It’s nearly impossible to get tickets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s performance without already being on the waiting list.

Of all the shows at Krannert, this is one of the most popular, rarely selling under their maximum capacity of 2,066 seats.

Riccardo Muti, music director and conductor of the CSO, will be returning for his fifth visit to Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, his third with the CSO third. The orchestra will be performing to a sold-out audience in the Foellinger Great Hall this Saturday.

The 40-year relationship

Bridget Lee-Calfas, advertising and publicity director for the Krannert Center, said ever since the facility’s inception in the 1970s, the two have shared a rich history and an even stronger relationship.

“We got into the habit of a sort of biennial visit. They were coming every other fall,” she said.

Lee-Calfas said in the ‘70s, the CSO did some of their recordings at Foellinger Great Hall — a testament to the center’s reputation and the quality of sound produced there.

On the CSO side, Heidi Lukas, director of operations, wrote in an email that “performing at the Krannert Center is indeed a tradition and something the musicians look forward to, particularly due to the acoustics of the hall and the hospitality of the Krannert audiences.”

Nowadays, the University still enjoys a strong relationship with them as the CSO returns annually to the Krannert Center and continues further student engagement through master classes.

This year Assistant Concertmaster Yuan-Qing Yu, David Griffin and Gene Pokorny will be leading master classes at the University. Concertmaster Robert Chen has led his own master class for string students in the past.

Like every year, the CSO draws in a variety of people from the community.

“It’s really a diverse audience,” Lee-Calfas said.

She said you can find not just students, but all classical music lovers. For some this is their “hometown band,” but to others, the CSO is an orchestral masterpiece — it also helps that tickets are only $10 for students.

Donald Schleicher, professor in music and music director and conductor of the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, wrote in an email that the CSO is “not just a crown jewel of Chicago, (but) one of the great arts organizations in the world.”

Though Schleicher is unable to come to the Saturday performance, he encourages all of his students to attend, adding that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is a “role model of excellence for all of us to emulate.”

The selection

The orchestra will be performing three songs: Mussorgsky’s “A Night on Bald Mountain,” Strauss’s “Don Juan” and Bruckner’s “Symphony No. 7 in E Major.”

Though Schleicher is not particularly in love with “A Night on Bald Mountain,” he adores the other two pieces. For Strauss’s tone poem, “Don Juan,” he recommended that listeners pay close attention to the program notes. “Don Juan” will also be one of the pieces they take on their European tour, according to Eileen Chambers, CSO’s publicist.

In regards to the Bruckner piece, “Symphony No. 7,” Schleicher called it “deep” and “hauntingly beautiful.” He said, “It’s for the aggressive listener … that is, one shouldn’t sit back and try to be entertained.”

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