Thomas Adès

Mahler

Alan Gilbert and the

New York Philharmonic
2011–12 Season
 Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic
2011–12 Season

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: the Philharmonic musicians stand for their Alan Gilbert, Conductor
2011–12 Season — twelve live recordings bow: this is both an acknowledgment of
of performances conducted by the Music the power and beauty with which they per-
Recorded live January 5, 7 & 10, 2012
Director, two of which feature guest con- form, and of their dedication and commit-
ductors — reflects the passion and curiosity ment — and their inspiration — throughout Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
that marks the Orchestra today. Alan Gil- the season.”
bert’s third season with the New York Phil- These high-quality recordings of almost Thomas ADÈS (b. 1971)
harmonic continues a voyage of exploration 30 works, available internationally, reflect Polaris: Voyage for Orchestra (2010–11; New York
of the new and unfamiliar while reveling in Alan Gilbert’s approach to programming
Premiere, Co-Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and
the greatness of the past, in works that the which combines works as diverse as One
Music Director has combined to form telling Sweet Morning — a song cycle by Ameri- Miami’s New World Symphony, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw
and intriguing programs. can master composer John Corigliano Orchestra, Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, London’s
Every performance reveals the chemistry exploring the nature of war on the tenth Barbican Centre, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San
that has developed between Alan Gilbert anniversary of the events of 9/11 — with Francisco Symphony) 13:47
and the musicians, whom he has praised cornerstones of the repertoire, such as
for having “a unique ethic, a spirit of want- Dvořák’s lyrical yet brooding Seventh
ing to play at the highest level no matter Symphony. The bonus content includes MAHLER (1860–1911)
what the music is, and that trans­lates into audio recordings of Alan Gilbert’s onstage Symphony No. 9 1:21:39
an ability to treat an incredible variety commentaries, program notes published in Andante comodo 27:33
of styles brilliantly.” He feels that audi- each concert’s Playbill, and encores given In the tempo of a comfortable ländler, somewhat clumsy
ences are aware of this, adding, “I have by today’s leading soloists.
and very coarse 15:10
noticed that at the end of performances For more information about the series,
the ovations are often the loud­est when visit [Link]/recordings. Allegro assai, very insolent 13:12
Very slow and even holding back 25:44

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 Alan Gilbert on This Program

Thomas Adès is a composer who has an incredible ear and sense of rhythm, so
the complexity in his scores is always there for a reason — Tom really knows how
to express feelings through his craft. This quality is very apparent in his opera The
Tempest, which I conducted in Santa Fe some years ago, and in In Seven Days, which
the Philharmonic and I performed in 2010, as there are dramatic aspects to both of
those pieces, but even in non-narrative works he tells a story. Always in his work, what
the audience hears is understandable even at the first exposure: there are colors and
harmonies that are recognizable, but are combined in a very unique and personal way.
Tom is such an honest, serious composer that I’ve always known that Polaris would be
interesting, and I am looking forward to the increased focus on the orchestra that is
possible when not presenting the visuals that can be associated with this work.
Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is the last symphony he completed, and as such has a par-
ticular resonance. It ends with a powerful, valedictory moment, which seems like death,
or perhaps the attainment of the ultimate spiritual peace. All of Mahler’s symphonies are
great, and all attempt to really encapsulate the human experience, but the Ninth prob-
ably goes the farthest. I think that all conductors wrestle with this piece — approaching
it feels like climbing an epic mountain — but the rewards are tremendous. It really does
say it all, and it seems to give a picture of what it means to be human in every sense,
both the joys of living and the difficulty of coming to the end of one’s life. Mahler’s Ninth
Symphony never fails to go straight to the heart.

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New York Philharmonic

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 Notes on the Program
By James M. Keller, Program Annotator
The Leni and Peter May Chair

