Join us on Sunday afternoons to hear our very own "Fabulous Philadelphians" in live, recorded concerts from Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center.
The Philadelphia Orchestra has a long and venerable history of radio broadcasts, as the first orchestra with its own commercially sponsored national radio series, beginning in 1929 on NBC. This new, weekly series of radio broadcasts marks the return of the Orchestra to the airwaves. WRTI's Gregg Whiteside is producer and host.
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Tchaikovsky celebration from this past January continues on WRTI this Sunday at 1 pm with Associate Conductor Cristian Macelarujoined by Principal Cellist Hai-Ye
Yannick Nezet-Seguin often talks about how much his Philadelphia Orchestra performances change and improve from day to day. But in what way? The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns experienced three performances of a recent program – in person at the Kimmel Center on Thursday, on Friday listening to a live WQXR radio broadcast from Carnegie Hall, and finally on WRTI’s live Sunday afternoon concert broadcast.
Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Conductor Cristian Măcelaru is emerging as one of the most promising of the next generation of classical music leaders. This Sunday, March 9th, on WRTI's Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast, we'll hear him conduct his first, regularly scheduled, subscription concert. But, as WRTI's Jim Cotter reports, he may well be one of the orchestra's most experienced in-house debutantes.
Born in Shanghai, the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal cellist has performed in recitals, and with orchestras, all over the world. As WRTI's Susan Lewis reports, Hai-Ye Ni is the featured soloist on WRTI's concert broadcast of the Philadelphia Orchestra on Sunday March 9th. She'll perform Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme. Written for Tchaikovsky's friend, German Cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, the work - a theme with seven different variations - is a challenge for the soloist, who plays almost constantly.
This Sunday, March 2 at 1 PM, WRTI broadcasts a Philadelphia Orchestra concert from January that was part of the first week of a three-week celebration of works by Tchaikovsky and his contemporaries.
British conductor Robin Ticciati returns to Philadelphia after a highly acclaimed debut in 2012. The young maestro launches the celebration with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, taking us on an emotional journey toward an exhilarating affirmation of life’s joys.
Concert pianist Stephen Hough also composes, writes articles for an online publication, and likes to paint. As WRTI’s Susan Lewis reports, the internationally renowned soloist continues to find fresh inspiration in the great masterworks.
Stephen Hough is soloist on WRTI's Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast - Sunday March 2, at 1 pm. Tune in to hear Hough play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphians.
Yannick Nezet-Seguin has been known to conduct the St. Matthew Passion and La Traviata - on the same day. But he recently returned from a two-month work hiatus brought on by illness. Now, as the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns reports, Yannick is learning how to pace himself, but not from his predecessor at the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
Yannick speaks with WRTI's Jim Cotter about the program.
Sunday, February 23rd at 2 pm, Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra LIVE from Verizon Hall on WRTI, in a program culminating in Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” originally intended as a grand and heroic tribute to Napoleon. Upon learning, however, that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor of all Europe, Beethoven scratched out the dedication with such vigor that he tore through the paper. This is music that succeeds in creating a new architecture for the symphonic form, and it supplied ignition for the Romantic style in music.
Also on the program, Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings, which opens with a haunting rhythm clearly quoting the funeral march of Beethoven’s “Eroica.” The intensity and pathos is that of a mature composer, nearing the end of his career, who has witnessed the World War II destruction of Europe, and stands in stark contrast to compositions of the younger Strauss we've heard in earlier broadcasts this season.
Filling out the program is Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, written for the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and given its U.S. premiere (and first recording) by him with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in 1959. Our soloist is German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, a young virtuoso, who is graciously filling in for cellist Truls Mork. Mork has withdrawn from his appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra on February 20 - 23 because of a skiing accident. (He is expected to make a full recovery!) Moser will perform this fiendish concerto, which, like the 10th and 11th symphonies heard elsewhere in the season, was written following the death of Stalin, and marks a return to greater creative freedom for Shostakovich.
Here's Johannes Moser performing in 2011. During intermission, WRTI's Susan Lewis will speak with the young cellist, who made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Philadelphians on Friday night.
This Sunday at 1 pm, it's a Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert archival broadcast celebrating the legacy of the Orchestra’s late conductor laureate, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and featuring Norwegian cellist Truls Mork.
