On this Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast on Thursday, June 4th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 and Friday, June 5th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1, guest conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium, and the brilliant young French pianist Lise de la Salle, with whom Maestro Luisi has often collaborated, is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.
The program begins with the overture to Weber’s last opera, Oberon, which had its premiere in London in 1826, with Weber himself conducting. Weber was 38 years old, and dying, when he took up the commission to compose Oberon, against his doctor’s orders, and died before the successful performance run ended. It’s a wonderful opera, and all the themes and elements are right there in the overture—the magic horn, the Fairy Kingdom, and the rescue and flight with Rezia—all in perfect sonata form!
The concert concludes with a work that Maestro Luisi has always loved, Cesar Franck’s Symphony in D minor, which hasn’t been performed on a Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert in five years. So, Sunday is your chance to hear it!
Though Franck was Belgian by birth, his mother was German, and he had an affinity for German music, easily heard in this symphony that has been popular since its first performance.
During intermission, WRTI’s Debra Lew Harder speaks backstage with pianist Lise de la Salle, and Susan Lewis talks about the program with Fabio Luisi.
Read detailed program notes from the concert
PROGRAM:
Weber: Oberon Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Lise de la Salle, piano
INTERMISSION
Franck: Symphony in D minor
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Gregg Whiteside is producer and host of the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts on WRTI, every Sunday at 1 pm on WRTI 90.1 FM, online at WRTI.org, and on our new mobile app! NEW: rebroadcast of Sunday’s concert Monday at 7 pm on WRTI HD-2, as part of our new "Symphony at 7" lineup!
