DvorákMagnus LindbergTchaikovsky

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic

2011–12 Season

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Alan Gilbert, ConductorYefim Bronfman, Piano

Recorded live May 3–5, 2012Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

DVORÁK (1841–1904)

Carnival, Op. 92 (1891) 9:33

Magnus LINDBERG (b. 1958)

Piano Concerto No. 2 (2010–12; World Premiere–

New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with the Royal Concertgebouw

Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony) 28:41q = 60 11:49

q = 52 — q = 156 16:52YEFIM BRONFMAN

TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–93)

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877–78) 44:37Andante sostenuto — Moderato con anima 19:54

Andantino in modo di canzona 10:07

Scherzo. Pizzicato ostinato: Allegro 5:38

Finale: Allegro con fuoco 8:58

New York PhilharmonicAlan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic 2011–12 Season

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2011–12 Season — twelve live recordings of performances conducted by the Music Director, two of which feature guest con-ductors — reflects the passion and curiosity that mark the Orchestra today. Alan Gil-bert’s third season with the New York Phil-harmonic continues a voyage of exploration of the new and unfamiliar while reveling in the greatness of the past, in works that the Music Director has combined to form telling and intriguing programs.

Every performance reveals the chemistry that has developed between Alan Gilbert and the musicians, whom he has praised for having “a unique ethic, a spirit of want-ing to play at the highest level no matter what the music is, and that trans lates into an ability to treat an incredible variety of styles brilliantly.” He feels that audi-ences are aware of this, adding, “I have noticed that at the end of performances the ovations are often the loud est when

the Philharmonic musicians stand for their bow: this is both an acknowledgment of the power and beauty with which they per-form, and of their dedication and commit-ment — and their inspiration — throughout the season.”

These high-quality recordings of almost 30 works, available internationally, reflect Alan Gilbert’s approach to programming, which combines works as diverse as One Sweet Morning — a song cycle by Ameri-can master composer John Corigliano exploring the nature of war on the tenth anniversary of the events of 9/11 — with cornerstones of the repertoire, such as Dvorák’s lyrical yet brooding Seventh Symphony. The bonus content includes audio recordings of Alan Gilbert’s onstage commentaries, program notes published in each concert’s Playbill, and encores given by today’s leading soloists.

For more information about the series, visit nyphil.org/recordings.

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Alan Gilbert on This Program

This performance marks the last time that the New York Philharmonic and I are premier-ing a work that Magnus Lindberg has composed during his three-year residency with us. Magnus is one of the truly great composers, and he has embodied every aspect that we hoped the position would encompass, both as a composer and in terms of what would come of his being “in residence.” His relationship with the Orchestra has grown, as has his connection with the audience: when he takes a bow you can feel that they are ap-plauding with a clear sense of recognition.

He wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 knowing very well not only the orchestral players for whom he was writing, but also the soloist who would unveil it. His relationship with Yefim Bronfman goes back many years, so Magnus understands that you don’t have to worry about technical limitations with him, so he was free to write whatever he wanted to, know-ing that Fima would be able, in his inimitable way, to conquer any challenges in the score.

This work is preceded by Dvorák’s Carnival — a festive concert overture that the Phil-harmonic and I have performed together on tour — and is followed by Tchaikovsky’s pow-erful Fourth Symphony. When I prepare a program that has a brand-new work alongside masterpieces that have received thousands of performances, the approach to all of them feels very similar to me. In each case I try to bring what is on the page to life in a fresh and dynamic way; the fact that a piece is an integral part of the repertoire doesn’t make it any less of an exploration when I study it.

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New York Philharmonic

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Dvorák’s popular Carnival dates from the period when he was weighing Mrs. Thurber’s flattering offer. It was the second of a triptych of concert overtures intended to portray impressions of what a human soul might experience, in both positive and negative aspects. Nature, Life, and Love was his original name for the set, which was to be published under the opus number 91, and so the pieces were presented at their joint premiere. However, the composer soon decided to publish them with more distinct identities; they appeared in print as In Na-ture’s Realm (with the opus number 91 all to itself, composed March 31–July 8, 1891), Carnival (Op. 92, July 28–September 12), and Othello (Op. 93, November 1891–January 18, 1892).

Dvorák provisionally used the title Life (Carnival) in his sketches for the second of these pieces, then dubbed it A Czech Carnival, and eventually opted for the more general Carnival. This work does indeed depict the high-spirited tumult of a festive carnival setting — barkers and vendors, boisterous crowds, and even, in a gentle passage, what Dvorák said was “a pair of straying lovers.” Brahms wrote to Simrock that this work was “merry” and that “music directors will be thankful to you” for publish-ing the overtures — which they are.

