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Serious Classical Music Plus Comedy?

Orchestra concerts don't usually leave people laughing.  But, as WRTI’s Susan Lewis reports, some contemporary composers are combining serious music with comedy. Berlin Philharmonic Music Director Sir Simon Rattle is introducing innovative works to audiences in Germany, and brings an example with him in his upcoming visit to Philadelphia.

On May 16th, 18th and 19th, Maestro Rattle conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in a program that includes the music of Beethoven, Ligeti, Webern, and Berg.

RattleSLLF.mp3
Listen to Maestro Rattle’s interview with Susan from 2012, when he looked ahead to this visit in Philadelphia.

Susan writes and produces stories about music and the arts. She’s host and producer of WRTI’s TIME IN online interview series, and contributes weekly intermission interviews for The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert series. She’s also been a regular host of WRTI’s Live from the Performance Studio sessions.