime, following is a complete list of Sir Georg Solti’s thirty-one Grammy awards and seventy-four nominations.*
Best Opera Recording (nom 1, win 1) VERDI Aida Georg Solti, conductor Leontyne Price, Rita Gorr, Jon Vickers, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi Rome Opera House Orchestra Rome Opera House Chorus Giuseppe Conca, director RCA
STRAUSS Salome Best Opera Recording (nom 2) Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Gerhard Stolze, Grace Hoffman, Eberhard Wächter, Waldemar Kmentt Vienna Philharmonic London
6th Annual Grammy Awards (1963) Best Opera Recording (nom 3) WAGNER Siegfried Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Gerhard Stolze, Gustav Neidlinger, Joan Sutherland Vienna Philharmonic London
7th Annual Grammy Awards (1964) Album of the Year–Classical (nom 4) Best Opera Recording (nom 5) VERDI Falstaff Georg Solti, conductor Geraint Evans, Giulieta Simionato, Ilva Ligabue, Robert Merrill, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus, Rosalind Elias RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra RCA Italiana Opera Chorus Nino Antonellini, director RCA
8th Annual Grammy Awards (1965) Best Opera Recording (nom 6) WAGNER Götterdämmerung Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig, Claire Watson, Gustav Neidlinger Vienna Philharmonic Men of the Vienna State Opera Chorus Wilhelm Pitz, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 7) Best Opera Recording (nom 8, win 2) WAGNER Die Walküre Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Régine Crespin, Christa Ludwig, James King, Hans Hotter, Gottlob Frick Vienna Philharmonic London
10th Annual Grammy Awards (1967) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 9) MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection) Georg Solti, conductor Heather Harper, Helen Watts London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Chorus John Alldis, director London
11th Annual Grammy Awards (1968) Best Opera Recording (nom 10) STRAUSS Elektra Georg Solti, conductor Birgit Nilsson, Marie Collier, Regina Resnik, Gerhard Stolze, Tom Krause Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus London
Best Opera Recording (nom 12) STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Georg Solti, conductor Régine Crespin, Yvonne Minton, Helen Donath, Luciano Pavarotti, Manfred Jungwirth Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director London
14th Annual Grammy Awards Best Opera Recording (nom 13) MOZART The Magic Flute, K. 620 Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Christina Deutekom, Stuart Burrows, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Martti Talvela Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 14, win 3) Best Choral Performance–Classical (other than opera) (nom 15, win 4) MAHLER Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major Georg Solti, conductor Heather Harper, Lucia Popp, Arleen Augér, Yvonne Minton, Helen Watts, René Kollo, John Shirley-Quirk, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus Singverein Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Helmut Froschauer, director London
Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 16, win 5) MAHLER Symphony No. 7 in E Minor Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 17) Best Opera Recording (nom 18) WAGNER Tannhäuser Georg Solti, conductor René Kollo, Christa Ludwig, Hans Sotin, Helga Dernesch Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Wilhelm Pitz, director London
16th Annual Grammy Awards (1973) Album of the Year–Classical (nom 19) BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 (Emperor) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano London
Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 20) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Yvonne Minton, Stuart Burrows, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 21) WAGNER Parsifal Sir Georg Solti, conductor René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hans Hotter, Gottlob Frick, Zoltán Kélémen, Christa Ludwig Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Norbert Balatsch, director Vienna Boys’ Choir Anton Neyder, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 22, win 6) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 23, win 7) BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 24, win 8) PUCCINI La bohème Sir Georg Solti, conductor Montserrat Caballé, Judith Blegen, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Vicente Sardinero, Ruggero Raimondi London Philharmonic Orchestra John Alldis Choir John Alldis, director Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir Russell Burgess, director RCA
