Concert Review: Conducting Well is the Best Revenge

Alan Gilbert returns the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

He's back: Alan Gilbert returned to the New York Philharmonic last week.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic celebrated the 175th year of its existence this week with a traditional, decidedly 19th century program of Weber, Mozart and Beethoven. The choices on the program were clearly meant to echo those early Philharmonic days, when Uri Corelli Hill led the ensemble in concerts at the Apollo Rooms down on Broadway. Leading this pleasant but most conservative concert: former favorite son and former music director Alan Gilbert, who ended his tenure at the helm of America's oldest orchestra earlier this year.

Concert Review: A Calmer, Simpler, More Nervous Time

Alan Gilbert revisits The Age of Anxiety.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Very, very nervous: Makoto Ozone (at piano) and conductor Alan Gilbert bring The Age of Anxiety
to the New York Philharmonic. Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 New York Philharmonic.

Americans who do not live in the bubbling cauldron of New York City, claim to long for a simpler, easier time. When picket fences were white, the mail was delivered regularly, and people's lives echoed the covers of trite magazines sold in supermarket checkout lines. However, New Yorkers know different. That difference was on proud display Saturday night as Alan Gilbert led the second of three programs at the New York Philharmonic dedicated to the music of Leonard Bernstein.

Concert Review: Baton Man Returns

Alan Gilbert is back...to open the Bernstein's Philharmonic festival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert returned to the New York Philharmonic this week.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The New York Philharmonic.

Of the clouds gathered lately over the New York Philharmonic, the darkest has surely been the departure of music director Alan Gilbert last season. Mr. Gilbert, the son of two orchestra members who was hailed as a breath of fresh air when he was hired, ended his time with the Philharmonic in June of 2017, after a relatively brief tenure of eight years. This week marked the conductor's first concerts with his old band since his exit. It was also the first program inBernstein's Philharmonic: a three-week festival celebrating the centennial of the orchestra's most famous and most beloved music director.

Concert Review: Exit Under Fireworks

Alan Gilbert leads the Concerts in the Parks.
by Paul J. Pelkonenppelkonen@gmail.com

And he's out. Alan Gilbert gave his last Central Park concert as music director
on Wednesday night. Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 New York Philharmonic.

Alan Gilbert gave his final New York concerts as music director of the New York Philharmonic this week, leading the annual Concerts in the Parks series in four boroughs. Wednesday's concert on the Great Lawn of Central Park was blessed with magnificent weather: clear skies and 80 degrees. Perfect.

Summer Festival Preview: Concerts in the Parks

The New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert offer free music.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert (standing) leads the New York Philharmonic
at the Concerts in the Parks. Photo by Chris Lee.

The New York Philharmonic subscription series is ended, and with it the 2016-17 classical music season. However, we're not quite done yet. Tuesday night marks the start of the week-long Concerts in the Parks series, the last of Alan Gilbert's official duties as the orchestra's Music Director.

Concert Review: Exit in a Blaze of Glory

Alan Gilbert ends his tenure with Mahler’s Seventh.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert. Photo by Chris Lee. Photoshop by the author.

When it comes to the exit of Alan Gilbert from the post of Music Director after only eight years, the New York Philharmonic has put on its bravest face.  This week’s season-ending series of concerts, (promoted as “A Concert for Unity”) have featured starry opening acts for America’s oldest orchestra. Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble played Thursday night. On Friday, jazzmaster Wynton Marsalis took the stage, backed by a piano trio. (Saturday's concert, broadcast live on Facebook, featured the orchestra al fresco.) These concerts also mark the launch of a new orchestral initiative by Mr. Gilbert. A collaboration with the United Nations, this is the latest effort at bringing international musicians together in a search for better communication and diplomatic understanding.

Opera Review: Exit Over the Rainbow

Alan Gilbert's valediction continues with Das Rheingold.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The gods have a strategy session in Das Rheingold as Alan Gilbert (right) conducts.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The New York Philharmonic.

It wasn't even supposed to be Wagner.

A week ago, Michael Cooper of The New York Times wrote a lengthy feature about Alan Gilbert, the conductor who is in the midst of saying goodbye to the New York Philharmonic after eight storm-tossed years at its helm. This year, Mr. Gilbert had planned to present Olivier Messiaen's epic opera Saint-Francois d'Assisse giving New Yorkers a chance to hear this great work with Eric Owens in the title role.

This never happened.

Concert Review: Finding Joy at Last

Alan Gilbert conducts Beethoven and Schoenberg.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert at the helm of the New York Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee for the New York Philharmonic.

Since its beginnings in 2009, Alan Gilbert's tenure at the helm of the New York Philharmonic has been characterized by bold programming initiatives and a strength in the music of the 20th century. However, there have been mixed results with works of the core repertory of the 19th century, particularly in the symphonies of Beethoven. On Friday night, with his tenure nearing its end, Mr. Gilbert showed mastery of that most knotty of Beethoven symphonies: the No. 9 in D minor.

Concert Review: A Composer's Fancy

Alan Gilbert and Yo-Yo Ma premiere the Salonen Cello Concerto.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yo-Yo Ma onstage with the New York Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York premiere of a new concerto by a major composer is always an event. On Wednesday night at David Geffen Hall, that composer was the new music rock star Esa-Pekka Salonen, currently composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic. The work: his new Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. The soloist: Yo-Yo Ma, the most famous cellist in the world. Mr. Ma and Mr. Salonen played this work together on March 9, giving its world premiere in Chicago. Here, the conductor was Alan Gilbert.

