The Philadelphia Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach celebrate the works of great masters in the 2004-05 season

(Philadelphia, September 3, 2004)

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Christoph Eschenbach open their second season together on Tuesday, September 21, commencing a season that celebrates the works of great masters, while balancing The Philadelphia Orchestra's venerable musical tradition with bold artistic statements, contemporary insights, and innovations for our time. Acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming joins Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra on Opening Night in a performance of Strauss's Four Last Songs; and the evening's program closes with Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, kicking off a season-long focus on the works of the Czech master. On Wednesday, October 6, the Orchestra, Mr. Eschenbach, and Ms. Fleming reprise their performance of Strauss's Four Last Songs at Carnegie Hall's Opening Night Gala, where they are joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in an all-Strauss program, featuring the tone poems Don Juan and Don Quixote. Carnegie Hall's opening night program airs on Thirteen/WNET New York's Great Performances on Wednesday, October 27, at 9 p.m. (check local PBS listings). Peter Jennings anchors the television broadcast.

The Orchestra's 105th concert season invites listeners to experience traditional masterpieces from new perspectives - to approach, to discover, and to be moved by music - through two principal artistic focuses: a season-long exploration of works by Dvorak and other Czech composers, and a four-week festival entitled Late Great Works. Throughout the season the Orchestra is joined by today's leading guest conductors, internationally celebrated soloists, and the creative voices of our own time.

"The influence of music is unimaginably large," said Maestro Eschenbach, "and because it has no barriers of words, it can be understood by all. I hope that by hearing the essence of composers' lives, whether Wagner's celestial resolution of problems or the saddest ending of Tchaikovsky's last symphony, our listeners can feel even deeper connections to their own humanity."

This year, The Philadelphia Orchestra is proud to partner with global financial services firm UBS as sponsor of the 2004-05 season and the Late Great Works Festival.

Season-long focus on Dvorak explores the Czech musical heritage
Marking this year's centennial of Antonín Dvorak's death in 1904, the Orchestra focuses on the great Czech symphonist and works that exemplify his national musical style, which draws on the folk melodies and musical forms characteristic of Central Europe - a homeland shared by Orchestra Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. The season also looks to other Czech composers who either influenced or followed Dvorak, namely Bedrich Smetana, Leoš Janácek, and Bohuslav Martinu, in exploring the complexity of nationalism and music.

Late Great Works Festival celebrates the artistic genius of masters
The Late Great Works Festival (January 6-28, 2005), conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, examines the late works of seven great composers - Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Mahler, Strauss, and Berio - each of whom nearing the end of his career looked back reflectively on his own life, whether deliberately or intuitively, and contemplated his own mortality. This four-week Festival gives us insight into moving stories of human life and creativity that inspired some of the most prominent compositions in the orchestral repertoire, works that we explore through the Festival's concerts and related events.

Orchestra continues Mahler cycle with Fifth and Ninth symphonies
The Orchestra continues its five-year Mahler cycle under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach with performances of the emotionally charged Fifth Symphony (November 19-22, 2004), paired with Hérodiade Fragments by Matthias Pintscher. Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra also perform Mahler's last complete symphony, the Ninth (January 6-8, 2005), at the opening the Orchestra's Late Great Works Festival. The Mahler cycle, which began during the 2003-2004 season and continues through 2008, presents Mahler's complete symphonies in both Philadelphia and New York, as part of the Orchestra's annual series at Carnegie Hall, and many individual symphonies on tour throughout the world.

Subscriptions and single tickets for The Philadelphia Orchestra's 2004-05 concert season are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased from Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1999, through the Orchestra's website at www.philorch.org, or in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office at Broad and Spruce streets.

Following a dynamic inaugural season as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach continues his creative artistic partnership with the venerable ensemble. Held in highest esteem by the world's foremost orchestras and opera houses for his commanding presence, versatility, and consummate musicianship, Mr. Eschenbach has been acclaimed for his creative insight and dynamic energy, as a conductor, collaborator, and ardent champion of young musicians.

Highlights of his second season with the Orchestra include a season-long focus on Dvorak and other Czech composers; a four-week festival entitled Late Great Works; and the continuation of the Orchestra's five-season long, first-ever Mahler cycle. Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra conclude the season with a tour of Asia.

Mr. Eschenbach continues as music director of the Orchestre de Paris. This season he also leads the Lyric Opera of Chicago's season opening production of Mozart's Don Giovanni; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Staatskapelle Berlin; the Hamburg NDR Symphony; the Staatskapelle Dresden; and the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia.