Best Opera Recording (nom 25) MOZART Così fan tutte, K. 588 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Ryland Davies, Tom Krause, Gabriel Bacquier, Pilar Lorengar, Teresa Berganza, Jane Berbié London Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Opera House Chorus Douglas Robinson, director London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom, 26, win 9) Best Classical Performance–Orchestra (nom 27) Beethoven’s Symphonies BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major, Op. 55 (Eroica) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major, Op. 60 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 (Pastoral) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 BEETHOVEN Overture to Coriolan, Op. 62 BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b Sir Georg Solti, conductor Pilar Lorengar, Yvonne Minton, Stuart Burrows, Martti Talvela Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 28, win 10) STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 29) Best Opera Recording (nom 30) BIZET Carmen Sir Georg Solti, conductor Tatiana Troyanos, Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, José van Dam London Philharmonic Orchestra John Alldis Choir John Alldis, director Boys’ Chorus from Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, Elstree Alan Taylor and Jean Povey, directors London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 31) ELGAR Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 32, win 11) VERDI Messa da Requiem Sir Georg Solti, conductor Leontyne Price, Janet Baker, Veriano Luchetti, José van Dam Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director RCA
Album of the Year–Classical (nom 33) DEBUSSY Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun and La mer RAVEL Boléro Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Classical Orchestral Performance (nom 34) RAVEL Boléro Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 35) WAGNER The Flying Dutchman Sir Georg Solti, conductor Norman Bailey, Martti Talvela, Janis Martin, René Kollo Chicago Symphony Orchestra Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 36, win 12) BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Lucia Popp, Yvonne Minton, Mallory Walker, Gwynne Howell Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 37) WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast Sir Georg Solti, conductor Benjamin Luxon, baritone London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Choir John Alldis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 38, win 13) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 39, win 14) Brahms’s Symphonies BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 BRAHMS Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 BRAHMS Tragic Overture, Op. 81 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera) (nom 40, win 15) BRAHMS A German Requiem, Op. 45 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Bernd Weikl Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 41) HOLST The Planets Sir Georg Solti, conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Women of the London Philharmonic Choir John Alldis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 42) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 43, win 16) BRUCKNER Symphony No. 6 in A Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 44) BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kolos Kováts, Sylvia Sass, István Sztankay London Philharmonic Orchestra London
Best Classical Album (nom 45, win 17) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 46, win 18) MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Isobel Buchanan, Mira Zakai Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 47) Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 48, win 19) BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Frederica von Stade, Kenneth Riegel, José van Dam, Malcolm King Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus Doreen Rao, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 49, win 20) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 50, win 21) MAHLER Symphony No. 9 in D Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 51, win 22) MOZART The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Lucia Popp, Frederica von Stade, Samuel Ramey, Thomas Allen, Kurt Moll London Philharmonic Orchestra London Opera Chorus London This recording tied with the soundtrack for Verdi’s La traviata with James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil.
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 52, win 23) HAYDN The Creation Sir Georg Solti, conductor Norma Burrowes, Sylvia Greenberg, Rüdiger Wohlers, James Morris, Siegmund Nimsgern Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
27th Annual Grammy Awards (1984) Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 53) MAHLER Symphony No. 4 in G Minor Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 54, win 24) SCHOENBERG Moses und Aron Sir Georg Solti, conductor Franz Mazura, Philip Langridge Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Orchestral Recording (nom 55, win 25) LISZT A Faust Symphony Sir Georg Solti, conductor Siegfried Jerusalem, tenor Chicago Symphony Orchestra Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 56) MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56 (Scottish) MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 (Italian) Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Opera Recording (nom 57) VERDI Un ballo in maschera Margaret Price, Kathleen Battle, Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti, Renato Bruson National Philharmonic Orchestra London Opera Chorus Terry Edwards, director Royal College of Music Junior Department Chorus Vaughan Meakins, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 58) Best Orchestral Recording (nom 59, win 26) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Jessye Norman, Reinhild Runkel, Robert Schunk, Hans Sotin Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 60) MOZART The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Edita Gruberová, Kathleen Battle, Gösta Winbergh, Heinz Zednik, Martti Talvela Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Concert Choir Martha Heigl, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 61) Best Opera Recording (nom 62, win 27) WAGNER Lohengrin Sir Georg Solti, conductor Jessye Norman, Eva Randová, Plácido Domingo, Siegmund Nimsgern, Hans Sotin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Concert Choir London
