Carnegie Hall Announces 2019—2020 Classical Highlights

With Carnegie Hall's Opening Night less than two months away, we are eagerly anticipating the 2019-2020 season.

Programming highlights include a season-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth featuring more than 35 events with performances by renowned artists exploring the composer's transformative impact on music history; Perspectives series curated by four acclaimed artists: conductors Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo; and a season-long residency by renowned composer, clarinetist, and conductor Jörg Widmann who has been appointed to hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair for the 2019-2020 season.

With 2020 marking the centenary of the birth of world-acclaimed violinist, educator, and activist Isaac Stern, Carnegie Hall dedicates its entire 2019-2020 season in his honor, grateful for his tireless work in saving the building from demolition in 1960 and for his aspirations for what the Hall would mean to future generations.

Carnegie Hall 2019-2020 CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
All performances take place in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage unless otherwise noted.

*Commissioned for Carnegie Hall's 125 Commissions Project
**Co-commissioned for Carnegie Hall's 125 Commissions Project

• Carnegie Hall's 2019-2020 season opens on October 3 with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst leading The Cleveland Orchestra in a concert that kicks off the Hall's season-long celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, cellist Lynn Harrell, and pianist Yefim Bronfman join the orchestra for Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C Major, with Ms. Mutter also featured in Beethoven's Romance for Violin and Orchestra in G Major. The program also includes the overture to Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor and R. Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier Concert Suite. Maestro Welser-Möst and the orchestra return the following evening (October 4) with Mr. Bronfman as soloist in Trauermarsch, a piece written expressly for the pianist by Jörg Widmann, holder of Carnegie Hall's Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
  
• Yannick Nézet-Séguin kicks off his season-long Perspectives series leading The Philadelphia Orchestra on October 15 in the New York premiere of Valerie Coleman's Umoja (arranged for orchestra), Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Hélène Grimaud, and R. Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie. Maestro Nézet-Séguin and the orchestra return in the spring with a complete Beethoven symphony cycle performed across four concerts (March 13, 20, 26, and April 3); soprano Angel Blue, mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura, tenor Rolando Villazón, baritone Quinn Kelsey, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir are featured in the Ninth Symphony. He returns on November 22 with Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal in their Carnegie Hall debut along with fellow Perspectives artist mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato with works by Mozart and Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, "Romantic." He returns with Ms. DiDonato in recital on December 15 for Schubert's Winterreise.

• On October 15 in Zankel Hall, pianist Emanuel Ax joins the Dover Quartet for Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major. The program also includes Britten's String Quartet No. 1 in D Major and Brahms's String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major. In the spring, Mr. Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform three all-Beethoven concerts as part of Carnegie Hall's Beethoven 250th birthday celebration. These performances pay homage to all-Beethoven programs presented at Carnegie Hall by the illustrious Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio during the Hall's 200th anniversary celebrations of the composer in 1970. They are also a central part of Carnegie Hall's season-long commemoration of the centenary of violinist Isaac Stern's birth. Also in the spring on May 14, Mr. Ax offers an all-Beethoven recital program as part of the celebration.

• Orchestra of St. Luke's appears three times with Principal Conductor Bernard Labadie, the first of which on October 17 features music by Mendelssohn and Bach's keyboard concertos played by Beatrice Rana. A February 6 concert includes works by Handel and Vivaldi and violinist Daniel Hope and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux. For its final concert of the season, on March 5, the orchestra brings an all-Beethoven program as part of Carnegie Hall's celebration of the composer's 250th birthday, including the Choral Fantasy with pianist Jeremy Denk and the Mass in C Major.

• The musicians of Ensemble Connect perform a range of chamber works over four concerts in Weill Recital Hall from the classical to the contemporary, including Tania León's De Memorias, Jennifer Higdon's Zaka, and Brahm's Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26 on October 22. The February 17 concert includes the New York premiere of a new work by TJ Cole* and Jörg Widmann's Oktett on April 6.
  
• On October 24, pianist and composer Brad Mehldau performs the New York premiere of his song cycle, The Folly of Desire,** in recital with tenor Ian Bostridge, along with Schumann's Dichterliebe.
  
• Music Director Valery Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic are featured in two concerts, the first on October 25 with soloist Behzod Abduraimov in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. The next night, October 26, the orchestra plays Brahms's Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos and Con brio by Jörg Widmann, holder of the Debs Composer's Chair for the 2019-2020 season.
  
• The Brentano String Quartet gives the New York premiere of a new work by MacArthur Fellow Matthew Aucoin** along with works by Mozart and Ravel on November 6 in Zankel Hall.
  
• Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall made up of Ensemble Connect alumni, returns for two inventive concerts of classical and contemporary chamber works November 7 and January 22 in Weill Recital Hall.

• Period-instrument ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro offers three concerts, one on each Carnegie Hall stage, led by Maxim Emelyanychev from the harpsichord. For the first program on November 10, they are joined by young French cellist Edgar Moreau in Zankel Hall. They return May 26 with Perspectives artist Joyce DiDonato in her program My Favorite Things featuring works by Monteverdi, Gluck, Handel, and Purcell; and a performance of music by Handel, Corelli, and Haydn in Weill Recital Hall the following evening on May 27.
  
