Boulez cancels CSO March dates; Macelaru and Fisch return

Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 1:44 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Asher Fisch conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in October of 2010, subbing for an ailing Riccardo Muti. Photo: Todd Rosenberg

Pierre Boulez has withdrawn from his two-week March stand with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the advice of his doctors.

Cristian Macelaru and Asher Fisch—both of whom made successful CSO subscription debuts subbing for an ailing Boulez and Riccardo Muti, respectively–will take the French CSO conductor laureate’s place.

Macelaru will lead the March 7-12 performances. Bartók’s Divertimento for String Orchestra will replace Messiaen’s Chronochromie. The rest of the program is unchanged (Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun, Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale, and Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Yefim Bronfman).

Fisch will direct the March 14-16 concerts, which will be unchanged, featuring Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and the Prelude to Parsifal, the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, and Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto with soloist Michael Barenboim in his CSO debut.

cso.org; 312-294-3000.

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3 Responses to “Boulez cancels CSO March dates; Macelaru and Fisch return”

  1. Posted Feb 19, 2013 at 5:58 pm by Yuan

    The maestro seems pretty unwell recently, we can only pray that he could recover from the illness and make the dates arranged for the next year.

  2. Posted Feb 19, 2013 at 6:01 pm by Odradek

    Somebody please tell CSO management to invest in some younger, healthier conductors for their major posts. Boulez and Muti are wonderful (when you actually get to hear them!), but their health problems make me want to look elsewhere for my live-music fixes.

  3. Posted Feb 20, 2013 at 9:15 am by rick

    I agree with Odradek. This is the second year in a row Boulez has had to cancel. Out of seven concerts I will have been to by March, three will have been cancelled or handled by a replacement conductor, assuming Salonen makes this weekend’s concert. Last season was a similar story.

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