Best Chamber Music Performance (nom 63, win 28) BARTÓK Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion Sir Georg Solti and Murray Perahia, pianos Evelyn Glennie and David Corkhill, percussion CBS
Best Orchestral Recording (nom 64) BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 in E Major Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Choral Performance (other than opera) (nom 65) BACH Saint Matthew Passion, BWV 244 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Olaf Bär, Tom Krause Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
33rd Annual Grammy Awards Best Orchestral Performance (nom 66) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra London
Best Performance of a Choral Work (nom 67, win 29) BACH Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Felicity Lott, Anne Sofie von Otter, Hans Peter Blochwitz, William Shimell, Gwynne Howell Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director London
Best Classical Album (nom 68) Best Opera Recording (nom 69, win 30) STRAUSS Die Frau ohne Schatten Sir Georg Solti, conductor Hildegard Behrens, Júlia Várady, Sumi Jo, Reinhild Runkel, Plácido Domingo, José van Dam Vienna Philharmonic Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Boys’ Choir Helmuth Froschauer, director
Best Classical Album (nom 70) Best Opera Recording (nom 71, win 31) WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Sir Georg Solti, conductor Karita Mattila, Iris Vermillion, Ben Heppner, Herbert Lippert, José van Dam, Alan Opie, René Pape Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director London
Best Opera Recording (nom 72) MOZART Don Giovanni, K. 527 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Bryn Terfel, Renée Fleming, Ann Murray, Michele Pertusi, Herbert Lippert, Monica Groop, Robert Scaltriti, Mario Luperi London Philharmonic Orchestra London Voices Terry Edwards, director London
41st Annual Grammy Awards (1998) Best Classical Album (nom 73) Best Choral Performance (nom 74) BARTÓK Cantata profana WEINER Serenade for Small Orchestra, Op. 3 KODÁLY Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13 Sir Georg Solti, conductor Tamás Daróczi, Alexandru Agache Budapest Festival Orchestra Choir of the Hungarian Radio and Television Kálmán Strausz, director Children’s Choir of Hungarian Radio and Television Gabriella Thész, director Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis Tamás Bubnó, director
*A database of former Grammy Award winners can be found using the search function here; category titles have changed over the years. For opera recordings, only principal soloists are listed.
Frances and John Glessner (Glessner House collection)
John and Frances Glessner were among the most generous and loyal supporters of the Chicago Symphony since the Orchestra’s founding in 1891. They extended that generosity into their own home in the Prairie Avenue District, and Theodore Thomas and Frederick Stock, their families, along with members of the Orchestra and visiting soloists, were frequent guests, especially during the holiday season (see here).
Frances meticulously kept journals—detailing menus, decorations, guests, and seating arrangements—providing a glimpse into the family’s entertaining. According to these journals, Frances often served her famous fudge brownies. Here’s her recipe:
Fudge Brownies makes 25-30 4 squares of unsweetened chocolate—melted 1/2 pound butter 4 eggs—beaten 2 cups sugar 1 cup flour 1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 2 teaspoons vanilla Mix sugar, vanilla, and eggs. To this add butter and chocolate melted together (in double boiler). Fold in flour. Then add nuts. Pour into buttered pan (9-by-12 inches). Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool before cutting.
The main area of the kitchen in Glessner House (Glessner House collection)
Another favorite recipe—received from Rose Fay, Thomas’s wife—was for a punch specially named for the Orchestra’s founder and first music director. Frances recorded it in one of her “menu books,” where she would document menus served at dinner parties and other events, occasionally also including recipes. (One former resident of Prairie Avenue recalled that the punch “pack[ed] a wallop.”)
Theodore Thomas Punch 1/4 Burgundy 1/4 Moselle (a light, Rhine wine) 1/2 champagne The fractions are proportions to be used in mixing any quantity of the punch, rather than fractions of one wine bottle.
Both recipes appear in Carol Callahan’s 1993 Prairie Avenue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Prominent Nineteenth-Century Families.
The Glessner House at 1800 South Prairie Avenue in Chicago (Glessner House collection)
Special thanks to William Tyre, executive director and curator at Glessner House.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American tenor John Aler, who died on December 10, 2022. He was seventy-three.
A four-time Grammy Award winner, Aler was a frequent guest with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, both in Orchestra Hall and the Ravinia Festival. A complete list of his appearances and recordings with the Orchestra and Chorus is below.
