Moms of the Philharmonic

Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow’s mother was a Russian-born dancer, model,artist, and concert pianist. Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi’s sang  at The Met. And one-time Music Director Gustav Mahler’s mom…  well, she probably contributed something to her son’s compositions. 

Don’t forget Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and we’ve got a roundup of musician odes to dear mom on our Pinterest page. 

Here, There, and Everywhere

As our musicians prepare to go on tour together, many individual performers have received accolades for their performances near and far.

Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow: Performed as soloist on Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, led by Long Yu.

Organist Ken Tritle: Led an acclaimed performance of Britten’s War Requiem at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, of which he is the music director — this, right after overseeing the chorus for our own  performances of Ives’s Fourth Symphony.

Principal Cello Carter Brey and Associate Principal Cello Eileen Moon: Performed with their Plaza colleagues in “The Cellists of Lincoln Center,” a performance presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall.

Congrats to all for how wonderfully they’ve been representing the Phil!

(Portraits by Chris Lee)

Meet Me in Shanghai

In addition to serving as the Special Events Committee Chair on the Philharmonic’s Board of Directors, writing children’s books, and serving as a champion poodle parent — Karen LeFrak rounds out her talents by composing music premiered around the world. Most recently, on April 13, Karen’s work Pavlovsk received its Chinese Premiere with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra led by Long Yu, pictured above (far right).

Also in this photo with Maestro Yu are Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow (second from right) — who was soloist in the evening’s concert in which he performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 — Principal Oboe Liang Wang (left), and Principal Horn Philip Myers (second from left), who were among the Philharmonic delegation to Shanghai around this concert.

Ciao, Béla!

Béla Bartók, who made his home in New York in his final years, would have been celebrating his 132nd birthday today. The Hungarian-born composer gave music lovers many gifts, including his First Violin Concerto and Second Piano Concerto, which will be aired and posted online this week (from performances last season conducted by Alan Gilbert, with Glenn Dicterow and Lang Lang, respectively) on The New York Philharmonic This Week. Tune in and join us in celebrating this astonishing composer’s natal day.

Maazel Tov!

Two weeks ago we were celebrating Alan Gilbert’s birthday, last week was former-Music Director Dimitri Mitropoulos’s, and today it’s another former-Philharmonic chief, Lorin Maazel! Parents: If you want your children to lead the New York Philharmonic, perhaps a late-February or early-March birth is somewhat auspicious.

In either case, happy birthday, Maestro Maazel! Pictured above are some backstage shots from his most recent return to the Phil’s podium, when he conducted works by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Lutosławski (the latter featuring violinist Jennifer Koh). Also pictured is our Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow.

(Photos by Chris Lee)

Chronicle of a Concertmaster’s Ringtone

In a way, the late, legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz is just a phone call away from Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, whose ringtone is Heifetz’s recording of Korngold’s Violin Concerto. Growing up in L.A., Glenn studied with Heifetz, who premiered the concerto.

“Heifetz is what we all aspire to in that concerto. He had more variety of color than any other violinist. It’s a lost art,” Glenn says.

The Philharmonic will bid adieu to its longtime Concertmaster with several events in the 2013-14 season, including a free farewell recital. Among other musical gems, Glenn will perform Korngold’s Much Ado About Nothing Suite, which he says “could be a score for an Errol Flynn movie.”

(Photo: Glenn Dicterow backstage with Steven Spielberg and John Williams at the Lights! Camera! Music! program in 2006.)

Full Circle with Glenn

In a blog entry, “Full Circle with the New York Philharmonic,” writer Luis Dias shares the cherished memory of meeting Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow at a Philharmonic concert in India, before he even knew who the violinist was, and of finally getting to hear him play the Brahms Double Concerto last fall, in New York.

Glenn’s Favorite

“I have long known and admired Glenn Dicterow, and it has always been a dream of mine to perform it with him. … Years ago he taught my sister Jenny, who now is herself a concertmaster, to play these solos, and it made a big impression on me when he said that of all the featured violin lines in the repertoire, Scheherazade is his favorite.”

Alan Gilbert was eager to conduct Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical tale of 1,001 nights, starring the Philharmonic’s Concertmaster as the bewitching spinner of stories. There’s one more chance tomorrow evening to catch the work of which the Music Director said, “have still always thought of it as a piece that Glenn Dicterow plays.”

Art of a Thousand Nights

The dazzling tales spun by Scheherazade in 1,001 Arabian Nights inspired Rimsky-Korsakov’s composition, its title, and 28 beautiful glass slides depicting the saga that are part of the Philharmonic’s Digital Archives.

Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts the Orchestra in Scheherazade for the first time September 28–October 2, with Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow’s sinuous solo helping to spin the yarn.