Polaris: Voyage for Orchestra can be presented as a purely musical piece. In the Composer’s Words
In Short A work of some 14 minutes in duration,
Thomas Adès Born: March 1, 1971, in London, England
Polaris is structured broadly in three sec- Polaris explores the use of star con-
Resides: in London stellations for naval navigation and the
tions. At the very outset we hear piano and
emotional navigation between the absent
The British composer Thomas Adès Work composed: in 2010, co-commissioned by second violins intoning delicate droplets of sailors and what they leave behind. ... It
studied piano and composition at the the New York Philharmonic and Miami’s New World eighth notes. High woodwinds, harp, and is scored for orchestra, including groups
Symphony, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw of brass instruments that may be isolated
Guildhall School of Music and Drama and touches of percussion join this remote,
Orchestra, Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, from the stage. These instruments play in
at King’s College, Cambridge, where his London’s Barbican Centre, the Los Angeles Phil- chilly texture. Here Adès uses the technique
canon, one in each of the three sections
composition teachers included Alexander harmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony; musical of diminution canon, through which the of the piece, entering in order, from the
Goehr and Robin Holloway. In 1989 he score revised through April 2011 same melodic sequence sounds against highest (trumpets) to the lowest (bass
was awarded second prize in the BBC’s World premiere: January 26, 2011, Michael Tilson itself at different speeds. (This method of tuba). Their melody, like all the music
in this work, is derived from a magnetic
“Musician of the Year” contest, in recogni- Thomas conducting the New World Symphony at the melodic-rhythmic construction is inherent
opening of the New World Center in Miami Beach, series, a musical device heard here for
tion of his skill as a pianist, and to this day to Indonesian gamelan music, a possible the first time, in which all 12 notes are
Florida
he continues to concertize and record as influence, although the effect here is quite gradually presented, but persistently
New York Philharmonic premiere: these per- return to an anchoring pitch, as if mag-
a pianist, both in solo repertoire and as a different.) Even if one’s ear does not pick
formances, which mark the New York premiere netized. With the first appearance of the
collaborative artist. up on the canons, there is no mistaking the
twelfth note, marked clearly with the first
He also appears regularly as a conduc- overall effect, which suggests the process entrance of the timpani, the poles are
tor of symphony orchestras and opera. Adès has served as Britten Professor of of change-ringing and which yields a kind of reversed. At the start of the third and final
Adès has served as composer-in-resi- Composition at the Royal Academy of Mu- ostinato that repeats (not literally, but in its section, a third pole is discovered, which
establishes a stable equilibrium with the
dence for several organizations, including sic; was music director of the Birmingham general contour) to lend a clarity of struc-
first.
the Hallé Orchestra (1993–95) and the Contemporary Music Group (1998–2000); ture through nearly all of the piece. — Thomas Adès
Ojai Festival (2000). He held Carnegie and from 1999 to 2008 was artistic A gradual enriching of the texture leads
Hall’s composer chair during the 2007–08 director of the Aldeburgh Festival. He has to the entry of the brass section, bit by bit,
season, and in 2009–10 he was the been honored with many awards, including again with canons at play. Adès allows the
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic’s featured the Stoeger Prize of The Chamber Music brass section to be located at a distance Instrumentation: three flutes (one dou-
composer. He has recently been fêted Society of Lincoln Center (1998) and an from the rest of the orchestra if the conduc- bling piccolo, another doubling piccolo and
through the “Aspects of Adès” festival honorary doctorate from Essex University tor so desires. Their slow undulation sug- alto flute), three oboes, three clarinets (one
at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as (2004). In 2000 he received the presti- gests billowing waves, with the sparkle of doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons and
an artist-in-residence at the Melbourne gious Grawemeyer Award for his orches- the ostinato always hovering starlike above. contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets
Festival, and as a featured composer at tral work Asyla. The EMI recording of The Only a minute before the end does the os- and piccolo trumpet, three trombones, tuba,
the 2011 Holland Festival. His two operas Tempest has earned him two impressive tinato retreat, leaving the orchestra to ham- timpani, marimba, vibraphone, orchestra
have met with considerable success: honors: the Diapason d’Or de l’Année and mer out its last pages with weighty finality. bells, tubular bells, crotales, wood chimes,
Powder Her Face was premiered at the the 2010 Classical BRIT Award for Com- Just as Polaris, the North Star, serves as the shell chimes, tam-tam, bass drum, two
Cheltenham Festival in 1995, and The poser of the Year. center of magnetism, so Adès zeroes in on harps, piano (doubling celesta), and strings.
Tempest was premiered and later revived Polaris was conceived for performance a single note at the end: the note “A” — to
at Covent Garden and has received further with a projected visual work by the film which all the instruments adjust their tuning This note is adapted from an essay that
performances from the opera companies and video-maker Tal Rosner. The work has before a concert begins. For an orchestra, originally appeared in the programs of the
of Copenhagen, Strasbourg, and Santa Fe been given with projections arranged in dif- the note “A” serves as the lodestar. It is the San Francisco Symphony, and is used with
(where it was conducted by Alan Gilbert). ferent ways, but it is also written so that it musicians’ Polaris. permission. © James M. Keller
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 Notes on the Program
(continued)

