London Symphony Orchestra, Joshua Bell & More Set for Lincoln Center's Great Performers 2016-17 Season

With half a century of stellar performances and universally-acclaimed artists to its credit, Lincoln Center's Great Performers series announces its 51st season.

The 2016-2017 season of Lincoln Center's Great Performers series, which will run from October 28, 2016 through May 21, 2017, was announced today by Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director. The season features symphonic and period-instrument chamber orchestra concerts, instrumental and vocal recital series, and a film series, as well as pre- and post-concert discussions and lectures. Events take place in six venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus.

The London Symphony Orchestra, led by Gianandrea Noseda, opens the "Symphonic Masters" series on October 28 with Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Shostakovich's thrilling Symphony No. 5, and is joined by Yuja Wang for Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major. On October 30 Maestro Noseda and the LSO perform Verdi's monumental Requiem, joined by acclaimed soloists Erika Grimaldi, Daniela Barcellona, Francesco Meli, and Ildar Abdrazakov, with the LSO Chorus.

Said Jane Moss, "With every Great Performers season we are eager to juxtapose the iconic with the iconoclastic, the acclaimed virtuosos with significant new talents, and the past's timeless masterworks with the wet ink creations of our own time. We are very pleased with this current edition of Great Performers in meeting and exceeding these aspirations."

The "Symphonic Masters" series continues on February and 7, 2017 with another Great Performers favorite, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and music director Iván Fischer performing two all-Beethoven programs. Richard Goode is the featured soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 4 on February 5; the program also includes two of the master's most beloved symphonies, Nos. 1 and 5. Beethoven's Ninth is front and center on February 6, with Fischer leading the BFO and acclaimed soloists Laura Aikin, Kelley O'Connor, Robert Dean Smith, and Matthew Rose.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director Vladimir Jurowski close the "Symphonic Masters" series with two spectacular programs on February 26 and 27. The young Polish-Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki is featured in Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, and soprano Sofia Fomina, in her New York debut, joins the LPO for a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 4. The all-Russian program on February 27 features the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninoff's stirring Symphony No. 1.

The Great Performers "Art of the Song" series in Alice Tully Hall begins its 2016-2017 season on December 10 with the Great Performers debut of the soprano Diana Damrau. In a heavenly combination of harp and voice, Damrau is joined by the harpistXavier de Maistre for a recital featuring works by Debussy, Strauss, Hahn, and Chausson.

"Art of the Song" continues on December 17 with the baritone Christian Gerhaher, whose appearance in the 2014 White Light Festival presentation of Peter Sellars' groundbreaking production of St. Matthew Passion with Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker was widely praised. His all-Mahler program includes selections from Das Lied von der Erde, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and Rückert-Lieder. On April 16 the soprano Anne Schwanewilms performs her long-awaited New York recital debut, accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau. The series concludes with a bouquet of floral-themed songs on Mother's Day, May 14, with the Great Performers debut of soprano Carolyn Sampson.

The ensemble known as Gabrieli performs on November 12, the first of four acclaimed ensembles on next season's "Chamber Orchestras" series at Alice Tully Hall. Led by the conductor Paul McCreesh, the program, A Venetian Coronation 1595, features music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli evoking a regal occasion. On November 30, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestracelebrates its 175th anniversary with British conductor Matthew Halls leading the orchestra in a program of works by Beethoven and-of course-Mozart. French horn player Radovan Vlatkovic joins the orchestra for Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 3.

Well-known to Lincoln Center audiences through its many appearances, Les Arts Florissants led by William Christie performs a program inspired by Marie Antoinette's love of the harp on March 15. The harpist Xavier de Maistre joins the group for works for harp and orchestra, bookended by Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Haydn's Symphony No. 85 "La reine." Capping off the "Chamber Orchestra" series, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, led by violinist Isabelle Faust, performs at Alice Tully Hall on April 26. Faust is featured in a pair of violin concerti by Mozart, framed by symphonies by Haydn and C.P.E. Bach.

