We have quite a re-broadcast in store for you on Sunday, September 6, at 1 pm! The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert will feature Week Two of the ensemble’s St. Petersburg Festival, from late January of this year. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts.
You'll hear several beloved works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, who made his first U.S. appearance at the Academy of Music here in Philadelphia, in 1909, conducting his new Second Symphony, a perfect showcase for the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He fell in love with the Orchestra’s lush tone, and from that point on, often composed with the sound of the Philadelphians in mind. That same Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 will grace WRTI’s airwaves on Sunday.
Also, his Prelude in C-sharp minor—a famous piece, often called for as an encore when Rachmaninoff was at the keyboard—takes on an even more foreboding tone in the orchestration by Leopold Stokowski that we’ll hear Sunday, never before played on subscription.
Listen to Vladimir Ashkenazy play Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor:
The Philadelphia Orchestra:
The Philadelphians have a notable history of premiering major historic works (they gave the world premieres of six works by Rachmaninoff alone). And in that spirit, this Sunday’s program also includes the North American premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s jazz-tinged and rhythmic new Piano Concerto. The Miles Davis-inspired composer wrote the piece for pianist Marc-André Hamelin who, along with Yannick and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, gave it its world premiere in Rotterdam in 2013.
Detailed program notes from The Philadelphia Orchestra
Not to be missed! That’s Sunday at 1 pm. Yannick Nezet-Seguin is on the podium.
PROGRAM:
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2, orch. Stokowski
Turnage: Piano Concerto, I. Rondo-Variations, II. Last Lullaby for Hans, III. A Grotesque Burlesque
INTERMISSION
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
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.