Symphony No. 9 a cruel one for Mahler: in addition to his The End of an Era
In Short break from the musical life of Vienna,
Gustav Mahler Born: July 7, 1860, in Kalischt (Kalište), Bohemia, near
where he had been based for years, he had Mahler’s Ninth Symphony not only brings
the town of Humpolec to a conclusion his completed orches-
lost his eldest daughter to scarlet fever;
Died: May 18, 1911, in Vienna, Austria tral oeuvre, but it also represents a final
Throughout his career Gustav Mahler bal- then, that summer, he had learned that he achievement in the mainstream symphonic
anced the competing demands of his dual Work composed: sketches begun in summer 1908, was suffering from heart disease (a valvular tradition that had been developing for more
mostly composed late spring 1909 through April 1, than a century and a half. Bruno Walter
vocation as a composer and conductor. defect) that, while not likely to prove im-
1910 wrote of “the prophetic significance” of
Responsibilities on the podium and in the mediately fatal, was potentially dangerous
World premiere: June 26, 1912, by the Vienna the work:
administrative office completely occupied and could well shorten his life. An outdoor
Philharmonic, Bruno Walter, conductor
him during the concert season, thereby enthusiast, he was forced to curtail his Here Mahler stands once more upon
New York Philharmonic premiere: December 20, the mysterious threshold beyond which
forcing him to relegate his composing physical activities drastically.
1945, Bruno Walter, conductor lies a new unexplored province of the
to the summer months, which he would Against such a background, the composi-
realm of music. Mahler’s “quotation”
spend as a near-hermit at some idyllic tion of a ninth symphony also held other themes appear as ghostly symbols,
spot in the countryside. monic years, which were regrettably brief, troubling prospects. Beethoven, Schubert, reduced to bare outlines; the texture is
Mahler wrote his Ninth Symphony ending after only two seasons, with his Bruckner, and Dvořák had all brought their thinned out, much as in some passages
of the latest Beethoven; the indepen-
mostly during the summer of 1909 at death in May 1911 in Vienna. symphonic cycles to completion with their
dent melodic lines are projected bluntly
Alt-Schluderbach near Toblach, an Italian On April 1, 1910, Mahler wrote to his Ninth Symphonies. To Mahler, whose mind- against a vast empty horizon and clash
community in South Tyrol, on the border amanuensis, the conductor Bruno Walter, set had recently developed a superstitious with each other in harsh, portentous
with Austria in the Dolomite Alps. He had to report that he had completed his Ninth streak, the very idea of a ninth symphony friction. This is not only Mahler’s last
symphony: the symphonic form as such
constructed a composition studio set at Symphony. “In it,” he declared, “some- summoned up thoughts of mortality. In fact,
is torn apart after having been tried to
the edge of a spruce forest, not far from thing is said that I have had on the tip of pretty much everything summoned up the limit.
the home that he and his wife, Alma, my tongue for some time; perhaps (as a thoughts of his own mortality, but he was
rented; a fence topped with barbed wire whole) it comes closest to the 4th. (But not yet ready to give in to fate. When he
ensured that nobody would interrupt him it is completely different.)” Indeed, this completed his Ninth Symphony he was still
while he worked, which he did beginning heartrending revelation of Mahler’s soul three months short of his 50th birthday, and
at six o’clock every morning. Gustav and is “completely different” from the often upon finishing it he promptly plunged into the
Alma had already spent the summer of dreamlike expanses of his fairy-tale Fourth composition of yet another symphony. Instrumentation: four flutes and pic-
1908 there, where he recharged himself (which preceded the Ninth by a decade). Sadly, Mahler’s Tenth would remain an colo, three oboes (one doubling English
after an extended visit to conduct various Nevertheless, the two do share a sense of incomplete torso, leaving his Ninth to stand horn), three clarinets and E-flat clarinet
works at The Metropolitan Opera in New conveying something about the transience as a poignant swan song. The idea of this and bass clarinet, four bassoons (one
York. He was back in New York for the of life — perhaps somewhat fancifully in work as a sort of leave-taking seems rein- doubling contrabassoon), four horns, three
1908 season, conducting the New York the Fourth, certainly with unrestrained forced by its musical content; its principal trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani
Symphony as well as at The Met; near the emotion and sentiment in the Ninth. theme is derived from Beethoven’s Fare- (two pairs), cymbals, snare drum, bass
end of the season he also led the New Mahler was pushing himself to his well (Les Adieux) Piano Sonata, and the drum, tam-tam, triangle, orchestra bells,
York Philharmonic, which he had agreed limit through his overbooked calendar of symphony — particularly its opening and low-pitched chimes, two harps, and strings.
to take over as Music Director beginning conducting commitments, not to mention concluding movements, both of which are Mahler’s autograph uses a single harp, but
in the fall of 1909. The composition of the the physical and intellectual drain of his slow — is filled with intimations of yearning, Bruno Walter divided the part between two
Ninth Symphony therefore coincided with composing, and he was doing so against nostalgia, regret, despair, isolation, resigna- instruments, an arrangement that is used in
the beginning of his New York Philhar- doctors’ orders. The year 1907 had been tion, and even personal solace. these performances.
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 New York Philharmonic

