New York Philharmonic

Summer is approaching and that means free concerts and fireworks! The New York Philharmonic announced details about their free concerts in New York. Hear some Mozart, Bach, and Elgar at the concerts on Staten Island, and in New Jersey, Queens, the Bronx, and Long Island. Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert will lead a concert in Prospect Park with works by Bach, Beethoven, and Sibelius. All performances start at 8 p.m. and will be followed by fireworks. Bring some sparklers! Full schedule at NYC Official City Guide.

The New York Philharmonic has been without a summer home for awhile now. They muster residencies during the off season at city parks, Avery Fisher Hall and some shows in... Colorado. But they may have finally found their orchestral equivalent to the Hamptons: Governor's Island. They'll be playing a free concert there, with the Manhattan skyline splayed out before them, on July 5. “We’ve talked about it as a place we should play because it is so pretty,” said Zarin Mehta, the Philharmonic’s president and a former director of the Ravinia Festival., to the New York Times. “If the conditions were right, it’s the kind of place we should look at very seriously.” But, not so fast!  read more »

Germs have struck again! Is no cultural institution safe? While the Met is hemorrhaging singers due to illness, the New York Philharmonic's conductor, Riccardo Muti, has been forced off the dais this week by the flu. He will be replaced by Michael Christie. During his first time conducting the orchestra, he will be leading works by Elgar and Copland on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m. Fortunately for Mr. Christie, he doesn't have far to travel. He is music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Just be sure to load up on Vitamin C, Mike!

As previously reported, the New York Philharmonic's performance in North Korea will air on PBS (Channel 13) tonight at 8 p.m. and Thurs. Feb. 28 at 2:30 a.m. New York Times coverage of the concert after the jump.  read more »

In Beijing on Tuesday, U.S. and North Korean officials met for the first time since December to resume those seemingly endless nuclear talks, which apparently didn’t go very far, as the north still “wants more energy aid and diplomatic concessions" before it ditches the WMD. Concessions? Hmm…how ‘bout some George Gershwin tunes instead?! Those will be delivered to Pyongyang on Feb. 26 when the New York Philharmonic performs a concert that North Korea’s government has agreed to broadcast live throughout the country, according to Reuters, which also reports that officials say the concert “could break cultural boundaries and draw the two countries closer.” Um, okay! More after the jump.  read more »

The New York Philharmonic’s controversial concert in North Korea on Feb. 26 will be broadcast that night on WNET (Channel 13) and replayed two days later on PBS, officials told The New York Times. ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff will provide “behind-the-scenes coverage” of the concert. Because of the time difference, the concert will air live before dawn in New York on Feb. 26 through EuroArts Music International, which produces and distributes classical music programming and has the rights to the broadcast outside South Korea. One place where the broadcast is still uncertain is North Korea itself.  read more »

"He is Lorin Maazel, and this is his final season as our Music Director," writes the New York Philharmonic in their announcement of their 2008-09 season. "Befitting the occasion, we present a truly extraordinary season that can best be described in one word: epic. A season filled with powerful, dramatic performances. The kind for which Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic are so justly renowned."  read more »

Tonight, when Lorin Maazel, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, lifts his wand to conducts the opening of Wagner’s Walküre, it will be his first appearance at the Met since January 1963 — when he was just 32 years old. That was "when top tickets were $11 instead of $375, Robert F. Wagner was mayor, and the Met was still on Broadway between 39th and 40th Streets," writes Daniel J. Wakin of the New York Times.  read more »

Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic will present Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, a citywide festival in 2008 celebrating the work of the late composer Leonard Bernstein. The festival will celebrate both the 90th anniversary of Bernstein's birth and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as the Philharmonic's music director.

The Observer's Benjamin Ivry wrote about Mr. Bernstein:

As a composer, performer, writer and teacher, Bernstein made an indelible impression in this city as music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958-1969 and laureate conductor thereafter. He kept an apartment at the Dakota, lodged his family a commute away in Fairfield, Conn., and penned the ur-New York Broadway musicals West Side Story, On the Town and Wonderful Town.

The festival will kick off Sept. 24, 2008 when Carnegie Hall launches its 2008-09 season with an All-Bernstein Opening Night Gala. The evening will feature Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony as well as performances by Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson and Yo-Yo Ma. Concertgoers can expect to hear selections from Fancy Free, A Quiet Place, On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide and West Side Story.

More than 30 events will celebrate the life and career of Mr. Bernstein from Sept. 24-Dec. 13, 2008.

More from Playbill:  read more »

In a controversial decision among the orchestra musician community and some art critics, the New York Philharmonic will perform at the North Korean capital on Feb. 26, in the country President Bush once called a member of the "axis of evil." By accepting North Korea's invitation, the Philharmonic is following a path cut by orchestras that played a role in diplomacy. In 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra traveled to China soon after President Richard Nixon's historic visit. In 1956, the Boston Symphony became the first American orchestra to perform in the Soviet Union.  read more »