The Cincinnati Symphony is the fifth-oldest orchestra in the United States (founded in 1895). Current music director Jesús López-Cobos can look back to such illustrious forbears as Leopold Stokowski and Fritz Reiner. The CSO is the official orchestra of the Cincinnati May Festival of choral music and the Cincinnati Opera. Here's a selected list of concerts from the first half of the season. Check out our recommended recordings of works being played. For more information on the Cincinnati Symphony and how to order tickets, call (513) 381-3300 or visit their Web site at www.cincinnatisymphony.org.

November 18-20, 1999

Jesús López-Cobos, conductor;
Alicia DeLarrocha, piano
Xavier Montsalvatge, Concierto breve (1953); Copland, Danzón cubano (1944); Sibelius, Symphony No. 2

November 26-27, 1999

Junichi Hirokami, guest conductor;
Vadim Gluzman, violin
Bernstein, Serenade for Violin, Strings and Percussion; Poulenc, Suite from Les Biches (The Red Deer) (1940); Dvorák, Symphony No. 9

December 3-4, 1999

Jesús López-Cobos, conductor;
Till Fellner, piano
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5; Weill, Suite from The Three Penny Opera (1928); Scriabin, The Poem of Ecstasy, Symphony No. 4

December 31, 1999

John Morris Russell, Associate Conductor;
May Festival Chorus
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, Ode To Joy (Final Movement)

January 14-15, 2000

Jesús López-Cobos, conductor;
Margaret Wray, Soprano;
Robert Dean Smith, tenor

Wagner, Lohengrin