ALAN GILBERT Marilyn Dubow Ru-Pei Yeh Alucia Scalzo++ BASS TROMBONE ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL
Music Director The Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Chair The Credit Suisse Chair Amy Zoloto++ James Markey MANAGER
The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair Martin Eshelman in honor of Paul Calello The Daria L. and William C. Foster Carl R. Schiebler
Quan Ge Wei Yu E-FLAT CLARINET
Chair
Case Scaglione The Gary W. Parr Chair Wilhelmina Smith++ STAGE REPRESENTATIVE
Pascual Martinez Forteza
Joshua Weilerstein Judith Ginsberg TUBA Joseph Faretta
Assistant Conductors Alan Baer
Stephanie Jeong+ BASSES BASS CLARINET
Timothy Cobb++ Principal
Hanna Lachert Amy Zoloto++ AUDIO DIRECTOR
Leonard Bernstein Acting Principal
Laureate Conductor, 1943–1990 Hyunju Lee Lawrence Rock
The Redfield D. Beckwith Chair TIMPANI
Joo Young Oh BASSOONS
Orin O’Brien* Markus Rhoten
Kurt Masur Daniel Reed Acting Associate Principal Judith LeClair Principal
* Associate Principal
Music Director Emeritus ** Assistant Principal
Mark Schmoockler The Herbert M. Citrin Chair Principal The Carlos Moseley Chair
+ On Leave
Na Sun The Pels Family Chair
Kyle Zerna** ++ Replacement/Extra
violins Kim Laskowski*
Vladimir Tsypin William Blossom
Glenn Dicterow The Ludmila S. and Carl B. Hess Roger Nye The New York Philharmonic uses
PERCUSSION
Concertmaster Chair
The Charles E. Culpeper Chair VIOLAS Arlen Fast Christopher S. Lamb the revolving seating method for
Randall Butler section string players who are listed
Sheryl Staples Cynthia Phelps Principal
alphabetically in the roster.
Principal David J. Grossman CONTRABASSOON The Constance R. Hoguet Friends of
Principal Associate Concertmaster
The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Satoshi Okamoto Arlen Fast the Philharmonic Chair
Chair Daniel Druckman* HONORARY MEMBERS
Michelle Kim OF THE SOCIETY
Assistant Concertmaster Rebecca Young* FLUTES HORNS The Mr. and Mrs. Ronald J. Ulrich Chair
The William Petschek Family Chair Irene Breslaw** Robert Langevin Kyle Zerna Emanuel Ax
Philip Myers
Enrico Di Cecco The Norma and Lloyd Chazen Chair Principal Principal Pierre Boulez
Carol Webb Dorian Rence The Lila Acheson Wallace Chair The Ruth F. and Alan J. Broder Chair HARP Stanley Drucker
Yoko Takebe Sandra Church* Stewart Rose++* Nancy Allen Lorin Maazel
Katherine Greene Mindy Kaufman Acting Associate Principal Principal Zubin Mehta
Cara Kizer Aneff The Mr. and Mrs. William T. Knight III
Hae-Young Ham The Mr. and Mrs. William J. Carlos Moseley
McDonough Chair Chair
The Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. George PICCOLO R. Allen Spanjer
Chair Dawn Hannay Mindy Kaufman Howard Wall
KEYBOARD
Lisa GiHae Kim Vivek Kamath David Smith++ In Memory of Paul Jacobs
Kuan Cheng Lu Peter Kenote OBOES
Newton Mansfield Kenneth Mirkin Liang Wang TRUMPETS HARPSICHORD
The Edward and Priscilla Pilcher Judith Nelson Principal Philip Smith Paolo Bordignon
Chair The Alice Tully Chair
Robert Rinehart Principal
Kerry McDermott The Mr. and Mrs. G. Chris Andersen Sherry Sylar* The Paula Levin Chair
PIANO
Anna Rabinova Chair Robert Botti Matthew Muckey* The Karen and Richard S. LeFrak
The Lizabeth and Frank Newman Ethan Bensdorf
Charles Rex Chair
CELLOS Chair
The Shirley Bacot Shamel Chair Thomas V. Smith -
Fiona Simon Carter Brey Jonathan Feldman
Principal ENGLISH HORN
Sharon Yamada TROMBONES
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels -
Elizabeth Zeltser Chair The Joan and Joel Smilow Chair Joseph Alessi ORGAN
The William and Elfriede Ulrich Chair Principal
Eileen Moon* Kent Tritle
Yulia Ziskel The Gurnee F. and Marjorie L. Hart
The Paul and Diane Guenther Chair CLARINETS
Chair
Eric Bartlett Ricardo Morales LIBRARIANS
Daniele Morandini++*
Marc Ginsberg The Shirley and Jon Brodsky Principal Designate Lawrence Tarlow
Acting Associate Principal
Principal Foundation Chair Mark Nuccio Principal
David Finlayson
Lisa Kim* Maria Kitsopoulos Acting Principal Sandra Pearson**
The Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen
In Memory of Laura Mitchell The Edna and W. Van Alan Clark
Chair
Chair Sara Griffin**
Soohyun Kwon Elizabeth Dyson
The Joan and Joel I. Picket Chair The Mr. and Mrs. James E. Buckman Chair Pascual Martinez Forteza*
Duoming Ba Acting Associate Principal
Sumire Kudo The Honey M. Kurtz Family Chair
Qiang Tu
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 The Music Director

