Music Director Alan Gilbert - in his first subscription concerts since opening the New York Philharmonic's 168th season and leading the Orchestra on a major tour to Asia - will conduct the Philharmonic in two contrasting works by Webern; Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, featuring the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes; and Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Tuesday, December 29, at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 30, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, January 2, 2010, at 8:00 p.m.
The program will open with Webern's youthful Im Sommerwind - a work of late- Romantic sensibility that the composer wrote in 1904 when he was 20 - followed by the Mozart piano concerto. Webern's eight-minute Symphony, Op. 21 - written after he had broken with traditional harmony and a work that is considered a 20th-century masterpiece- will be performed after intermission. The program will conclude with Schumann's Symphony No. 2. "The reason to put Mozart and Webern in the program," explained Mr. Gilbert, "is that I think that Schumann's music directly alludes to so many other types of music, and this particular piece does so even more strongly than other works, with the obviously old-fashioned counterpoint of Bach [in the slow movement] and the sort of forward-looking melodic elements that Webern picked up."
Mr. Gilbert, who has often professed his love for the music of Mozart, has worked frequently with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. "He is a thoughtful, deep artist, and his Mozart is particularly touching," Mr. Gilbert has said. "He has a way of playing with the simplicity that is informed by a very, very deep emotion. That's why I think his Mozart is so satisfying."
About Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Mr. Gilbert has said: "It's a piece that I think is a real confessional for Schuman. It really tells a story - it has to do with his quest for love but also his struggle with composition. If you really look at it you see that this piece is kind of an autobiography of Schumann."
Related Events
• Pre-Concert Talk
Dr. Arbie Orenstein, author and professor of music at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, will introduce the program one hour before each performance. Tickets are $5 in addition to the concert ticket. Attendance is limited to 90 people. Information: nyphil.org or (212) 875-5656
• New York Philharmonic Podcast
Elliott Forrest, Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, producer, and afternoon host of 109.5 FM WQXR, will host this podcast. These award-winning previews of upcoming programs - through musical selections as well as interviews with guest artists, conductors, and Orchestra musicians - are available at nyphil.org/podcast or from iTunes.
• National Radio Broadcast
This concert will be broadcast the week of January 11, 2010,* on The New York Philharmonic This Week, a radio concert series syndicated nationally to more than 295 stations by the WFMT Radio Network. The 52-week series, hosted by the Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin, is generously underwritten by The Kaplen Foundation, the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Philharmonic's corporate partner, MetLife Foundation. The broadcast will be available on the Philharmonic's Website, nyphil.org. The program is broadcast locally in the New York metropolitan area on 105.9 FM WQXR on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. *Check local listings for broadcast and program information.
Artists
Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2009-10 season, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. For his inaugural season he has introduced a number of new initiatives: The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in- Residence Magnus Lindberg; The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series. He led the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi; will take the musicians on a
European tour in January-February 2010; and is conducting performances of world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009-10 season Mr. Gilbert becomes the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, conducting, and performance master classes. Highlights of Mr. Gilbert's 2008-09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the November 14, 2008, Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic, featuring
Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and four concerts at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.
