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The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert kicks off a four-part archival series, From the Vault

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center on Oct. 4, 2013.
©2013 Chris Lee
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PO1CT518
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center on Oct. 4, 2013.

WRTI presents a special four-week series on The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert, beginning Sunday, Feb 9 at 1 p.m. on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, Feb 10 at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2. In recent weeks I’ve been combing the concert archives to bring you rediscovered performances from the past seasons, conducted by music and artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “From the Vault” features a broad variety of music, including several solo turns by celebrated orchestra principals and a couple of world-premieres commissioned by the orchestra. It’s been fascinating to look back on those years, and particularly to bring some seldom-played repertoire back to the surface.

Each show draws on several seasons. The first program opens with a performance from 2013, during Yannick’s first year leading the Philadelphians. Leoš Janáček’s brilliant Sinfonietta opens and closes with a muscular fanfare that shows off the virtuosity and flair of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s brass and percussion sections. In 1926, Janáček was celebrating the recently established independence of Czechoslovakia from the Empire of Austria-Hungary. He dedicated the Sinfonietta to his country’s army, and said it was intended to express "contemporary free man, his spiritual beauty and joy, his strength, courage and determination to fight for victory."

In another performance from 2013, the orchestra’s woodwind and horn sections are featured this week in Richard Strauss’ youthful Serenade in E-flat Major, Op. 7. The 17-year-old composer modeled the work on wind serenades of the Classical era. Yet this one-movement serenade already bears Strauss’ distinct and original musical voice, even as he seemed to channel Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart himself also appears on this week’s program, with a 2019 concert performance of his Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364. Featured are two distinguished soloists from the Philadelphia Orchestra: associate concertmaster Juliette Kang and principal viola Choong-Jin Chang. At the time Mozart composed this work in 1779 in Paris, the sinfonia concertante form was a recent invention, and he had likely heard examples by Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a leading Parisian musician of the time.

This initial “From the Vault” program concludes with an impassioned and monumental work by Antonín Dvořák, his Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70. The music dates from a period when the composer had attained wide acclaim and popularity in England, making several successful visits there. The Seventh Symphony was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and the composer conducted its wildly successful premiere in 1885. It’s a work of sweeping grandeur, magnificent orchestral color, irresistible melodies, and high drama – all in perfect balance.

Future broadcasts in this four-week series of The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert will feature celebrated ballet scores by Stravinsky and Prokofiev; symphonies by Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Franz Berwald; and the world-premiere performances of concertos by Behzad Ranjbaran and David Ludwig featuring Philadelphia Orchestra principals Jeffrey Khaner and Daniel Matsukawa.

PROGRAM:

Janáček: Sinfonietta

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364

R. Strauss: Serenade in in E-flat Major for 13 wind instruments, Op. 7

Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Juliette Kang, violin

Choong-Jin Chang, viola

WRTI PRODUCTION TEAM:

Melinda Whiting: Host

Alex Ariff: Senior Producer

Joseph Patti: Broadcast Engineer

Mel Spiegel and Kayla John: Production Assistants

Listen to The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts, every Sunday at 1 p.m. on WRTI 90.1, streaming at WRTI.org, on the WRTI mobile app, and on your favorite smart speaker. Listen again on Mondays at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2. Listen for up to two weeks after broadcast on WRTI Replay.

Melinda has worked in radio for decades, hosting and producing classical music and arts news. An award-winning broadcaster, she has created and hosted classical music programs and reported for NPR, WQXR—New York, WHYY–Philadelphia, and American Public Media. WRTI listeners may remember her years hosting classical music for WFLN and WHYY.