Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Klaus Mäkelä: The Calm before the Storm

Mon, Jan 18, 2027 at 7:30pm

About this event

Finland: the land of forests and a thousand lakes.
The peaceful, pastoral tones of Jean Sibelius’ Symphony N˚ 7 are something that fellow Finn Klaus Mäkelä will no doubt draw upon, before crossing the border to neighbouring Russia where our storm will strike. Dmitri Shostakovich, initially unapologetic for the terror and tragedy of his Fourth Symphony, made an abrupt U-turn and cancelled its premiere for fear of reprisals by the Soviet Regime. It was almost twenty years later that Symphony N˚ 4 finally saw the light of day, in all its modernist glory.

The music: Jean Sibelius: Symphonie N° 7; Dmitri Chostakovitch: Symphonie N° 4
The artists: Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Klaus Mäkelä (conductor)

Summary

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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Klaus Mäkelä, performs a symphonic programme titled The Calm before the Storm. The evening opens with the pastoral, luminous Symphony N° 7 by Jean Sibelius, then crosses into Shostakovich's vast, modernist Symphony N° 4, long suppressed by Soviet authorities before its eventual premiere nearly two decades later. The concert runs around 110 minutes with an intermission, beginning at 19:30 in the Grand Auditorium.