Friday Afternoon A

2:00 pm
RUNNICLES / CARMINA BURNA / BERNSTEIN / YANNICK / BEETHOVEN / RATTLE / THE BRANDENBURGS / SCHUBERT “UNFINISHED” / LANG LANG / DOHNÁNYI

Bell, Bernstein, and Brahms

Friday, October 26, 2012

Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Conductor

Joshua Bell - Violin

program

Gabriela Lena Frank - New Work (world premiere)

Bernstein - Serenade (after Plato's Symposium)

Brahms - Symphony No. 4

Violinist Joshua bell returns to Philadelphia, performing Bernstein’s lyrical Serenade, inspired by the great Greek philosophers and their testimonies on love and romance. The Fourth Symphony of Brahms, long a favorite of Philadelphia audiences, is known for its expressive melodies and rich harmonies. Gabriela Lena Frank, whose music is deeply influenced by her diverse heritage from Peru, china, and Lithuania, composes a new celebratory work—commissioned for our new music director.

The Stokowski Legacy

Friday, November 9, 2012

Emmanuel Krivine - Conductor

Christina & Michelle Naughton - Duo pianos

program

Franck - Symphony in D minor

Poulenc - Concerto for Two Pianos

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Inspired by Stokowski’s original program of December 1935, when The Philadelphia Orchestra presented the U.S. premiere of Poulenc’s Double Piano Concerto, Emmanuel Krivine presents a pairing of repertoire drawn directly from the archives. Twins Christina and Michelle Naughton play the Concerto with a unity of sound that astonishes. Franck’s D-minor Symphony and Stokowski’s orchestration of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor are trademarks of the “Philadelphia Sound.”

Wagner's Ring

Friday, November 30, 2012

Donald Runnicles - Conductor

Lars Vogt - Piano

program

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 1

Wagner - Orchestral Highlights from The Ring

Stokowski regularly performed entire evenings of Wagner’s music with The Philadelphia orchestra. on the bicentennial of Wagner’s birth, Donald Runnicles, one of the world’s leading Wagnerian specialists, presents orchestral highlights from the Ring of the Nibelung, in the spirit of Stokowski. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is a showcase for the brilliant and tempestuous composer’s piano virtuosity.

Ravel and Shostakovich

Friday, January 18, 2013

Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Conductor

Leonidas Kavakos - Violin

program

Ravel - La Valse

Golijov - Violin Concerto

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5

A master of orchestration, Ravel begins with an innocent waltz that builds to a raucous climax, only to come crashing down. Shostakovich, equally brilliant in his use of the orchestra, composed some of his most profound—and politically subversive—music in his Fifth Symphony. Among the greatest of the current generation of composers, Osvaldo Golijov draws from styles ranging from klezmer to tango to create a musical voice that is uniquely his own.

Carmina burana

Friday, February 15, 2013

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos - Conductor

David Bilger - Trumpet

The Philadelphia Singers - Mixed chorus

program

Haydn - Symphony No. 1

Hummel - Trumpet Concerto

Orff - Carmina burana

Orff’s raucous retelling of 24 medieval poems praises springtime, love, lust, and fortune. It requires a huge orchestra and a chorus singing a mix of old languages. the riveting choral refrains of “O Fortuna” open and close Carmina burana. Nothing equals the power when you hear this live, in its entirety.

Viennese Masters

Friday, March 15, 2013

Christoph von Dohnányi - Conductor

program

Schubert - Symphony in B minor ("Unfinished")

Bruckner - Symphony No. 4 ("Romantic")

Venerated conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads an all-Austrian program of two Viennese masters—Schubert and Bruckner. Schubert’s beloved “unfinished” Symphony has taken a rightful place among the standards of the repertoire, even if we may never understand why he abandoned the work after just two enduring movements. Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony was his first great symphonic success, yet he never seemed to be satisfied either, continuing to improve and tinker with the final score.

Garrick Ohlsson and Brahms

Friday, April 5, 2013

Jaap van Zweden - Conductor

Garrick Ohlsson - Piano

program

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1

Schoenberg - Transfigured Night

Strauss - Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

Garrick Ohlsson’s powerful yet graceful style is the perfect match for Brahms’s First Piano concerto. With the endearing melodies and waltzes from his opera Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss elicits exceptionally powerful sounds from the orchestra. Schoenberg’s most enduring work, Transfigured Night, is a mysteriously romantic piece that highlights the richness of the Philadelphia strings.

Bach and his Brandenburgs

Friday, April 19, 2013

Nicholas McGegan - Conductor

program

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 1

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 4

Bach - Orchestral Suite No. 3

The Brandenburg Concertos of Bach are the flagship works of the Baroque era. Virtuosic soloists from The Philadelphia Orchestra will be featured in four of these sparkling and propulsive works. The performance is further enhanced by Baroque authority Nicholas McGegan, who brings a fresh and animated approach to these familiar masterworks. Even the famous “Air on the G String” from Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite will sound like never before.

Simon Rattle and Lang Lang

Friday, May 10, 2013

Simon Rattle - Conductor

Lang Lang - Piano

program

Norman - Unstuck

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 3

Sibelius - Symphony No. 6

Sibelius - Symphony No. 7

The orchestra enjoys a historic connection with the great Finnish master Jean Sibelius—Stokowski led the U.S. premieres of his last three symphonies. Rattle conducts the final two, together without interruption. Musical mega-star and Curtis graduate Lang Lang performs Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, a revolutionary work that foreshadowed the romantic era in music. Plus an energetic work by American composer Andrew Norman, capturing the thrilling moment he overcame his writer’s block.