Violinist Joshua Bell is back in Alice Tully Hall for a recital on November 2 with pianist Alessio Bax, the first concert of the "Virtuoso Recitals" series. On November 16, pianist Jeremy Denk brings yet another intelligent, enlightening program, Medieval to Modern, to Alice Tully Hall, drawing parallels and creating contrast between music selections that span 700 years. On February 8, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Yuja Wang warm up David Geffen Hall with works by Medtner, Schubert, Debussy, and Bartók. And pianist Lars Vogt returns to Great Performers on April 9, to Alice Tully Hall, to perform the complete Goldberg Variations, in celebration of his new recording on the Ondine label.

The Takács Quartet, a favorite of Great Performers audiences, brings two programs to Alice Tully Hall next spring. The first, on March 9, features the clarinetist Anthony McGill in Brahms' Clarinet Quintet, along with works by Haydn and Ravel. On April 13, Takács performs an all-Beethoven program, with one quartet each from the master's early, middle, and late periods.

A varied group of artists appear on next season's "Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts" series, where audiences can settle in to Walter Reade Theater for an hour-long concert followed by a casual reception with refreshments. On December 4, pianist David Fung's program features works from The Scarlatti Project, juxtaposing pieces by the Baroque master alongside a world premiere inspired by one of them. The award-winning Morgenstern Trio makes its Great Performers debut on February 12 performing works by Mendelssohn, Tailleferre, and Lili Boulanger, and the Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh makes her New York recital debut on March 19. On April 30, classical guitarist Paul Galbraith brings his unique instrument-with two extra strings and an endpin for a vertical position-to the Walter Reade Theater for a program of works by Albéniz and Granados. Another Great Performers debut takes place in the series penultimate concert on May 7 by the Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon. Finally, on May 21, the young American-born violinist Esther Yoo makes her New York recital debut, in a program with pianist Robert Koenig, performing works by Beethoven, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, and Glazunov.

Entering its third season, the popular "Complimentary Classical" series features the Great Performers debut of four acclaimed string quartets. This series of free, hour-long concerts in the casual setting of David Rubenstein Atrium begins on January 12 with PUBLIQuartet and continues with the New York debut of the New Orford String Quartet on February 9 which will perform one of Beethoven's "Razumovsky" Quartets alongside a work by Canadian composer, R. Murray Schafer. On February 23, the adventurous Minguet Quartett performs a wide-ranging program of works by Haydn, Ockeghem, Jörg Widmann, and Mendelssohn. The series concludes on March 30 with the Jasper String Quartet, performing an early Beethoven quartet, Dvorák's "American" Quartet, and Death Valley Junction by Missy Mazzoli.

Three programs at the Walter Reade Theater highlight legendary and historic performances in the "Beethoven on Film" series, presented in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Christian Labrande. The series begins on February 8 with a screening of the "Emperor Concerto," with the Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache leading the famous work with pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. The film also features performances by the cellist Jacqueline de Pré, the pianist Daniel Barenboim, and violinist Pinchas Zukerman. On February 12, a double feature begins with performances by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the Vienna Philharmonic, Carlos Kleiber conducting. In the second film, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducts a performance of Beethoven's Missa solemnis at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, with Pope Paul VI in the audience.

Programs, artists, and prices are subject to change.

TICKET INFORMATION

Subscription Tickets for Great Performers 2016-2017 are on sale beginning February 2 online atLCGreatPerformers.org/Subscribe, by phone via CenterCharge, 212-721-6500, by mail: Great Performers, Alice Tully Hall Box Office, 1941 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-6588, or in person at the Alice Tully Hall or David Geffen Hall Box Office, 65th Street and Broadway. Renewing subscribers should call CenterCharge or send in their renewal form. Single tickets will be on sale starting June 13. To request a season brochure, call 212.875.5766.