Soprano Karita Mattila Performs with NY Philharmonic, 1/27-2/1

Finnish soprano Karita Mattila will join the New York Philharmonic and Music Director Alan Gilbert to perform Beethoven's concert aria, "Ah, perfido!" and songs by Sibelius, on a program that also includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 and Nielsen's Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments, Thursday, January 27, 2011, at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, January 28-29, at 8:00 p.m., and Tuesday, February 1, at 7:30 p.m.

"All my years in Sweden brought me closer to Scandinavian music," explained Alan Gilbert. "I've grown to love it and I've had the chance to do a lot of music by Nielsen and Sibelius. Sibelius was a Finnish composer who wrote songs primarily in Swedish; living in Sweden, we heard them many times, and they're true gems. Karita Mattila, one of the great singing artists of our day, knows these songs inside out and has sung them for years, really beautifully.

"I think they combine very naturally with Nielsen - a composer who is perhaps slightly neglected compared to Sibelius," he continued. "Nielsen comes out of a very Germanic symphonic tradition but his music is so distinctly Danish. It's gripping and has a kind of craggy edge to it that is somehow characteristic of life in the north."

Single tickets for these performances start at $32. Tickets for Open Rehearsals are $18. Pre-Concert Talks are $7; discounts are available for multiple concerts, students, and groups (visit nyphil.org/preconcert for more information). All other tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office or the Alice Tully Hall Box Office at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 65th Street. 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 $12.50 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.]