Principal Horn Philip Myers Solos During New York Philharmonic's All-Mozart Program This Week

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in an all-Mozart program: his Divertimento in D major, K.136/125a; Horn Concerto No. 2, with Principal Horn Philip Myers; and Serenade for 13 Winds, Gran partita. The concerts take place tonight, November 4, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m.

Alan Gilbert has led the Orchestra in works by Mozart each season since he became Music Director. "Mozart is perhaps the undisputed master; programming his music is both a responsibility and a pleasure - we all deserve to experience his works every year," Alan Gilbert said. "I am glad to be able to present the Gran partita, which, although performed by a smaller ensemble, is so epic in its scope and so orchestral in its sound quality that it absolutely fills the hall. It truly is a standout masterpiece."

Principal Horn Philip Myers has performed the Horn Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmonic eight times.

Related Events

- Philharmonic Free Fridays
The New York Philharmonic is offering 100 free tickets for young people ages 13-26 to the concert Friday, November 6 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays. Information is available at nyphil.org/freefridays. Philharmonic Free Fridays offers 100 free tickets to 13-26-year-olds to each of the 2015-16 season's 15 Friday evening subscription concerts.

- Pre-Concert Insights
Composer Joelle Wallach will introduce the program. Pre-Concert Insights are $7, and discounts are available for three (3) or more talks and for students. They take place one hour before these performances in the Helen Hull Room, unless otherwise noted. Attendance is limited to 90 people. Information: nyphil.org/preconcert or (212) 875-5656.

The Artists

Music Director Alan Gilbert began his New York Philharmonic tenure in 2009, the first native New Yorker in the post. He and the Philharmonic have introduced the positions of The Marie- Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and Artist-in-Association; CONTACT!, the new-music series; NY PHIL BIENNIAL, an exploration of today's music; and New York Philharmonic Global Academy, collaborations with partners worldwide offering training of pre-professional musicians, often alongside performance residencies. As The New Yorker wrote, "Gilbert has made an indelible mark on the orchestra's history and that of the city itself."

Alan Gilbert's 2015-16 Philharmonic highlights include R. Strauss's Ein Heldenleben to welcome Concertmaster Frank Huang; Carnegie Hall's Opening Night Gala; and five World Premieres. He co-curates and conducts in the second NY PHIL BIENNIAL and performs violin in Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. He leads the Orchestra as part of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy Residency and Partnership and appears at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West. Philharmonic-tenure highlights include acclaimed stagings of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Jana?c?ek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson (for which Mr. Gilbert is nominated for a 2015 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction), and Honegger's Joan of Arc at the Stake starring Marion Cotillard; 24 World Premieres; The Nielsen Project, a performance and recording cycle; Verdi Requiem and Bach's B-minor Mass; the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey alongside the film; Mahler's Resurrection Symphony on the tenth anniversary of 9/11; and nine tours around the world. In August 2015 he led the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in the U.S. Stage Premiere of George Benjamin's Written on Skin, co-presented as part of the Lincoln Center-New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative.

Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra, Alan Gilbert regularly conducts leading orchestras around the world. This season Mr. Gilbert makes debuts with four great European orchestras - Filarmonica della Scala, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Symphony, and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields - and returns to The Cleveland Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic in 2008, the DVD of which received a Grammy Award. Rene?e Fleming's recent Decca recording Poe?mes, on which he conducted, received a 2013 Grammy Award. His recordings have received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. Mr. Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School, where he holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. His honors include an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music (2010), Columbia University's Ditson Conductor's Award for his "exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers and to contemporary music" (2011), election to The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2014), and a Foreign Policy Association Medal for his commitment to cultural diplomacy (2015).

Philip Myers, The Ruth F. and Alan J. Broder Chair, joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Horn in January 1980. Since making his New York Philharmonic solo debut in January 1980 performing the premiere of William Schuman's Three Colloquies, led by Zubin Mehta, he has appeared as a Philharmonic soloist 158 times, including in Schumann's Konzertstu?ck for Four Horns, with Lorin Maazel in February 2007 and Kurt Masur in May 2001 as well as on the 1996 Europe tour of Europe; Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings led by Andre? Previn in October 2001; and Mozart's Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon in March 2010, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert. Mr. Myers began his orchestral career in 1971 with a three-year term as principal horn of the Atlantic Symphony in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was third horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1974 until 1977. As principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra for a season and a half, he made his solo debut with that ensemble in 1979, performing Richard Strauss's Horn Concerto No. 1 with Neville Marriner conducting. A native of Elkhart, Indiana, Philip Myers holds two degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He plays Engelbert Schmid French horns. He most recently appeared with the Orchestra as soloist in November 2013 in Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, conducted by Alan Gilbert.

Repertoire

The era in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) worked was filled with light, almost "occasional" pieces written for parties, dinners, and other gatherings that called for informal background music. Mozart created many such works, especially during his earlier years, when he was growing up and serving in the court of Salzburg. Mozart's Divertimento in D major, K.136/125a is one of three similar works he composed in the early part of 1772 - by then, although he still was a teenager, he had ten years of composing under his belt. Written not long after the composer visited Italy, the work shows the influence of some of the new sounds he had heard on that trip. Written in four string parts, this divertimento is sometimes counted among Mozart's chamber repertoire, but it is often performed by a larger ensemble. The New York Philharmonic first presented the Divertimento in D major in April 1961 as part of a concert led by Laszlo Vargo; the Orchestra most recently performed it as part of the Concerts in the Parks in July 2008, led by Xian Zhang.

As with much of his other solo horn music, which is central to the repertoire of horn players everywhere, Mozart composed his Horn Concerto No. 2 for the Viennese musician Ignatz Leutgeb (or Leitgeb, as Mozart often spelled his name). A highly skilled musician, Leutgeb had met Mozart in Salzburg, where they had been orchestral players together; their association continued when both moved to Vienna. Mozart seems to have enjoyed teasing Leutgeb whenever he requested a new composition. On the manuscript of the Horn Concerto No. 2, Mozart wrote, "Wolfgang Amade? Mozart has taken pity on Leitgeb, ass, ox, and fool, 27 May 1783." The New York Philharmonic first performed the complete Horn Concerto No. 2 in January 1973, with Pierre Boulez conducting and John Cerminaro as soloist. It was most recently performed in December 2008, with Lorin Maazel conducting and Principal Horn Philip Myers as soloist.

Clarinetist Anton Stadler commissioned Mozart's monumental Serenade for 13 Winds, Gran partita, and while scholars debate when Mozart actually began work on the piece - some date it as early as 1781 - four of the seven movements were premiered in March 1784 at Vienna's Burgtheater. The misspelled title Gran partita (which is in the original manuscript, but not in Mozart's hand) refers to the era's genre of outdoor music written for winds, and the piece's colorful instrumentation for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two basset horns, four horns, and double bass is indeed well-suited for al fresco performances. In Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, Antonio Salieri describes hearing the Gran partita, his first encounter with Mozart's music: "This was no composition by a performing monkey. This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God." The New York Philharmonic first performed the Gran partita in March 1945, led by George Szell; the most recent performance was in December 1988, led by Zubin Mehta.

Single tickets for this performance start at $48. Pre-Concert Insights are $7 (visit nyphil.org/preconcert for more information). Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. A limited number of $16 tickets for select concerts may be available through the Internet for students within 10 days of the performance, or in person the day of. Valid identification is required. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

Pictured: Principal Horn Philip Myers performing with the New York Philharmonic. Photo by Chris Lee.