Join us on Sunday, August 28th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, August 29th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast brings you a performance recorded live in November, 2021.
Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most acclaimed violinists, headlines the program as both soloist and conductor.
Featured is one of the most popular of all concertos, Max Bruch’s beloved Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. Bell also offers an arrangement for violin and strings of Adoration, a lovely miniature by 20th-century African-American composer Florence Price.
He then steps onto the podium to lead the Philadelphians in Felix Mendelssohn’s sunny Symphony No. 4 in A major, the “Italian,” written as a reminiscence of the composer’s travels south.
Bell has a long relationship with The Philadelphia Orchestra, having made his professional debut with the ensemble 40 years ago, at age 14 in a concert conducted by Riccardo Muti. Over time he took up the baton, and has served as music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields for over a decade.
Producer Susan Lewis speaks with Bell during the broadcast about his dual role as soloist and conductor, and how he made music during the pandemic shutdown when concerts were canceled.
We’ll also bring you some chamber music by Rossini, played by Philadelphia Orchestra musicians at Taller Puertorriqueno, a community arts center in North Philadelphia, as part of the Orchestra’s “Our City, Your Orchestra” initiative.
Read detailed program notes from the concert here.
PROGRAM:
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Price, arr. Gray: Adoration
Rossini: Wind Quartet No. 6
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 (“Italian”)
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Joshua Bell, conductor and soloist
Listen to The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts, every Sunday at 1 PM 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 PM on WRTI HD-2. Listen for up to two weeks after broadcast onWRTI Replay.