New York Philharmonic Podcast

Music Director Alan Gilbert launches the 2010–11 season — the Orchestra's 169th — and talks about the Opening Night concert and programming the new season. Elliott Forrest explores the jazzy sounds of Wynton Marsalis's Symphony No. 3, Swing Symphony, which receives its U.S. Premiere on this concert — as well as the romantic adventures of R. Strauss's tone poem Don Juan, and Hindemith's exuberant and ever-popular Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.

Alan Gilbert praises the work of New York Philharmonic Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, whose EXPO opened Mr. Gilbert's first season as Music Director and whose Al largo, his second Philharmonic commission, is being premiered on these concerts. Mr. Gilbert also discusses how he is preparing for these performances of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, a piece of great spirituality that is close to his heart.

Music Director Alan Gilbert discusses opening and closing the program with two contrasting but heartfelt works by Wagner — his Siegfried Idyll and his Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde — as well as the dazzling technical prowess Håkan Hardenberger brings to his performances of HK Gruber's Aerial, and Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller talks about what sets Mozart's striking Symphony No. 25 apart from the composer's earlier works.

Music Director Alan Gilbert and podcast host Mark Travis guide you through two works by Finnish conductors: Arena, a lush and rhythmically exciting tour de force written in 1995 by Magnus Lindberg, the Philharmonic's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, and the Violin Concerto by his great predecessor, Jean Sibelius. Mr. Travis also discusses the beauties of Brahms's Second Symphony, which Mr. Gilbert extols, calling it "sunny."

Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham talks about performing Chausson's lush and nostalgic Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller discusses the powerful effect of the organ, played in these concerts by Philharmonic Organist Kent Tritle, in Saint-Saëns's famous Symphony No. 3, and podcast host Elliott Forrest explores Berlioz's popular concert piece, the Overture to Les Francs-juges.

New York Philharmonic Music Director Emeritus Kurt Masur reveals how we can catch a glimpse of Beethoven as a young, uncertain composer in his fascinating Symphony No. 1, and he discusses the influence that Wagner had on Bruckner and, in particular, on his masterful Symphony No. 7.

Podcast host Mark Travis is your guide to Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, a strange world populated by cartoon characters who may or may not be facing the end of time. He is joined by Music Director Alan Gilbert and director and designer Doug Fitch, who let you know what to expect to hear and see on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center when the Orchestra gives the opera's first-ever staged performances in New York.

Podcast host Elliott Forrest discusses Stravinsky's evocative wartime piece titled Symphony in Three Movements and talks about the Bach-like influences in the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, featuring Alexei Volodin, and Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller explains why a riot broke out at the premiere of Stravinsky's controversial ballet, The Rite of Spring.

Podcast host Mark Travis describes how Igor Stravinsky's Symphony in C was written during a very troubled period in the composer's life, and guides listeners through the influences that can be heard in the light-hearted Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, which will feature pianist Denis Matsuev in his Philharmonic debut. Also, conductor Valery Gergiev remembers that his first exposure to Stravinsky's music was through one of the composer's early triumphs: his score to the ballet Petrushka, which concludes this program. Mr. Travis also discusses the Orchestra's plans for celebrating its 15,000th concert, on May 5, 2010.

Podcast host Elliott Forrest relays the tragic tale from mythology that inspired the ballet score for Orpheus, and Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller discusses the powerful and monumental opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex.

Conductor Valery Gergiev explains how he hopes audiences will be enriched by the New York Philharmonic’s Russian Stravinsky festival and podcast host Mark Travis highlights the unusual Le Roi des étoiles and discusses the history and structure of the Violin Concerto. Mr. Gergiev also speaks about the irony in Oedipus Rex, while Mr. Travis recounts the story of this, one of the world’s most influential tragedies.

Conductor Valery Gergiev talks with Music Director Alan Gilbert about Stravinsky's Russian identity; podcast host Elliott Forrest explores the composer's playful Jeu de cartes (Game of Cards) and spiritual Symphony of Psalms, featuring the Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre; and Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller discusses Stravinsky's opulent and masterful orchestration of his ballet The Firebird.

Conductor Valery Gergiev explains why his three-week festival at the New York Philharmonic is titled The Russian Stravinsky and also expresses his enthusiasm for the "folkish" ballet-cantata Les Noces; and podcast host Mark Travis gives a sampling of the spare and compelling Symphonies of Wind Instruments and looks at the story Stravinsky recounts in his score to The Firebird, the composer's breakthrough to fame.

Podcast host Mark Travis guides you through Mozart's brilliant and energetic Symphony No. 34; Philharmonic Principal Cello Carter Brey discusses the life and influence of Boccherini, as well as the pleasures of that composer's sunny Cello Concerto in D major; and Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller sheds light on Schubert's not-that-very Tragic Symphony.

New York Philharmonic Program Annotator James M. Keller discusses Mozart's charming Symphony No. 31, Paris; Bruch's use of traditional Scottish folk tunes in his Scottish Fantasy, featuring violinist Joshua Bell; and the inspiration behind Brahms's masterful Symphony No. 4.