Join us for a fabulous concert broadcast from the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2015 St. Petersburg Festival, celebrating the great master of the third generation, Dmitri Shostakovich. Sunday, January 28th at 1 pm on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, January 29th at 7 pm on WRTI HD-2.
Like Tchaikovsky before him, Shostakovich visited Philadelphia just once, but his connections to the Orchestra were unmatched by any other American ensemble. Of his 15 symphonies, seven received their first U.S. performance by the Philadelphians.
During his visit here in 1959, Shostakovich oversaw the U.S. premiere and the world-premiere recording of his Cello Concerto No. 1 with Eugene Ormandy and Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist.
Shostakovich was also a formidable pianist, and one of his piano compositions is featured on our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast this Sunday, September 13th. He composed this witty work, his Second Piano Concerto, to showcase the talents of his son, Maxim. We’ll hear it performed by the Russian-born pianist Kirill Gerstein.
The concert also offers a selection of music that Shostakovich composed for the 1955 Soviet film, The Gadfly, lushly scored for large orchestra.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is engaged in a multi-season project of pairing symphonies and concertos by Beethoven and Shostakovich. And Sunday’s concert begins with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a musical monument that needs no introduction. The Symphony has been at the core of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s repertory ever since its very first concert in November of 1900.
During intermission, Susan Lewis spoke backstage with Kirill Gerstein. Don’t miss it!
PROGRAM:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
INTERMISSION
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102
Kirill Gerstein, pianist
Shostakovich: Suite from The Gadfly, Op. 97a: arr. Atovmyan
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Gregg Whiteside is producer and host of The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts, every Sunday at 1 pm on WRTI 90.1, streaming online at WRTI.org, and on our mobile app! Listen again on Mondays at 7 pm on WRTI HD-2
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a proud sponsor of The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts on WRTI 90.1. Old Masters Now: Celebrating the Johnson Collection is on view through February 19, 2018