Mr. Eschenbach has made numerous recordings on various labels as conductor, pianist, or both. His discography includes works of Adams, Berg, Berlioz, Brahms, Glass, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Picker, Pintscher, Rouse, Schnittke, Schoenberg, Schumann, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Webern.

Before turning to conducting, Mr. Eschenbach had earned a distinguished reputation as a pianist. He began winning major competitions at age 11, and made his United States debut in 1969 with the Cleveland Orchestra; his conducting debut was in Hamburg in 1972. In 1981 he became principal guest conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and was chief conductor from 1982-86. Additional posts include music director of the Houston Symphony (1988-99); chief conductor of the Hamburg NDR Symphony (1998-2004); and music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony (1994-2003).

Among Mr. Eschenbach's most recent awards are the Légion d'Honneur of France and the Officer's Cross with Star and Ribbon of the German Order of Merit. In 1993 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award, presented to him by the Pacific Music Festival, where he served as co-artistic director from 1992-98. Additional information about Mr. Eschenbach can be found at
www.christoph-eschenbach.com.

Founded in 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra has distinguished itself as one of the leading orchestras in the world through a century of acclaimed performances, historic international tours, best-selling recordings, and its unprecedented record of innovation in recording technologies and outreach. With only six music directors piloting The Philadelphia Orchestra through its first century, the ensemble has maintained an unparalleled cohesiveness and unity in artistic leadership.

This rich tradition is carried on by Christoph Eschenbach, who began his tenure as the Orchestra's seventh music director in September 2003. As Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra inaugurate a new era in the ensemble's esteemed history, the Orchestra has announced the launch of the public phase of a five-year, $125 million endowment campaign, entitled A Sound, A City, A Civilization. Commitments to the campaign include a lead gift of $50 million from the Annenberg Foundation, along with other major leadership gifts that have allowed the Orchestra to raise the original campaign goal from $75 million to $125 million.

In addition to Mr. Eschenbach's appointment as music director, the Orchestra has observed several important milestones in recent years. The Orchestra's 2002-03 season celebrated Wolfgang Sawallisch's ten highly acclaimed years at the Orchestra's helm and paid tribute to his artistic achievements with the release of a Grammy-nominated three-disc set of Schumann recordings, the first recordings made in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Orchestra moved to its new home at the Kimmel Center in December 2001, after celebrating its 100th Anniversary through a series of activities surrounding the year 2000, including the internationally televised gala Birthday Concert on November 16, 2000, a tour of Europe in 2000, and tours of Asia and the United States in 2001. A tour in the spring of 2003 took the Orchestra to nine cities in the United States, Mexico, and South America. Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestra capped their first full season together with a tour of the music capitals of Europe in the spring of 2004.

The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than 1 million music lovers worldwide through its performances (more than 300 concerts and other presentations each year), publications, recordings, and broadcasts. A major winter subscription season is presented in Philadelphia each year from September to May, in addition to education and community partnership programs. The Orchestra presents a series of concerts each year at New York's Carnegie Hall, performing encores of some of its acclaimed concerts from Philadelphia. Its summer schedule includes a month-long outdoor season in Philadelphia at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, free concerts in local neighborhoods, and a three-week residency each August at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Orchestra's home subscription concerts. The Center includes two performance spaces, the 2500-seat Verizon Hall, designed and built especially for the Orchestra, and the 650-seat Perelman Theater for chamber music concerts. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly along with acoustician Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants Inc., the Kimmel Center provides the Orchestra with a state-of-the-art facility for concerts, recordings, and education activities. The landmark building is named in honor of Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel, who gave the largest individual gift toward its construction. Kimmel has served on the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1995.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (KCPA) and the historic Academy of Music (where the Orchestra performed for 101 seasons) are operated together as a single cultural facility by Kimmel Center, Inc. (KCI). A variety of Philadelphia's other performing arts groups serve as resident companies for the two buildings. KCI owns, manages, supports, and maintains the KCPA. Kimmel Center, Inc., also manages the Academy of Music, owned by The Philadelphia Orchestra Association since 1957, and where the Orchestra continues to present the highly anticipated annual Academy Anniversary Concert and Ball.

UBS, one of the world's flagship financial firms, is a leading wealth manager, a premier investment banking and securities firm, a key global asset manager and the market leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. UBS, headquartered in Zurich and Basel, employs around 66,000 people and has operations in 50 countries and in all major financial centers. In the United States, UBS is one of the largest private client businesses with a client base of over 2 million.