From the Radio Room with…Pinchas Zukerman

Violinist Pinchas Zukerman joined us before his rehearsal of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Philharmonic. He called Max Bruch “one of the quintessential German Romantic Composers” and remarked that the concerto is “perfectly written.”

Catch the interview as part of the intermission feature when this week’s program airs on The New York Philharmonic This Week on WQXR 105.9FM, Thursday, February 28 at 8:00 p.m.*

*Check local listings

Countless studies have documented the effects of music on the human brain (there is a reason they pump classical music into Penn Station). However, we don’t believe scientists have documented anything like the effect the New York Philharmonic had on these concertgoers in Central Park Friday evening, caught on tape by a friend of The New York Observer.

The Concerts in the Parks party continues tonight in Van Cortlandt Park as Andrey Boreyko leads the New York Philharmonic in Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms.

Why Did Sara Mearns Cross Lincoln Center Plaza?

To get to the New York Philharmonic, of course!

It was just announced that New York City Ballet’s Principal Dancer, Sara Mearns, will star in the New York Philharmonic’s 2012-13 season finale, a theatrical reimagining of Stravinsky’s Petrushka and The Fairy’s Kiss.  Click here for more information.

Photo: Paul Kolnik

Park Avenue Armory Transformed

Philharmonic 360 at the Park Avenue Armory was sold out both nights last week.  Feel like you missed out on all the fun?  Don’t Fret! Medici.tv will stream the concert for 90 days starting this Friday at 2:00 p.m.

Holiday Wishes From One Visionary To Another

Archivists from the Stockhausen Foundation for Music discovered this 1969 Christmas Card from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.

No doubt Lennon would have claimed a Back Jack seat in the middle of the action for the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Stockhausen’s Gruppen this Friday and Saturday at the Park Avenue Armory.

Barihunks, a blog of the “Sexiest Baritone Hunks from Opera,” is super excited for the New York Philharmonic’s upcoming performances of Philharmonic 360 at the Park Avenue Armory, but perhaps for different reasons.

“Most of the buzz is around German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ‘Gruppen,’ which is played by three orchestras in a spatially separated configuration. However, we’re excited about the scene from Don Giovanni, which includes three of the hottest barihunks around. Ryan McKinny will sing the title role with Keith Miller as Leporello and Kelly Markgraf as Masetto in the final scene of Act 1”

Check out the full hunk report here.

rachelbaek3:

That’s all I can say. I wish there was a better word than amazing.

(Source: rachbaek)

Just Released:
Magnus Lindberg and Prokofiev

The fifth release from the Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic 2011–12 Season digital recording series is now available for download from iTunes and other major online music providers. This latest recording — led by Music Director Alan Gilbert — includes Feria (featured in this audio clip), a 17-minute orchestral essay completed in 1997 by the Marie Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, alongside Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.

For more information on this season’s digital recording series, visit nyphil.org/recordings.

Ah! Bach!

Today is the 327th birthday of the Baroque master of whom Music Director Alan Gilbert said, “Bach is the composer who, more often than not, ends up at the top of anybody’s list of greatest or favorite composers.” That certainly is true of the majority of the musicians in the Philharmonic — including Principal Second Violin Group Marc Ginsberg, and violist Peter Kenote — who cited Johann Sebastian more often than anyone else when asked what composer was the most inspiring.

Next season you can find out why, as Alan Gilbert puts it, “Bach’s music can withstand interpretation and can be treated in different ways.” Explore the master through The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival, March 13–April 6, 2012.