Past concerts
Inaugural Concert
September 20 | David Geffen Hall
Join the New York Philharmonic’s 2018 Opening Gala Concert, welcoming Jaap van Zweden in his inaugural concert as music director. Daniil Trifonov solos in Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in G. The Rite of Spring roars to life with visceral rhythms and the raw energy of ancient Russian rituals. And you’ll witness the World Premiere of an adventurous new work by “arresting” (The New Yorker) and “moving” (The New York Times) composer Ashley Fure, written for this momentous occasion.
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Trifonov, Beethoven, and Stravinsky
September 21, 22, 25 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden conducts a program featuring Daniil Trifonov (‘a brilliant, uncommonly poetic soloist’ — The New York Times) in Beethoven’s majestic and powerful “Emperor Concerto”. Then “The Rite of Spring” roars to life with visceral rhythms and the raw energy of ancient Russian rituals as spring crackles through the frozen Russian earth. And you’ll witness the World Premiere of an adventurous new work by “arresting” (The New Yorker) and “moving” (The New York Times) composer Ashley Fure.
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Free Open Rehearsal
September 27 | David Geffen Hall
As a gift to the citizens of New York, and to enable even more New Yorkers to meet Jaap, the Philharmonic will present a Free Open Rehearsal on September 27, 2018, as a gift from Jaap van Zweden and the Orchestra. After the rehearsal, Maestro van Zweden will stay onstage for a chat with President and CEO Deborah Borda and Conrad Tao. Free general admission tickets for the Open Rehearsal are available on a first come, first serve basis, one per person, starting that morning at 9:00 a.m. on Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza. The first fans to arrive in line can expect some prices, and raffles and other activities on the Plaza will begin at 8:00 a.m.
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Jaap van Zweden conducts the New York Philharmonic with Cynthia Phelps as soloist performing New York Premiere of Julia Adolphe’s Unearth, Release (Concerto for Viola and Orchestra) at David Geffen Hall, 11/17/16 © Photo by Chris Lee
Bruckner’s Symphony No.8 & World Premiere of Conrad Tao’s Everything Must Go
September 27, 28 | David Geffen Hall
‘Beauty is what Bruckner is talking about,’ says Jaap van Zweden. In the “Eighth Symphony” beauty takes many forms: its gradual unfolding, burnished brass sonorities, soaring lyricism, and triumphant ending. Conrad Tao was thinking cinematically when he composed his “curtain raiser” — reminiscent of an overture to a magnificent musical — excitedly anticipating Bruckner’s grand narrative to come.
Everything Must Go was commissioned by the Philharmonic as a prelude to Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, including the same instrumentation. Conrad Tao responded to the metaphor of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony as a cathedral of sound, imagining that structure coming to life and then decaying. He also took inspiration from other preludes, including classic French overtures and movie title sequences. Though he did not deliberately quote Bruckner in Everything Must Go, the composer acknowledges “happy accidents” where his work echoes Bruckner’s harmonic and rhythmic structures. “The deadliest brief is, ‘You can do anything you want.’ That is the most terrifying thing to hear,” Conrad Tao said. “I think creativity is spurred on by boundaries.”
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The Art of Andriessen
October 4, 5, 6 | David Geffen Hall
The power and beauty of nature come to life in Debussy’s richly evocative seascape — from shimmering light dancing on calm waters to the drama of crashing waves. Also, Leila Josefowicz (“ferociously intense playing” — The Guardian) stars in Stravinsky’s “Violin Concerto.” Louis Andriessen promises to engage you in the compelling musical language of his new work, as he will present the World Premiere of “Agamemnon” during these concerts.
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Sound ON: Going Dutch
October 7 | The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Sound ON is the new-music series where both sound and stimulation are set to “on,” with views of Central Park from The Appel Room. At “Going Dutch,” get a closer look at the rebellious spirit of Dutch contemporary composer Louis Andriessen. Hosted and curated by Nadia Sirota, and featuring Jaap van Zweden. Next to Louis Andriessen and Jaap van Zweden, other Dutch influences will similarly surface this night: Martijn Padding and Vanessa Lann are featured as well.
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Louis Andriessen © Francesca Patella
Britten & Shostakovich
November 29, 30; December 4 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden leads the Orchestra in Shostakovich’s “Leningrad Symphony”, born under the sign of war. Its unremitting march rhythms, alongside music of indomitable hope and triumph, guarantee a gripping experience. Simone Lamsma performs Britten’s Violin Concerto — you’ll experience pyrotechnics along with melodies of haunting beauty and poignancy. Moreover, this performance will be the Dutch violinist’s debut performance with the Philharmonic, making the concerts unmissable.
