The American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1891. The orchestra is one of the “big five” symphonic ensembles in the country.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s recordings have received the prestigious Grammy Award 60 times. The conductors of the orchestra at different times were Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, Arnold Schoenberg, Aaron Copland, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff.
In the postwar years, the symphony orchestra was headed by such eminent conductors as Georg Solti, Jean Martinon, Fritz Reiner, Rafael Kubelik.
Until 2006, Daniel Barenboim was the music director of the orchestra, and then the chief conductor Haitink and honorary conductor Pierre Boulez began to lead the orchestra.
In 2010, Riccardo Muti became Musical Director of the Symphony Orchestra. In the 80s of the last century, Muti was already the head of the American symphony group – the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2005, Muti stepped down as musical director of La Scala in a scandal.
Muti considers the Chicago Orchestra technically ideal. The maestro assures that the ensemble can perform Schubert’s almost chamber music and Prokofiev’s symphonies with equal skill.
