Join us on Sunday, September 18th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, September 19th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert series brings you a performance recorded live in December, 2021.
Conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the concert is marked by an underlying emphasis on the brass sections of the orchestra, so beautifully deployed by Johannes Brahms in his Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68.
Opening the program is the world premiere of the jazzy, dancing Tuba Concerto that Pulitzer-winning composer Wynton Marsalis wrote especially for Philadelphia Orchestra principal tuba Carol Jantsch.
In between the two works, we’ll take a chamber music break and hear three beautiful songs by William Grant Still played by Philadelphia Orchestra musicians Jennifer Montone, principal horn, and Kiyoko Takeuti, piano, as part of the orchestra’s “Our City, Your Orchestra” initiative.
Wynton Marsalis’s new concerto is a tour de force for the tuba — tough to play, and exhilarating for the audience to hear — with overtones of the blues and swing, as well as a blazing bebop-style finale. It showcases an instrument generally viewed as a supporting player, with breathtaking runs, extended techniques, and lyricism
Brahms started thinking about writing a first symphony when he was about 21, but it didn’t actually appear for more than two decades. Having been hailed very publicly as the natural successor to Beethoven, Brahms had big shoes to fill. Still, when the Symphony No. 1 in C minor finally appeared, it justified the expectations of the musical world, to the point that it has often been referred to as “Beethoven’s 10th.” And having conquered his self-doubt, Brahms produced three more magnificent symphonies in the years that followed.
Listen for interviews interspersed throughout the broadcast, as program producer Susan Lewis speaks with Carol Jantsch and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Detailed program notes from the concert
PROGRAM:
Marsalis: Tuba Concerto (world premiere)
Still: Three Songs for Horn and Piano
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Carol Jantsch, tuba
Jennifer Montone, horn
Kiyoko Takeuti, piano
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 on WRTI Replay.
