Gregg Whiteside

Bach specialist Nicholas McGegan conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, May 19th, 2 to 4 pm, in an all-Bach concert - bringing a special touch to the Orchestra, and throwing the spotlight on several Philadelphia Orchestra soloists.

Concertmaster David Kim, Principal Oboist Richard Woodhams, Principal Horn Jennifer Montone, and Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner are just some of the stellar players of the Orchestra who will play major roles in a program including:

This Sunday from 2 to 4 pm, Guest Conductor Jaap van Zweden takes the podium to conduct The Philadelphia Orchestra in an all-Russian program from mid-April, which offers two major works. Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, inspired by the sights and sounds of Italy, was originally scored for string sextet. We’ll hear it performed in an expanded version for the full strings of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Join us Sunday at 1 pm (one hour earlier than usual) as Garrick Ohlsson plays Brahms, and Yannick returns to the podium to conduct a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and two lush orchestral works by Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, and a suite from his opera, Der Rosenkavalier!

You're in a for a treat this Sunday, April 28th at 2 pm! That's when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert Broadcast will feature a first for the ensemble:  It's the first time in the Orchestra's distinguished history that they performed the complete, uncut St. Matthew Passion, in two parts, with five soloists, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and American Boychoir, all under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.  

This exciting, historical first was performed at the end of March, during the Easter period.

"Fate" is the unifying thread as guest conductor Andrey Boreyko conducts The Philadelphians in an exciting program beginning with the Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla ​from Wagner's Das Reingold, and culminating in the brilliant and brassy apotheosis of the "fate" motif that Tchaikovsky used in all four movements of his Symphony No. 5. 

In between, a spectacular display of drumming by soloist Colin Currie in Alberich Saved, a percussion concerto by the American composer Christopher Rouse.

Listen on Sunday, April 14, 2 to 4 pm to two works, composed 52 years apart, that are tailor-made for the dense, glorious string sound of The Fabulous Philadelphians: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, also known as the "Unfinished Symphony," and Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, "Romantic."

Guest conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, April 7th from 2 to 4 pm in a program featuring Witold Lutoslawski's Funeral Music - one of the most accessible works by the 20th-century Polish composer. It will be followed by a performance of Mozart's darkly sublime Piano Concerto No. 20 with pianist Rudolph Buchbinder, who speaks with WRTI's Jim Cotter during intermission. 

It was an unforgettable performance! Re-live it on Sunday, March 31st, 2 to 4 pm as then Music Director-Designate Yannick Nezet-Seguin took the podium in March, 2011 to conduct The Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Symphonic Choir, and soloists Dorothea Roeschmann and Matthias Goerne in a critically acclaimed performance of Johannes Brahms's humanistic and glorious Ein Deutsches Requiem, A German Requiem - a symphonic as well as a choral masterpiece.

This week's broadcast, on Sunday, March 24, 2 to 4 pm, takes us back to November, 2011, when then-Music Director Designate Yannick Nezet-Seguin was appearing with greater frequency in Philadelphia, winning over the hearts of the Orchestra as well as Verizon Hall audiences. 

One of the most memorable of these early concerts was the Italian-themed program scheduled for rebroadcast this Sunday - Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, followed by the ever-popular fourth symphony of Mendelssohn, and -  following Intermission - Verdi's overture to his opera La Forza del Destino, one of his finest overtures, and Respighi's exciting orchestral showpiece The Pines of Rome, a long-time favorite of Philadelphia audiences.

Intermission Features: As part of Women's History Month, Meridee Duddleston will take a closer look at The Philadelphia Orchestra's first female player, harpist Edna Phillips, the first woman to be appointed a principal player of any American orchestra.  And afterward, Susan Lewis will speak with today's principal harpist, Elizabeth Hainen - one of the world's great ambassadors for the instrument.

**Audio for Intermission features will be added to this post on Monday morning.

The performances that you'll hear in this broadcast were widely admired, receiving high praise from critics and concert-goers alike. So don't miss this opportunity to re-live them, this Sunday, March 24th, from 2 to 4 pm.

More information, including Program Notes, at The Philadelphia Orchestra's website.

Program:

Tchaikovsky - Francesca da Rimini
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 ("Italian")
Verdi - Overture to La forza del destino
Respighi - The Pines of Rome
Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Conductor

This Sunday on WRTI, Carl Orff's iconic Carmina burana headlines a program that also features The Philadelphia Orchestra's Principal Trumpet David Bilger in a performance of Hummel's beloved Trumpet Concerto, as well as Haydn's rarely performed  Symphony No. 1. Sunday, March 17, 2 to 4 pm.

Guest Conductor Rafael Fruehbeck de Bourgos, who knew Carl Orff and gave the first performance of Carmina burana in Spain, will direct The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Singers,  the American Boychoir, and soloists in this authoritative performance from February at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall.  

Orff's raucous retelling of 24 medieval poems praises springtime, love, lust, and fortune. It requires a huge orchestra and a chorus singing a mix of old languages. The riveting choral refrains of "O Fortuna" open and close Carmina burana. While many sections of this iconic work have been re-used in movies and commercials, nothing equals the power when you hear this live, in its entirety.

Intermission Features:

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Conductor
David Bilger, Trumpet

Program Notes for Carmina burana and more...

Check out The Philadelphia Orchestra Website Here

PROGRAM:
HAYDN: Symphony No. 1 in D major
I. Presto
II. Andante
III. Finale: Presto

HUMMEL: Trumpet Concerto in E major
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Andante
III. Rondo

Intermission, featuring a conversation with Maestro Fruehbeck

ORFF: Carmina burana
Erin Morley: Soprano
Nicholas Phan: Tenor
Hugh Russell: Baritone
The Philadelphia Singers Chorale
David Hayes, Music Director
The American Boychoir
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Music Director