Concert Review: A Valediction, Forbidding Mourning

Bernard Haitink conducts Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The great Bernard Haitink at the controls of the New York Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2014 The New York Philharmonic.

At 87 years old, Bernard Haitink is a dean among active conductors still appearing on the podiums of the world's great concert halls. He still works regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra and he visits the New York Philharmonic in David Geffen Hall every other year. On Tuesday night, Mr. Haitink led the fourth and final performance this season of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9. As the audience sat, rapt for almost an hour and a half, one wondered if this was the Dutch conductor's last New York performance of this touchstone work.

Concert Preview: April 2016 at the New York Philharmonic

Mahler and Musical Marvels at David Geffen Hall
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The maestro: Bernard Haitink returns to the Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2014 New York Philharmonic.

As the concert season hits its spring homestretch, Superconductor blows the dust off an old idea, a comprehensive concert calendar previewing what's coming up with a given organization or venue. In this case, we're previewing the month of April at the New York Philharmonic, which offers five seperate subscription concerts at its longtime home David Geffen Hall.

Recordings Review: The Power of the Dude

Gustavo Dudamel's Mahler Ninth and Seventh.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Gustavo Dudamel. Photo by Chris Lee.

In today's dwindling music industry, symphony recordings are becoming more and more infrequent. This makes the Deutsche Grammophon release of new recordings of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 9 important documents in charting the development of a young conductor. These two releases (both were recorded in 2012) under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel feature the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra (in the Seventh) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (in the Ninth the two orchestras where Mr. Dudamel occupies the post of Artistic Director.