Muti to lead Chicago orchestra on European tour

Italian maestro Riccardo Muti will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a European tour in late August and early September, the orchestra said Tuesday.

Muti will lead the orchestra in three different programs during the 10 performance tour.

The first is Bernard Rands' Danza Petrificada, a new work commissioned by the CSO that pays tribute to the music and rhythms of Mexico and is performed along with Strauss' tone poem, Death and Transfiguration, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

The second concert features Hindemith's Symphony in E-flat and Prokofiev's Suite from Romeo and Juliet, while the third program features Hindemith's Symphony in E-flat Major and Strauss' Aus Italien.

The first concerts take place at the distinguished Salzburg Festival in Austria on August 26 and 27.

The orchestra then travels to Switzerland for two performances at the Lucerne Festival on August 28 and 29 followed by a debut in Luxembourg at the Philharmonie with two performances on August 30 and 31.

It will appear in Paris for a single performance at the Salle Pleyel on September 2.

The orchestra will make its debut at Dresden's Semperoper opera house on September 3 before heading to Vienna for performances on September 5 and 6 at the legendary Musikverein concert hall.