Culture Magazine
The Metropolitan Opera is closed for ballet. Carnegie Hall is hosting graduation ceremonies. So the eyes and ears of New York's classical music cognoscenti turn to Avery Fisher Hall, the longtime home of the New York Philharmonic.
During Alan Gilbert's term as music director, June has become an exciting time for experimentation for New York's oldest orchestra. The ensemble offers an exciting slate of concerts, from the traditional (lots of Mozart) to the experimental (the season-ending Philharmonic 360 concerts, held in the Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory.
Here's what's scheduled:
On June 1 and 2, the Philharmonic offers performances of Carl Orff's massive Carmina Burana under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.
Starting on June 6, violinist Pinchas Zukerman leads a program of Bach, Mozart and Stravinsky, conducting from the violin.
June 8 is the return of CONTACT! the orchestra's new music initiative, with performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and on June 9th at Symphony Space. David Robertson leads the program which includes a world premiere by 103 year old composer Elliot Carter.
June 14 marks an exciting concert, with Leonidas Kavakos playing Korngold's Violin Concerto and a performance of Carl Nielsen's Sinfonia Espansiva, part of the conductor's project to record all six Nielsen symphonies with the orchestra.
The last subscription concert of the season focuses on Mozart, with next year's artist in residence Emanuel Ax playing the Piano Concerto No. 22. The mighty Great Mass in C Major ends the season in an uplifting key.
The most anticipated event of the season is Philarmonic 360, (June 29, 30) a huge concert at the Park Avenue Armory. The program": an exploration of "spatial music" for multiple ensembles, surrounding and enveloping the audience in the vast drill hall. With three conductors, this program marks the Philharmonic premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen, alongside the finale of Act I of Don Giovanni and Pierre Boulez' Ritual in Memoriam Bruno Madera.
