Concert Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Bernstein

The New York Philharmonic opens Concerts in the Parks.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert conducts Joshua Bell (right) and the New York Philharmonic
in the opening night of Concerts in the Parks.

When you play classical music outdoors, the elements do not always cooperate.  On Wednesday night, 55,000+ New Yorkers gathered on the Great Lawn of Central Park to watch Alan Gilbert conduct a program of American classics, the opening shot of the New York Philharmonic's week-long Concerts in the Parks series. What they got was a shortened program, with long weather delays and two pieces omitted entirely from the ambitious program.

Concert Review: A Bittersweet Symphony

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

Alan Gilbert leads the New York Philharmonic.
This photo is from 2009 because it does not have the ugly new apartment
towersthat are ruining the Central Park South skyline on W. 57th St.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2009 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks are a celebrated event on this city's summer calendar, as well as a splendid marketing opportunity for Gotham's oldest orchestra. On Thursday night, New Yorkers filled the Great Lawn of Central Park for the first of two performances scheduled for that verdant venue, with press and friends of the orchestra (including yours truly) set forward on folding chairs near the stage and the masses sprawled on picnic blankets to hear the orchestra through a sophisticated audio system.

The Superconductor Summer Festival Preview Part II

The Lincoln Center Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and Mostly Mozart.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

In the summer months, Lincoln Center transforms into a bustling hub of social activity for music-loving New Yorkers. We break down the avant-garde offerings of the Lincoln Center Festival, New York Philharmonic's summer concerts, the Metropolitan Opera's summer screening program and the venerable Mostly Mozart Festival, transforming this Upper West Side plaza into a sort of Salzburg on the Hudson.