February 13, 14, and 16, 1986, Orchestra Hall BRITTEN War Requiem, Op. 66 Margaret Marshall, soprano John Aler, tenor Benjamin Luxon, tenor Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus Doreen Rao, conductor Leonard Slatkin, conductor
August 14, 1986, Ravinia Festival LISZT A Faust Symphony Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director James Conlon, conductor
December 12 and 17, 1991, Orchestra Hall BARTOK Cantata profana John Aler, tenor John Tomlinson, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Pierre Boulez, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on December 16, 1991, for Deutsche Grammophon. Paired with Bartók’s The Wooden Prince, the release won four Grammy awards—Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Choral Performance, and Best Engineered Recording–Classical—from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
January 16, 17, 18, and February 14, 1992, Orchestra Hall MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 Renée Fleming, soprano (January 16, 17, and 18) Margaret Jane Wray, soprano (February 14) Waltraud Meier, mezzo-soprano John Aler, tenor Peter Rose, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Daniel Barenboim, conductor
April 29, 30, May 1, and 4, 1993, Orchestra Hall BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 Tina Kiberg, soprano Waltraud Meier, mezzo-soprano John Aler, tenor Robert Holl, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Daniel Barenboim, conductor Recorded live in Orchestra Hall for Erato.
October 22, 1997, Orchestra Hall MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 Emily Magee, soprano Anna Larsson, contralto John Aler, tenor René Pape, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director Daniel Barenboim, conductor The second half of a concert given in memory of Sir Georg Solti, who died on September 5, 1997
August 14, 1999, Ravinia Festival MOZART Dies Bildnis is bezaubernd schön from The Magic Flute, K. 620 LEHÁR Lippen schweigen from The Merry Widow Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano John Aler, tenor Christoph Eschenbach, conductor A portion of a concert—called A Galaxy of Stars—presented to benefit Ravinia’s outreach programs
July 23, 2010, Ravinia Festival BERNSTEIN/Mauceri Vocal Suite from Candide Cunegonde Anna Christy, soprano Old Lady Kim Criswell, vocalist Candide Nicholas Phan, tenor Maximilian Jonathan Beyer, baritone Governor/Vanderdendur John Aler, tenor Paquette Kathryn Leemhuis, mezzo-soprano Lakeside Singers Robert Bowker, director John Axelrod, conductor
August 6 and 8, 2010, Ravinia Festival MOZART The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 Figaro John Relyea, bass-baritone Countess Almaviva Ailyn Pérez, soprano Bartolo Richard Bernstein, bass Susanna Lisette Oropesa, soprano Marcellina Jane Bunnell, mezzo-soprano Cherubino Lauren McNeese, mezzo-soprano Count Almaviva Nathan Gunn, baritone Basilio John Aler, tenor Antonio Paul Corona, bass Don Curzio Rodell Rosel, tenor Barbarina Lei Xu, soprano Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director James Conlon, conductor
Daniel Barenboim leads the Orchestra and Chorus in Mozart’s Requiem in memory of Sir Georg Solti on October 22, 1997 (Jim Steere photo)
During the Chicago Orchestra’s last full season at the Auditorium Theatre, first music director Theodore Thomas had programmed the U.S. premiere of Sibelius’s Second Symphony for January 1 and 2, 1904, during the ninth subscription week.
On November 23, 1903, the 1,600-seat Iroquois Theatre (located on the north side of West Randolph Street, between State and Dearborn) opened its doors with a production of Mr. Blue Beard starring Eddie Foy. Barely a month later, the December 30 matinee of the popular musical had a standing-room audience of well over 2,000, mostly women and children on holiday break. An additional 300 actors, technicians, and stagehands were backstage.
Just after the beginning of the second act, sparks from a stage light set fire to a muslin curtain and began to spread to the fly space. Very quickly, sections of burning curtains and set pieces began to fall to the stage, and even though Foy attempted to calm the audience, panic ensued (Foy’s account of the event is here). Patrons rushed to the exits—none of which were identified by illuminated signage and some were even hidden behind curtains—only to find that many opened inwardly or had been locked to prevent gatecrashers.
