Concert Review: Freedom For Free

The New York Philharmonic plays Central Park.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert (left) conducts soloist Anthony McGill (right) and the New York
Philharmonic (foreground) in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2016 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Park are a proud 51-year tradition. This year though the concert took place under a cloud, and not the wispy bits of cirrus fluff that hovered high over the stage. The cloud: the June 12 massacre in Orlando, Florida.  At the start of this concert, Philharmonic music director  Alan Gilbert stepped forward to announce a program change for the evening. The loping, playful overture to Rossini's La Gazza Ladra ("The Thieving Magpie") had been scrapped in favor of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, in memoriam of the victims. The remainder of the evening: with a Mozart concerto and a Strauss tone poem, would proceed unaltered.

Concert Review: Reed It and Weep

Alan Gilbert wraps the Nielsen Project with the Clarinet Concerto.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Reed man: New Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill and friend.
Photo by David Finlayson.

The Clarinet Concerto ranks among the finest late compositional achievements of Carl Nielsen, the Danish symphonist who remains his country's best known musical export. As such, it was a natural choice to end The Nielsen Project, the ambitious endeavor of New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert to record all of the composer's major works (the six symphonies, the concertos and several overtures) for CD release on the Da Capo label.

Crossing the Plaza

The New York Philharmonic Acquires Two Met Principal Players.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bassist Timothy Cobb (left) and clarinetist Anthony McGill have left the
Metropolitan Opera to join the New York Philharmonic. Photoshop by the author. 

Two principal musicians of the Metropolitan Opera's orchestra are leaving the opera company and crossing Lincoln Center Plaza to join the New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic announced yesterday that clarinetist Anthony McGill and bassist Timothy Cobb have accepted principal positions with their orchestra, filling two important and vacant positions with the historic ensemble. The defection of Mr. McGill and Mr. Cobb comes as union talks between the Metropolitan Opera and the members of its orchestra are heating up.