Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
Aaron Diehl Piano

Program:

Ellington “Solitude”
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band version)
Stravinsky Suite from Pulcinella

Digital Program

Celebrated pianist Aaron Diehl joins us to play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Composed in only five weeks, Rhapsody in Blue was an instant success upon its premiere in 1924, celebrated for blending classical music with the modern rhythms and sounds of jazz. In this performance you’ll have the rare opportunity to hear the piece in its original instrumentation for jazz band.

Closing the program is the Suite from Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, composed just a few years earlier in 1920. Stravinsky, the Modernist composer of The Firebird and The Rite of Spring, shocked collaborators and audiences with the return to a more traditional 18th-century sound. Stravinsky wrote that “Pulcinella was my discovery of the past,” but it was also a “look in the mirror”—an integration of old and new that would define the next phase of his career.

Post-Concert Conversation
Following the performance premiere, ticket holders will be invited to join a live post-concert conversation with Aaron Diehl.

This program runs approximately 1 hour and will be performed without an intermission.

Please note: All Digital Stage events begin with a performance premiere, streaming in real time. Following the performance premiere, the concert will be available for ticket holders to watch on demand for one week.

Digital Stage FAQ