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The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI: Ax Plays Beethoven, Yannick Conducts, Sept. 27, 1 PM

Yannick Nezet-Seguin on the podium.

Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Vaughan Williams on this Sunday's Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert re-broadcast - a live concert recording from March, 2015 at Verizon Hall.

You'll hear one of Haydn’s most ambitious essays, the Symphony No. 92, known as the “Oxford” because he conducted a performance at the illustrious University in July 1791, when he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music.

Yannick talks about Haydn:

And it happened to be during that time that Haydn first got to know the young Beethoven, who became his intermittent student for several years.  Beethoven was just beginning to make a name for himself in Vienna, and his piano concertos were a crucial part of his growing stature.  

Emanuel Ax

On this concert, Philadelphia favorite Emanuel Axplays the Piano Concerto No. 3 , a transitional composition between Beethoven's early years, as heir to Mozart and Haydn, and his new, so-called heroic, middle period.

Following intermission, you'll hear a performance of  Symphony No. 4 of Ralph Vaughn-Williams, who – like Beethoven – wrote nine symphonies.  But this symphony represents quite a departure from his first three - no title or declared program, and its modernism proved a departure from the English pastoralism of his earlier works. The abstract composition was written during increasingly turbulent times, as Fascism loomed large in Europe.

During intermission, WRTI's Kile Smith speaks with Emanuel Ax, and WRTI's Susan Lewis has a conversation with the Orchestra's Principal Violist C.J. Chang.

POA051715Chang.mp3
Susan Lewis speaks with Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Violist CJ Chang.

That's this Sunday, September 27, from 1 to 3 pm on WRTI.

Detailed program notes from the concert

PROGRAM:   

Haydn: Symphony No. 92 ("Oxford")

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3    

Emanuel Ax, piano

INTERMISSION

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Listen to The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts every Sunday at 1 pm on WRTI 90.1 FM and online at WRTI.org. Gregg Whiteside is producer and host.

Gregg was the host of WRTI's morning drive show from 2012 until his retirement from WRTI in January, 2021. He began producing and hosting The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert broadcasts in 2013, joining the Orchestra in Hong Kong for the first-ever live international radio broadcasts from that island in 2016, and in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for two historic broadcasts in 2018. You can still hear Gregg as host of the Orchestra broadcasts every Sunday and Monday on WRTI.