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Mozart’s Symphony No.40
December 6, 7, 8 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden leads Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40”, one of his magnificent “trilogy” of final symphonies, that speaks in his most personal voice, continuing to have a profound emotional impact. Artist-in-residence Matthias Goerne (“today’s leading interpreter of German art songs” — Chicago Tribune) compellingly interprets beloved songs by Schubert and Richard Strauss.
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New Year’s Even: Viennese Ball
December 31 | David Geffen Hall
Ring in the New Year with the New York Philharmonic and Music Director Jaap van Zweden reveling in a celebration of Viennese and popular classics.
Program TBA.
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Jaap van Zweden conducts New York Philharmonic’s 2017-18 Opening Night conert at David Geffen Hall, 9/19/17. Photo by Chris Lee
Beethoven & Rachmaninoff
January 16, 18, 19, 22 | David Geffen Hall
Conducted by Jaap van Zweden, Rachmaninoff’s deeply Romantic symphony envelops the listener with sweeping melodies, lush orchestrations, and inspired lyrical passages. Yefim Bronfman solos in Beethoven’s “Second Piano Concerto”, where the spirit of Mozart hovers over dramatic emotions and muscular language.
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Fire in my mouth
January 24, 25, 26 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden conducts Julia Wolfe’s immersive visual and musical event — featuring lights, chamber choir, video, and projection — that explores a seminal event in New York City, the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 that killed more than 100 young immigrants.
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Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Ax
January 30, 31; February 1, 2 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden conducts symphonic “bookends” by Mozart — his first, composed at age eight, and his final and grandest, the 41st, aptly named for the king of the gods. Emanuel Ax returns for a musical doubleheader: Haydn’s most popular piano concerto, ranging from poetic passages to a Hungarian rondo in its finale, and Stravinsky’s Capriccio — a wild fusion of Baroque touches and jazzy romp.
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Brahms’s “A German Requiem”
February 7, 8, 9 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden conducts “A German Requiem”, Brahms’s moving musical statement about the human condition. On first hearing, this work composer-pianist Clara Schumann wrote to Brahms, ‘I am completely filled with your Requiem,” and rhapsodized over its “profound seriousness, … magic and poetry.’
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Jaap van Zweden conducts New York Philharmonic’s 2017-18 Opening Night conert at David Geffen Hall, 9/19/17. Photo by Chris Lee
Insights at the Atrium
March 20 | David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Jaap van Zweden discusses the path towards his inaugural season at the NY Philharmonic, the core values he brings to his musicianship and the Orchestra, and his views on the role of the symphony orchestra in the 21st century.
Brahms’s First Symphony
March 21, 23, 26 | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden leads Brahms’s intrepid “First Symphony”, a lyrical, bold, and brilliant masterpiece in which he triumphs with a voice all his own. Artist-in-residence Matthias Goerne sings John Adams’s setting of Whitman’s poignant verses that recall his comforting the sick and dying in America’s Civil War.
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Maurizio Pollini with the NY Philharmonic
March 27 | David Geffen Hall
One night only with Pollini and the New York Philharmonic, featuring Romantic masterpieces by Beethoven and Schumann. What is more, the concert opens with the “Cyrano de Bergerac Overture” by Dutch composer Johan Wagenaar.
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Phil the Hall
April 4, 5, 6 (2x) | David Geffen Hall
Jaap van Zweden and the Philharmonic welcome an array of New Yorkers to these special performances, bringing together the noble doers, dreamers, and everyday heroes of our great and diverse city. We extend a warm invitation to all those on whom we depend — those who devote their talents to teaching, who respond first, volunteer, give back, and work in public service.
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Mahler’s Symphony No.6
April 11, 12, 13 | David Geffen Hall
Mahler’s Sixth — a heart-stopping tour de force for virtuoso orchestra — discloses its tragedy slowly and dramatically: passages of great beauty and calm; violins soaring in the “Alma theme” (a portrait of the composer’s wife); and the sound of distant cowbells as if from alpine pastures. But in the end, Mahler revealed, prophetic hammer-blows of fate ‘fell [the hero] like the stroke of an axe.’
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© Roger Neve
Beethoven’s “Eroica”
May 22, 23, 25, 28 | David Geffen Hall
Feel the power of Beethoven’s Eroica, forever linked to Napoleon — nearly its dedicatee — until he crowned himself emperor. His moral compass thus betrayed, the enraged composer’s dedication would instead celebrate “the memory of a great man.” Jaap van Zweden also conducts music by Shostakovich, who labored under the tyranny of Stalin’s regime.
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The Annual Free Memorial Day Concert
May 27 | The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
The free Memorial Day Concert at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine features Bruckner’s Eighth. ‘Beauty is what Bruckner is talking about,’ says Jaap van Zweden. In this symphon,y beauty takes many forms: its gradual unfolding, burnished brass sonorities, soaring lyricism, and a triumphant ending. An inspiring, spiritual way to remember those who died while serving in America’s armed forces.
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