Chicago Tribune, January 3, 1904
Over 600 people lost their lives—more than twice as many casualties as the Great Chicago Fire in 1871—in this, the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history.*
“Had Mr. Thomas known some six weeks ago of the great sadness that was to rest like a pall over the city of Chicago on New Year’s Day he could scarcely have arranged a program better suited to the occasion than was that which he and the Chicago Orchestra offered yesterday afternoon at the Auditorium,” wrote the critic in the Chicago Tribune on January 2, referring also to the Funeral March from Elgar’s Grania and Diarmid as well as the Transformation Scene and Glorification from Wagner’s Parsifal.
“The new symphony of Sibelius—[no. 2] in D major, and which yesterday was played for the first time in America—proved a composition heavy with the mournful melancholy of the northern land whence its writer comes. . . . Mr. Thomas and his men threw themselves with exceptional enthusiasm and vigor into the performance of the new composition, which is of uncommon difficulty in many places, and the result was a rendition technically complete and interpretatively powerful.”
The Saturday evening concert on January 2 was canceled, as Mayor Carter Harrison had ordered all theaters closed for mandatory inspection. The Orchestra’s next concerts were given on January 15 and 16, since the Auditorium Theatre only needed minor modifications to meet the regulations. The January 2 concert was rescheduled for Monday, January 18, and Sibelius’s Symphony no. 2 received its second performance. The program was revised (likely because the piano soloist, George Proctor, was no longer in town) as follows:
Program insert itemizing schedule for postponed concerts
WAGNER Huldigungsmarsch SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b ELGAR Incidental Music and Funeral March from Grania and Diarmid WAGNER Good Friday Spell and Transformation Scene and Glorification from Parsifal
In spite of the tragedy, the trustees of the Orchestral Association continued with plans for the construction of Orchestra Hall—ground was broken on May 1 and the hall opened on December 14, 1904. The Iroquois reopened as the Colonial Theatre in October 1905, but in 1924 it was torn down to make way for the Oriental, which opened in 1926. It was renamed the Nederlander in 2019.
*The tragedy at the Iroquois Theatre was a catalyst for the implementation of increased safety standards and ordinances for public buildings, including clearly marked exits, doors of egress that open outward, and doors equipped with “crash” or “panic” bars.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American pianist, diarist, and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Ned Rorem. He died at his home in Manhattan on November 18, 2022, at the age of ninety-nine.
Rorem was born in Richmond, Indiana, on October 23, 1923, and his family soon moved to Chicago. He expressed a talent for music at a young age and attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and the American Conservatory of Music. As a young musician, he regularly attended concerts in Orchestra Hall, where he “was exposed to contemporary music simultaneously with the standard classics. From the very start, I saw—heard—that the present was every bit as vital as the past, a truth made obvious when the two were interlarded.” Rorem later attended Northwestern University, the Curtis Institute, and the Juilliard School.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performed a number of Rorem’s works, including the world premiere of Goodbye My Fancy, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its centennial season. “Goodbye My Fancy finds, both musically and expressively, the inner coherence it strives for,” John von Rhein wrote in the Chicago Tribune, following the first performance on November 8, 1990. “Rorem’s music remains blissfully oblivious to the blandishments of what used to be called modernism: the score is dated 1988 but sounds as if it could been written thirty years earlier. No American composer sets American words more sensitively; no composer is more alive to Whitman’s fierce passions. Rorem’s choral writing savors leanness, elegance and subtlety, even when it roars. The deployment of massed and solo voices with instruments is telling, the cumulative impact affecting. . . . the shining stars of the occasion were the Chicago Symphony Chorus. As prepared by director Margaret Hillis, the CSO contingent sang with firm consonants, clear vowels, full and forward tone and fervent dedication. They were magnificent to hear. Goodbye My Fancy is a work that deserves to be in the repertory of America’s best symphony choruses. But I doubt that any of them will be able to make its Whitmanesque music leap off the page more exactly or vividly than Hillis’s sterling ensemble.”
