Incoming Music Director Cristian Mǎcelaru leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a 2024 concert. Photo by Charlie Balcom.
In Thursday’s (2/6) City Beat (Cincinnati), Anne Arenstein writes, “The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has announced CSO Music Director Designate Cristian Mǎcelaru’s first season as music director. The 2025-26 season celebrates the CSO and America’s multi-cultural history with revered classics, new and commissioned works, including new poetry from former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove and world-class soloists, including CSO principal players…. An impressive roster of guest artists includes cellist Yo-Yo Ma; pianists Hélène Grimaud and Daniil Trifonov; and violinists Renaud Capuçon, Esther Yoo and Tessa Lark. Kristiina Poska, Oksana Lyniv, Tabita Berglund and Samuel Lee debut as guest conductors. [Music Director Laureate Louis] Langrée returns for two engagements; Matthias Pintscher, Dame Jane Glover and James Conlon also return…. Mǎcelaru’s debut program on Oct. 3-4 exemplifies what’s in store. Composer Anna Clyne’s Abstractions (2016) opens the program, followed by Gershwin’s Concerto in F, concluding with Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier suite…. Throughout the season, audiences will hear additional contemporary compositions by Jennifer Higdon, Evgeni Orkin, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Julia Adolphe and Margaret Brouwer, as well as a work by 19th-century French composer Louise Ferrenc … It’s all about balancing the known with the creative unknown, Mǎcelaru says.”
