New York Philharmonic Podcast

Conductor David Zinman — who presides over the three-week The Modern Beethoven: A Philharmonic Festival — shares his thoughts on the programs of March 15–17 and 20, which feature Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 paired with Hartmann’s Concerto funèbre for Solo Violin and String Orchestra, performed by Gil Shaham. Podcast host Mark Travis provides a guide to the works on the program.

Conductor David Zinman — who presides over the three-week The Modern Beethoven: A Philharmonic Festival — reveals his approach to this composer’s works, which sheds centuries of accrued practices to get to their original revolutionary spirit. Podcast host Mark Travis guides the listener through the points of interest in Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 8, which are on the March 8, 10, and 13 concerts, as is Barber’s Cello Concerto. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the soloist in these performances, discusses the emotional power, lyricism, and sheer fun of the mid-century American concerto she is performing, and Mr. Travis discusses the work’s history.

David Zinman conducts the first of three programs that comprise The Modern Beethoven: A Philharmonic Festival, a three-week festival that will explore Beethoven’s world from a modern perspective. The concerts of March 1–3 & 6 feature Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7 paired with Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, with Peter Serkin. Music Director Alan Gilbert discusses David Zinman’s distinctive approach to Beethoven and Mr. Zinman talks about the “revolutionary qualities” of Beethoven’s music. Podcast host Mark Travis also provides a guide to the works on the program.

Music Director Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic return to Avery Fisher Hall from their triumphant EUROPE / WINTER 2012 tour in a reprise of their collaboration with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who discusses the “real masterpieces” she is singing with the Orchestra — Berlioz’s song cycle Les Nuits d’été. Podcast host Mark Travis also provides a guide to the other works on the program: Steven Stucky’s Son et lumière and the Ravel orchestration of Musorgksy’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Host Elliott Forrest highlights moments from the works being conducted by Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2. He also discusses the history behind these works, while The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Frank Peter Zimmermann, the soloist in the Beethoven, shares his hopes for his collaboration with the Philharmonic, and Alan Gilbert talks about the juxtaposition of the Stravinsky and Ravel works. 

Elliott Forrest hosts this podcast in which Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert speaks glowingly of the music of Magnus Lindberg, The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, whose Feria is being performed. Mr. Gilbert also talks about his shared history with piano superstar Lang Lang, who will be playing Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Mr. Forrest offers a musical preview of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, which Alan Gilbert describes as an "exciting piece to perform," with "propulsive, rhythmic power."

Elliott Forrest joins us as podcast host of this edition of On the Music, and speaks with former Philharmonic Music Director Zubin Mehta about the work he will be conducting on the concerts of January 12–14: the Symphony No. 8 by Anton Bruckner, a composer Mr. Mehta describes as “very personal.” Composer-conductor Victoria Bond discusses the “wall of sound” that results from Bruckner’s rich orchestrations in this symphony and the conductor walks the listener through the work.

Podcast host Mark Travis provides a guide to the two works on the program of January 5, 7 & 10: Thomas Adès’s Polaris — a New York Philharmonic co-commission receiving its New York Premiere with these performances — and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Music Director Alan Gilbert talks about the music of Thomas Adès — whom he describes as "a composer who has absolute control over what he puts on the page and how it translates into actual sound in the concert hall" — and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, which he has termed the "quintessential Mahler symphony."

Music Director Alan Gilbert discusses the works on the concerts of December 28–30: Haydn’s Symphony No. 88, which he describes as the “most charming and delightful” of the composer’s works; two works by “master orchestrator” Ravel — the complete Mother Goose ballet and La Valse; and orchestrations of selected Schubert songs, which will be performed by Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, “the perfect combination of vocal perfection and expressive communicative ability,” who brings her “mastery … of the art song” and powerful storytelling to the concert stage. Elliott Forrest is your musical tour guide to the works on the program.

The third season of CONTACT! — the New York Philharmonic's new-music series — begins December 16-17. Music Director Alan Gilbert talks about the series' enthusiastic reception, his expectations for its future, and his commitment to bringing contemporary music "at the highest level" to New York audiences to make CONTACT! a "star in the galaxy of New York contemporary music." Also, Gilbert and host Mark Travis discuss the works on the program: Alexandre Lunsqui's Fibers, Yarn, and Wire; Gran Duo by Magnus Lindberg — the Orchestra's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence; and HK Gruber's Frankenstein!!

Podcast host Mark Travis speaks with Daniel Harding about the works he will be leading December 7–10, 2011: Oliver Knussen’s festive Flourish with Fireworks; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with virtuoso Joshua Bell as soloist; and Stravinsky’s paradigm changing score for the ballet The Rite of Spring. The British composer discusses the inspiration behind the contemporary work that opens the program, praises the artistry that Joshua Bell will bring to the Tchaikovsky, and delves into the power and brutality of Stravinsky’s ballet score, which shocked the music world at its 1913 premiere.

Podcast host Mark Travis shares the history behind Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, a work begun during a turbulent time in his life and which he did not complete before the composer and former Philharmonic Music Director died at age 50. Mr. Travis also guides the listener through the work, which is being performed this December in a "completion" prepared by British musician, musicologist and broadcaster Deryck Cooke.

Podcast host Mark Travis speaks about Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe with conductor, harpsichordist, and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, as well as with the Philharmonic musicians joining him in this “musical conversation” — Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples and Principal Oboe Liang Wang. Mr. Kahane explains why he has a “soft spot” for Mozart’s graceful and sonorous Symphony No. 33, and talks about how he approaches the challenge of appearing as both conductor and soloist in Beethoven’s C-major Piano Concerto.

This special podcast is designed especially to acquaint young listeners with the themes and music of the November 12, 2011 Young People's Concert.

Podcast host Mark Travis explores the two symphonic works on this program: Haydn's Symphony No. 96 — one of the so-called "London" symphonies written by the composer during his first visit to the capital city — and Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, which signaled the end of the composer's decades-long struggle to gain acceptance in the music community. Principal Oboe Liang Wang discusses the joyful simplicity of the third-movement oboe solo in Haydn's Symphony No. 96.