The Philadelphia Orchestra

Join us on Sunday, Dec. 5th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, Dec. 6th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 when conductor Nicholas McGegan—best known as a baroque and classical specialist—will be on the podium to conduct this 2018 concert broadcast featuring music not only of the baroque era, but also later re-imaginings of that past.

WRTI is proud to announce that Melinda Whiting, who is already a familiar voice to Philadelphia classical music listeners, will now be a steady presence on the air as midday classical host, weekdays from 10 AM to 2 PM.

Join us on Sunday, Nov. 28th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, Nov. 29th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 to hear this Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast from 2018 that brings you a work the Orchestra has performed as often as any in its history, the Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

A melody in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was made famous to fans of Eric Carmen’s pop tune “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” But in the symphony, that melody leads to one of the most beautiful, and difficult, clarinet solos in the literature. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has the story.

Lahav Shani followed Yannick Nézet-Séguin as principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in September of 2018 and has succeeded Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic as of 2020. A concert pianist, he has also studied and played the bass professionally. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has more on the young maestro and the story of how Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 led him into conducting.

Lahav Shani succeeded Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic in 2020, and became principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic back in 2018, taking over from Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Join us on Sunday, Nov. 21st at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, Nov. 22nd at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 to hear his Philadelphia Orchestra debut from March of that year.

Join us on Sunday, November 14th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, November 15th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 for an unforgettable Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert broadcast from 2017 featuring music by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and the East Coast premiere of an organ work by the Texan Wayne Oquin. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

In correspondence with a patron, Tchaikovsky confessed he was grappling with the idea of fate in his Symphony No. 4. The composer tried to make sense of his world with music that still resonates today. In this conversation from 2017, Yannick Nézet-Séguin talks with WRTI's Susan Lewis about this concept in Tchaikovsky's music.

Join us on on Sunday, November 7th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, November 8th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2, to hear a Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast from 2017 that brings you a work very familiar through recordings, but not often performed in the concert hall: Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Two composers—working centuries apart—come together in Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has the story about what became one of Vaughn Williams' most successful orchestral works.