A complete list of his works performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is below:
August 4, 1959, Ravinia Festival ROREM Symphony No. 3 Alfred Wallenstein, conductor
November 12 and 13, 1959, Orchestra Hall ROREM Design for Orchestra Fritz Reiner, conductor
July 14, 1962, Ravinia Festival ROREM Eagles William Steinberg, conductor
Leonard Slatkin, Margaret Hillis, Ned Rorem, John Cheek, and Wendy White following the world premiere of Goodbye My Fancy on November 8, 1990 (Jim Steere photo)
June 15 and 16, 1972, Orchestra Hall ROREM Piano Concerto in Six Movements Irwin Hoffman, conductor Jerome Lowenthal, piano
April 24, 25, and 26, 1986, Orchestra Hall ROREM An American Oratorio Margaret Hillis, conductor Donald Kaasch, tenor Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director
November 8, 9, and 10, 1990, Orchestra Hall ROREM Goodbye My Fancy (world premiere) Leonard Slatkin, conductor Wendy White, mezzo-soprano John Cheek, bass-baritone Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director
On June 3, 1990, Rorem made a rare appearance as a pianist in Orchestra Hall, accompanying soprano Arleen Augér. “The idea of pairing Augér, one of the few American singers who really care about American vocal music, with composer-pianist Rorem, who has done more than any other living American to cultivate the art of native song, was an inspired one,” wrote John von Rhein in the Chicago Tribune. “Fully half of the program was given over to his songs. Throughout the program, Rorem’s accompaniments were rich in the special insights perhaps only a composer who happens to be a skilled pianist can bring to them.”
Wishing a very happy eightieth birthday to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s ninth music director, Daniel Barenboim!
Barenboim’s history in Chicago began on January 19, 1958, when the fifteen-year-old pianist first performed a solo recital in Orchestra Hall. When he returned that fall for a second engagement, he attended his first CSO concert, which included sixth music director Fritz Reiner leading Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. In his autobiography A Life in Music, Barenboim recounted that, “nothing I had heard in Europe or elsewhere had prepared me for the shock of the precision, the volume, and the intensity of the Chicago orchestra. It was like a perfect machine with a beating human heart.”
In June 1965, Barenboim made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with André Previn, and in February 1969, he first appeared with the Orchestra in Orchestra Hall in Bartók’s First Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez. He first conducted the Orchestra in November 1970 at Michigan State University, and the first work on the program was Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Jacqueline du Pré; a week later, they recorded it in Medinah Temple. Over the next two decades, Barenboim regularly appeared with the Orchestra, as a guest conductor—in Orchestra Hall, on tour, and in the recording studio—and piano soloist.
In January 1989, it was announced that Daniel Barenboim would succeed Sir Georg Solti to become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s ninth music director, beginning with the 1991-92 season. His music directorship was distinguished by the opening of Chicago’s new Symphony Center in 1997, operatic productions in Orchestra Hall, appearances with the Orchestra in the dual role of pianist and conductor, and numerous international tours (see here, here, here, and here). Barenboim continued the cultivation of the composer-in-residence program and led the CSO in more than 30 world and U.S. premieres. In 1994, he appointed Duain Wolfe as director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, succeeding founding director Margaret Hillis, and he collaborated with the Civic Orchestra, including leading the ensemble’s debut at Carnegie Hall in March 2000.
Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline du Pré during a recording session for Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in Medinah Temple on November 11, 1970 (Robert M. Lightfoot III photo)
Barenboim amassed an extensive discography with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (see here, here, here, and here), including works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Falla, Mahler, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner; and concertos with Jacqueline du Pré, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Maxim Vengerov, Pinchas Zukerman, and several members of the Orchestra.
As a piano recitalist and chamber musician, Barenboim collaborated with an extraordinary roster of instrumentalists and singers in Orchestra Hall. He performed a dizzying array of repertoire, including Albéniz’s Iberia; Bach’s Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier (books 1 and 2); Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion; Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and cello; Berg’s Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin and Thirteen Wind Instruments; Brahms’ cello sonatas; Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; Mozart’s violin sonatas; and song cycles by Mahler, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, and Wolf; along with countless piano works by Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Schoenberg, and Schubert, among others.
In May and June 2006, during his final residency as music director, Barenboim led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a number of valedictory works, including Carter’s Soundings; Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 27 (conducting from the keyboard); the final act of Wagner’s Parsifal; and the ninth symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Mahler. He most recently appeared with the Orchestra in November 2018, leading Smetana’s Má vlast.
from the archives 