Concert Review: Memories of the Adams Administration

The New York Philharmonic presents two sides of John Adams.

The composer John Adams. Photo by Margaretta Mitchell.

John Adams is no longer the nervy young composer who rode a minimalist wave to popularity with operas like Nixon in China. He is 70 now, and his belated birthday celebration was the subject of this week's set of all-Adams concerts at the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert. He was at Friday's matinee concert, a known quantity warmly greeted by an audience that is often hostile to any music written after 1910.

Concert Review: Ain't No Sunshine

Alan Gilbert takes on the Mahler Fourth.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

New York Philharmonic artist-in-residence Leonidas Kavakos played a new concerto by
Lera Auerback

In the online marketing materials for this week’s series of concerts at David Geffen Hall, featuring a new violin concerto by composer Lera Auerbach and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major, the orchestra’s promotion department referred to the latter as Mahler's “sunniest” work. However, as Friday nights concert under the baton of music director Alan Gilbert showed, this concert offered very little in the way of solar illumination.

Concert Review: Achilles' Last Stand

Alan Gilbert takes in the challenges of Beethoven and Brahms.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The pianist Stephen Hough joined the Mew York Philharmonic this week.
Photo by Hiroyuki Ito courtesy Harrison Parrott

In his time at the helm of the New York Philharmonic, music director Alam Gilbert has left a legacy of innovation and a commitment to modernity. However, his performances of warhorses by both Beethoven and Brahms have brought middling or muddled results. On Wednesday night, Mr. Gilbert got another chance to test his mettle with this music, leading the former’s Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor") and the latter's Third Symphony at David Geffen Hall.

Concert Review: No Funny Business

The New York Philharmonic premieres H.K. Gruber's Piano Concerto.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Emanuel Ax (left) Alan Gilbert (right) and the New York Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 The New York Philharmonic.

It's a new year at the New York Philharmonic, and the orchestra has wasted no time giving the first big premiere of 2017. Thursday night's concert featured the world premiere of a Piano Concerto by Austrian composer H.K. Gruber, with frequent visitor Emanuel Ax at the piano and music director Alan Gilbert back in his familiar place on the podium.

Concert Review: Swimming Against the Third Stream

The New York Philharmonic premieres (most of) Wynton Marsalis' new symphony.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Trombonist Joseph Alessi was the featured soloist at the New York Philharmonic on Wednesday night.
Photo by Chris Lee. Copyright 2016 The New York Philharmonic.

In 1957, the nexus between the tradition of European classical music and American jazz was dubbed the "third stream" by the late composer Gunther Schuller. On Wednesday night at the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert and his orchestra essayed this dangerous crossing with the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ new symphony The Jungle (Symphony No. 4). It shared the program with works by Aaron Copland and William Bolcom that also explored this juxtaposition of musical styles.

Concert Review: Two Sides of the Baton

Alan Gilbert conducts Bartòk, Ligeti and Beethoven.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Since taking the helm of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert has always presented listeners (professional or otherwise) with a frustrating paradox. For the conductor, who is in the early weeks of his final season as music director seems to be two very different conductors. He is composed and confident in modern music, exposing his audience to composers lie Magnus Lindberg and Györgi Ligeti. However, in more traditional, "classical" repertory he has faltered with slow tempos and muddled interpretations, specifically in the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms.

Concert Review: The Singer, the Princess and the Orchestra

Magdalena Kožená makes her Philharmonic debut.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená made her debut with the Philharmonic last week.
Photo by Harald Hoffmann © 2016 Deutsche Grammophon/UMG.

In his eight years at the helm of the New York Philharmonic, music director Alan Gilbert has had a mix of successes and failures. His strengths are with big, symphonic works and opera, with lesser results coming when he veers into the repertory of the baroque and classical periods. As he enters his final year leading the orchestra, Mr. Gilbert has wisely selected a series of concert programs that play to his strengths.

Concert Review: Settling Their Differences

The New York Philharmonic opens their 175th season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert is starting his last year as music director of the New York Philharmonic.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2016 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic opened its 175th season on Wednesday night with a concert built around Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, better known as the New World Symphony. The concert at David Geffen Hall marked the beginning of the orchestra's final season under the hand of music director Alan Gilbert, whose contract expires in June of next year. The concert was attended by music press, donors and glitterati, with the whole affair broadcast live on Facebook, another Philharmonic first.

Season Preview: It's a Bellwether Season!

The New York Philharmonic turns 175.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

No there really aren't giant bells hanging from the concert ceiling of David Geffen Hall.
That's photo alteration by the author.

Ring out the bells, real or imaginary: this is an important year for the New York Philharmonic. America's oldest orchestra celebrates 175 years of making music this year, even as it looks ahead to the coming renovations of David Geffen Hall and the end of an era as Alan Gilbert prepares to step down as music director.. The season opens tonight, so here's an overview of this exciting year to come.

On That Day

Brief Reflections on September 11.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

There's no escaping what day this is. This is the fifteenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, the day that terrorists hijacked four jet planes and destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. This is always a hard day for us New Yorkers.

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.