• Music Director Riccardo Muti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in two concerts. The first evening on November 15 features music inspired by Rome, including Berlioz's La mort de Cléoptre, written in 1829 as a bid for a Prix de Rome, with Perspectives artist mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; Bizet's rarely performed Roma; and Respighi's Pines of Rome. They return on the following night on November 16 with an all-Prokofiev program.

• On November 19 in Zankel Hall, Debs Composer's Chair Jörg Widmann leads the Irish Chamber Orchestra in works by Mozart, Weber, and Mendelssohn, plus his own 180 beats per minute and Versuch über die Fuge with soprano Claron McFadden.

• Sō Percussion charts the evolution of percussion music from the 20th to the 21st century, including the New York premiere of Julia Wolfe's Forbidden Love** on December 7 in Zankel Hall.

• Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who gained international attention after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, returns to Carnegie Hall alongside his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, for their New York recital debut in which they perform works by Beethoven, Lutoslawski, Barber, and Rachmaninoff in Weill Recital Hall on December 11.
  
• Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato launches her Perspectives series on November 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti and returns with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal on November 22. She then offers a recital of Schubert's Winterreise with fellow Perspectives artist and frequent collaborator Mr. Nézet-Séguin on December 15. She performs two concerts in Zankel Hall in April joined by New Yorkers of all ages and leading artists of our time for a concert that features new songs written by those on stage on April 5. On April 13, she presents A French Soirée, appearing with flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, clarinetist Anthony McGill, harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, pianist Bryan Wagorn, and the Brentano String Quartet, performing works by Ravel, Debussy, and more. For the final concert in her series on May 26, Ms. DiDonato is joined by early music ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro for My Favorite Things, a program that includes works by Monteverdi, Purcell, Gluck, and Handel.

• In February, Perspectives artist Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in a complete Beethoven symphony cycle performed on period instruments, along with selections from The Creatures of Prometheus, Leonore, and more, part of Carnegie Hall's celebration of the composer's 250th birthday. Soloists for the Ninth Symphony include soprano Lucy Crowe, contralto Jess Dandy, tenor Michael Spyres, and bass Tareq Nazmi alongside The Monteverdi Choir.

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Carnegie Hall presents its largest-ever exploration of the great master's music, performed by leading artists of our time. Carnegie Hall's season-long Beethoven celebration features an unprecedented range of performances that highlight the immensity of the composer's transformative impact on music. More than 35 events throughout the 2019-2020 season focus on his works, performed by a remarkable line-up of internationally-renowned musicians.

• A highlight of the Beethoven celebration-never before presented by Carnegie Hall in one season-are two complete symphony cycles, one performed on period instruments by Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in February and a second by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra in March and April, contrasting their two different interpretive perspectives on these pillars of the orchestral repertoire.

• The celebration kicks off with Carnegie Hall's Opening Night concert on October 3 by The Cleveland Orchestra, led by Franz Welser-Möst. violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, cellist Lynn Harrell, and pianist Yefim Bronfman join the orchestra for Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C Major, with Ms. Mutter also featured in the Romance for Violin and Orchestra in G Major.

• Additional orchestral repertoire and choral works featured throughout the year include
  • On March 5, Bernard Labadie leads Orchestra of St. Luke's with vocal soloists and pianist Jeremy Denk on an all-Beethoven program that includes Leonore Overture No 2; Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage; Choral Fantasy; and Mass in C Major.
  • On April 4, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are joined by vocal soloists and conducted by Music Director Robert Spano in Missa solemnis.
  • On June 12, The MET Orchestra under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter plays the Violin Concerto and Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F Major.

• A recital by internationally-acclaimed fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout on March 31 in Zankel Hall launches a series of performances featuring Beethoven's complete keyboard sonatas with appearances by acclaimed pianists Sir András Schiff (April 2 and 5), Mitsuko Uchida (April 7), Yefim Bronfman (April 21), Igor Levit (making his Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage recital debut-May 5), Emanuel Ax (May 14), Maurizio Pollini (May 17), and Evgeny Kissin (May 27).

• Mr. Bezuidenhout also leads a workshop for young keyboard players, presented by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, culminating with a public Discovery Day on April 4 in Weill Recital Hall to include performances of select Beethoven sonatas by outstanding young artists.

• In April and May 2020, Quatuor Ebène performs Beethoven's complete string quartets across six concerts in Zankel Hall.

• Additional chamber music performances feature violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter alongside violinist Ye-Eun Choi, violist Vladimir Babeshko, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, and pianist Lambert Orkis playing the Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24, "Spring;" Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, "Ghost;" and the Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, "Kreutzer" and more on January 30.

• In March, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform three trio performances paying homage to all-Beethoven programs presented at Carnegie Hall by the illustrious Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio during the Hall's 200th anniversary celebrations of the composer in 1970.

• The Beethoven Celebration also includes public lectures by Sir John Eliot Gardiner on February 18 in Weill Recital Hall and Carnegie Hall Debs Composer Jörg Widmann on March 29 both in Weill Recital Hall, enabling audiences to gain greater insights into the composer's music.

• Carnegie Hall presents a global creative learning project exploring the themes found in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," led by Marin Alsop, featuring performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with eight renowned partner orchestras on five continents, including a performance on December 6, 2020 at Carnegie Hall.

Single tickets go on sale on August 22 at 8:00 a.m. and can be purchased at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by phone at Carnegie Charge (212-247-7800), or online at carnegiehall.org. Subscription packages including create-your-own subscription series are currently available.