WRTI presents a special two-week series on The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert, beginning Sunday, March 22 at 1 p.m. on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2. The Philadelphia Orchestra at 125 celebrates the 125th anniversary season of this storied ensemble, examining the evolution of “the Philadelphia Sound” through the performances and comments of the conductors who have nurtured it.
This legendary sound has been created over 125 years of collaboration under the leadership of a mere eight music directors, some with unusually long terms, like Leopold Stokowski (28 years) and Eugene Ormandy (44 years). Just as crucial to this ensemble’s enduring personality are the hundreds of dedicated musicians who have played in its ranks, many with long tenures of their own. Their overlapping experience and rich institutional memory have led to an extraordinary continuity, as we also explore this week through a companion piece in our series Let Freedom Ring.
In these specials, we’ll hear the Orchestra’s music-making both in recordings and concerts through all the eras since its first recording more than a century ago. And we’ll hear the voices of most of the eight music directors who guided them through this remarkable history. Featured are archival interviews with Stokowski and Ormandy from the 1960s, as well as my own interviews with Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch from the 1990s, and more recent conversations with Christoph Eschenbach and the current music and artistic director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
It’s been great fun for me personally to put these programs together, combing through these fascinating conversations and poring over the fantastic archive of performances available. For a long period the Philadelphians were the world’s most recorded ensemble, offering a rich resource to draw on. The Orchestra’s own live performances, some released commercially and others from WRTI’s broadcast archive, bring their own piquant flavors to the menu.
The playlist of the first episode includes a highlight from Fantasia, Stokowski’s famous collaboration with Walt Disney and his army of animators, as well as the charismatic conductor’s absorbing take on Wagner. There’s also a spotlight on Ormandy’s Hungarian heritage and his relationship with Sergei Rachmaninoff, and a sample of Muti’s white-hot way with Verdi.
In the second program, airing Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m. on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, March 30 at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2, Sawallisch’s elegant and sympathetic interpretations of Dvorak and Schumann come to the fore, as well as dramatic Tchaikovsky from Eschenbach. And we’ll look back on some stylish Mozart from Yannick, as well as the Orchestra’s recent focus on oft-overlooked Black composers. That’s just a taste of an amazing legacy, of course. Some of my favorite performances that couldn’t fit into the two programs will pop up in the playlists for middays at 10:30 a.m. during the weeks of March 16 and 23.
I’ve observed The Philadelphia Orchestra at close range for more than four decades. My first Philadelphia concert ticket was a nosebleed-section Friday-afternoon seat for an Ormandy return appearance, and I can recall so many memorable concerts since — more than I could ever describe during these special programs, though a few special memories found their way in. Be sure to tune in for some unforgettable listening! (Both programs will also be available for two weeks after initial airing. On WRTI’s home page, scroll down to “Listen to The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on Demand” to catch what you may have missed.)
WRTI PRODUCTION TEAM:
Melinda Whiting: Host
Alex Ariff: Senior Producer and Broadcast Engineer
Delia Joyce and Alana Beltran: Production Assistance
Tyler McClure, Robby Webb, and George Blood LP: Technical Assistance
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.