New York Philharmonic Music Director nies, a residency at London’s Barbican Director of Conducting and Orchestral Stud- magazine. Mr. Gilbert studied at Harvard
Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Centre, tours to Europe and California, and ies at The Juilliard School, where he is the University, The Curtis Institute of Music,
Chair, began his tenure in September a season-concluding musical explora- first to hold the William Schuman Chair in and Juilliard, and was assistant conductor
2009, creating what New York magazine tion of space at the Park Avenue Armory Musical Studies. Conductor Laureate of the of The Cleveland Orchestra (1995–97).
called “a fresh future for the Philharmon- featuring Stockhausen’s theatrical immer- Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra In May 2010 he received an Honorary
ic.” The first native New Yorker to hold the sion, Gruppen. He also made his Philhar- and Principal Guest Conductor of Ham- Doctor of Music degree from Curtis, and
post, he has sought to make the Orches- monic soloist debut performing J.S. Bach’s burg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, he regu- in December 2011 he received Columbia
tra a point of civic pride for both the city Concerto for Two Violins alongside Frank larly conducts the world’s leading orchestras, University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award for
and the country. Peter Zimmermann in October 2011. Last such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, his “exceptional commitment to the per-
Mr. Gilbert’s creative approach to pro- season’s highlights included two tours of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Or- formance of works by American compos-
gramming combines works in fresh and European music capitals, Carnegie Hall’s chestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. ers and to contemporary music.”
innovative ways. He has forged artistic 120th Anniversary Concert, and Janáček’s Alan Gilbert made his acclaimed Met-
partnerships, introducing the positions of The Cunning Little Vixen, hailed by The ropolitan Opera debut in 2008 leading
The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in- Washington Post as “another victory,” John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, the DVD
Residence and The Mary and James G. building on 2010’s wildly successful stag- of which was nominated for a Grammy
Wallach Artist-in-Residence, an annual ing of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, which Award for Best Opera Recording in 2011.
three-week festival, and CONTACT!, the The New York Times called “an instant Other recordings have garnered Grammy
new-music series. In 2011–12 he con- Philharmonic milestone.” Award nominations and top honors from
ducts world premieres, Mahler sympho- In September 2011 Alan Gilbert became the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone
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 New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic, founded On the Transmigration of Souls; Melinda The New York Philharmonic This Week
in 1842 by a group of local musicians Wagner’s Trombone Concerto; Esa-Pekka — syndicated nationally and internation-
led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, Salonen’s Piano Concerto; Magnus Lind- ally 52 weeks per year, and available
is by far the oldest symphony orchestra berg’s EXPO and Al largo; Wynton Marsa- at [Link]. It continues its television
in the United States, and one of the lis’s Swing Symphony (Symphony No. 3); presence on Live From Lincoln Center on
oldest in the world. It currently plays Christopher Rouse’s Odna Zhizn; and, by PBS, and in 2003 made history as the
some 180 concerts a year, and on May 5, the end of the 2010–11 season, 11 works first symphony orchestra ever to perform
2010, gave its 15,000th concert — a in CONTACT!, the new-music series. live on the Grammy Awards. Since 1917
milestone unmatched by any other sym- The roster of composers and conductors the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000
phony orchestra in the world. who have led the Philharmonic includes recordings, and in 2004 became the
Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko such historic figures as Theodore Thomas, first major American orchestra to offer
Nagae Ceschina Chair, began his tenure Antonín Dvořák, Gustav Mahler (music di- downloadable concerts, recorded live.
in September 2009, the latest in a dis- rector 1909–11), Otto Klemperer, Richard Since June 2009 more than 50 concerts
tinguished line of 20th-century musical Strauss, Willem Mengelberg (Music Direc- have been released as downloads, and
giants that has included Lorin Maazel tor 1922–30), Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo the Philharmonic’s self-produced record-
(2002–09); Kurt Masur (Music Director Toscanini (Music Director 1928–36), Igor ings will continue with Alan Gilbert and the
1991–2002, Music Director Emeritus Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Bruno Walter New York Philharmonic: 2011–12 Season,
since 2002); Zubin Mehta (1978–91); (Music Advisor 1947–49), Dimitri Mitro- comprising 12 releases. Famous for its
Pierre Boulez (1971–77); and Leonard poulos (Music Director 1949–58), Klaus long-running Young People’s Concerts, the
Bernstein (appointed Music Director in Tennstedt, George Szell (Music Advisor Philharmonic has developed a wide range
1958; given the lifetime title of Laureate 1969–70), and Erich Leinsdorf. of educational programs, among them the
Conductor in 1969). Long a leader in American musical life, School Partnership Program that enriches
Since its inception the Orchestra has the Philharmonic has become renowned music education in New York City, and
championed the new music of its time, around the globe, appearing in 430 cities Learning Overtures, which fosters interna-
commissioning and/or premiering many in 63 countries on 5 continents. Under tional exchange among educators.
important works, such as Dvořák’s Alan Gilbert’s leadership, the Orchestra Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of
Symphony No. 9, From the New World; made its Vietnam debut at the Hanoi Op- the New York Philharmonic.
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3; era House in October 2009. In February
Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; and 2008 the Philharmonic, conducted by then
Copland’s Connotations. The Philharmonic Music Director Lorin Maazel, gave a his-
has also given the U.S. premieres of such toric performance in Pyongyang, D.P.R.K.,
works as Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 8 earning the 2008 Common Ground
and 9 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4. This Award for Cultural Diplomacy. In 2012 the
pioneering tradition has continued to the Philharmonic becomes an International
present day, with works of major contem- Associate of London’s Barbican Centre.
porary composers regularly scheduled The Philharmonic has long been a me-
each season, including John Adams’s Pu- dia pioneer, having begun radio broadcasts
litzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning in 1922, and is currently represented by

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 New York Philharmonic

Executive Producer: Vince Ford

Producers: Lawrence Rock and Mark Travis
Recording and Mastering Engineer: Lawrence Rock
Assistant Producer: Nick Bremer

Photos of Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: Chris Lee

Thomas Adès's Polaris used with permission from Faber Music, LTD and EAMD LLC

Major funding for this recording is provided to the New York Philharmonic by
Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser.

Alan Gilbert, Music Director, holds The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair.

Major support provided by the Francis Goelet Fund.

Exclusive timepiece of the New York Philharmonic

Classical 105.9 FM WQXR is the Radio Home of the New York Philharmonic.

Instruments made possible, in part, by The Richard S. and Karen LeFrak Endowment Fund.

Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Steinway is the Official Piano of the New York Philharmonic and Avery Fisher Hall.
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 New York Philharmonic

Performed, produced, and distributed

by the New York Philharmonic
© 2012 New York Philharmonic

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