FRI DEC 5, 2025, 7:30 PM
SAT DEC 6, 2025, 7:30 PM
Music Hall
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Cristian Mӑcelaru conductor
Lauren Snouffer soprano
Sasha Cooke mezzo soprano
Nicholas Phan tenor
Dashon Burton bass-baritone
May Festival Chorus, Matthew Swanson director
George Friedric Handel (1685–1759)
PART I
Overture
Comfort ye, my people
Ev’ry valley shall be exalted
And the glory of the Lord
Thus saith the Lord
But who may abide
And He shall purify
Behold, a virgin shall conceive
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
For, behold, darkness
The people that walked in darkness
For unto us a Child is born
Pastoral Symphony
There were shepherds abiding in the field
And lo! the Angel of the Lord came upon them
And the Angel said unto them
And suddenly there was with the Angel
Glory to God
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd
His yoke is easy, His burthen is light
INTERMISSION
PART II
Behold the Lamb of God
He was despised
Surely He hath borne our griefs
And with His stripes we are healed
All we like sheep have gone astray
All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn
He trusted in God that He would deliver Him
Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow
He was cut off out of the land of the living
But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell
Hallelujah
PART III
I know that my Redeemer liveth
Behold, I tell you a mystery
The trumpet shall sound
If God be for us, who can be against us?
Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain. Amen.
These performances are approximately 135 minutes long, including intermission.
The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group and Fort Washington Investment Advisors, and Presenting Sponsors Roger and Janet Ames.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Pre-Concert Talks are made possible by an endowed gift from Melody Sawyer Richardson.
WGUC is the Media Partner for these concerts. This concert will air on 90.9 WGUC on February 8, 2026, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.
The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.
November & December 2025
Welcome to the second issue of the 2025-26 Season! Read about how Cristian Măcelaru's legacy intertwines with that of George Enescu, the health benefits of live music and the newest additions to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
