Event is Live
Carnegie Hall Presents

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Friday, May 31, 2024 8 PM Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Yannick Nézet-Séguin by Jessica Griffin, Mitsuko Uchida by Geoffroy Schied
The Philadelphia Orchestra performs seminal works by Ravel and Debussy, and continues its celebrated partnership with Valerie Coleman with the New York premiere of her Concerto for Orchestra, “Renaissance.” Debussy’s La mer is a perennial favorite, an impressionistic landmark of shimmering colors and suggestive harmonies. Ravel’s jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G Major is a joyful and varied masterpiece, and this ensemble gave its New York premiere in 1932 on this very stage. With this concert, the brilliant Mitsuko Uchida joins a great lineage of pianists to perform it here with this orchestra.

Part of: Mitsuko Uchida

Performers

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music and Artistic Director
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano

Program

RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major

VALERIE COLEMAN Concerto for Orchestra, "Renaissance" (NY Premiere)

DEBUSSY La mer


Encore:

R. SCHUMANN "Aveu" from Carnaval, Op. 9

Event Duration

The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating before intermission.

Listen to Selected Works

Sponsored by United Airlines®, Official Airline of Carnegie Hall

At a Glance

Maurice Ravel was at the height of his international fame in 1928 when he toured America, where he deepened his enthusiasm for jazz. Upon his return to France, he began composing the Piano Concerto in G Major, which he interrupted to write the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, both pieces jazz-inspired.

The concert continues with the New York premiere of a Philadelphia Orchestra co-commission: the Concerto for Orchestra, “Renaissance,” the fifth piece American composer Valerie Coleman has written for the Philadelphians. The concerto for orchestra is a tradition that dates back to the Baroque era and that found new expression in the past century. Coleman says that this work “is centered on honoring and reflecting upon the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance.”

Composers tend not to like labels, and it is perhaps understandable that Claude Debussy rejected the term “Impressionism” when it was first applied to his works. Yet equally understandable is that critics and listeners would make connections between his music and currents in French painting of his time.
La Mer, subtitled “symphonic sketches,” shows his marvelous ability to evoke three scenes associated with the sea: “From Dawn to Midday at Sea,” “Play of the Waves,” and “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea.”

Bios

The Philadelphia Orchestra

The world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra strives to share the transformative power of music with the widest possible audience, and to create joy, connection, and excitement through music ...

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Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is currently in his 12th season with The Philadelphia Orchestra, serving as music and artistic director. An inspired leader, Yannick is both an ...

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Mitsuko Uchida

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, R. Schumann, and Beethoven, as well as a devotee of the piano music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, ...

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