Dvorák conducted the joint premiere of the three pieces in Prague in April 1892 and six months later he included them in the program he led at Carnegie Hall in October 1892. That event was billed as a celebration (nine days late) of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s “discovery” of America, but it was surely of more compel-

Listen for the “Theme of Nature”

Although the three overtures Dvorák envi-sioned as the triptych Nature, Life, and Love ended up assuming discrete identities, the composer did conceive of them as a cycle. The musical result is that, notwithstanding their very different characters, the three are connected by means of a shared theme, which the Dvorák scholar Otakar Sourek has credibly labeled the “Theme of Nature.” It serves as the principal theme of the first piece in the triptych, In Nature’s Realm, and then makes return visits in the other two works. In the relaxed middle section of Carnival we hear it briefly recalled by the clarinet, and then echoed a few bars later by the English horn.

Notes on the ProgramBy James M. Keller, Program AnnotatorThe Leni and Peter May Chair

Carnival, Op. 92Antonín Dvorák

Antonín Dvorák developed rather slowly as a composer and was still laboring in poverty and obscurity as he approached middle age. His lucky break came when the influential Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick took a shine to some of his pieces. In 1877 Hanslick encouraged the 36-year-old Czech composer to send some scores to Johannes Brahms, with whom Hanslick enjoyed warm relations. That eminent composer was so delighted with what he received that he recom-mended his younger colleague to his own publisher, Fritz Simrock, who immediately published Dvorák’s Moravian Duets, com-missioned a collection of Slavonic Dances, and contracted a first option on all of the composer’s new works. Dvorák and Brahms became personal friends, and the former quickly gained the support of other important figures of the Brahms circle, including the violinist Joseph Joachim and the conductors Hans Richter (to whom Dvorák would dedicate his Sixth Sym-phony) and Hans von Bülow (who made Dvorák’s Hussite Overture a mainstay of his repertoire).

Thus was launched the career of the man who would be embraced as the quint-essential Bohemian composer, both in his native land and beyond Czech borders. In 1883 he was invited to conduct in London in what would prove to be the first of nine visits to England; during one of them, in July 1891, he was awarded an honorary

doctorate from Cambridge University. This was added to a growing shelf of awards that already included the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown (bestowed in 1889) and an honorary doctorate from the Czech University of Prague (in 1890).

In January 1891 Dvorák began teaching in the capacity of professor of composition and instrumentation at Prague Conserva-tory, and that June he was approached by Jeannette Thurber. This Paris-trained American musician had become a New York philanthropist, and she was intent on raising American musical pedagogy to European standards. She founded the Na-tional Conservatory of Music in New York, incorporated by special act of Congress in 1891, and set about persuading Dvorák to serve as its director. In September 1892 he and his family moved to New York, where he would remain until 1895, though he spent the summers elsewhere.

In ShortBorn: September 8, 1841, in Mühlhausen (Nelahozeves), Bohemia

Died: May 1, 1904, in Prague

Work composed: July 28–September 12, 1891; dedicated to the Czech University of Prague (in the composer’s manuscript, though not in the printed score)

World premiere: April 28, 1892, at the Rudolfinum in Prague, with the composer conducting the Orchestra of the National Theatre

New York Philharmonic premiere: October 21, 1892, by musicians from the New York Philharmonic and the New York Symphony in a “Grand Concert under the auspices of the National Conservatory of Music” at Carnegie Hall, led by the composer in his first appearance in the United States

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ling interest for officially introducing musical New York to its distinguished new member.

Instrumentation: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, harp, and strings.

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tion for his orchestral music, and has produced solo concertos for cello (1999), clarinet (2002), and violin (2006), as well as a previous piano concerto (1994). Discussing his Second Piano Concerto, he observed:

The piano concerto is one of those genres that

has such a load of history that a composer is

challenged to imagine what can be added to it. I

don’t think you can truly do much in the direction

of inventing entirely new textures for piano play-

ing — although there are wonderful examples

from Nancarrow, Cage, and Stockhausen, who

came up with unforeseen ways of playing the

piano — so, for me, the challenge was to stretch

expression to the extreme.

This work includes some brutal music, like

that in Kraft, as well as very detailed and lyrical

music. A piece that was very important for me

was Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand. Like that

piece, my new concerto uses a lot of dialogue,

rather than being a piano solo with orchestral

accompaniment. I use nearly the same orchestra

as does the Ravel, which means it’s for big forces.

Having played my First Piano Concerto 17 times

over the years, I’m very aware of how tricky the

question of balance is.

Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling pic-colo), two oboes and English horn, three clarinets (one doubling E-flat clarinet) and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets (one doubling trumpet in D), three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, tenor drum, bass drum, bongos, suspended cymbals, Chinese cymbals, crotales, orchestra bells, temple blocks, wood blocks, tambourine, tam-tam, and strings.

Cadenza: composed by Magnus Lindberg.

Notes on the Program(continued)

Piano Concerto No. 2Magnus Lindberg

Magnus Lindberg, now in his third and final season as the New York Philharmonic’s Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, emerged on the international music scene in the 1980s as one of a handful of Finnish com-posers of his generation that included Kaija Saariaho, Jouni Kaipainen, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. All four studied at the Sibelius Acad-emy in Helsinki with the renowned composer and pedagogue Paavo Heininen. Lindberg also worked with Einojuhani Rautavaara, another senior eminence of Finnish music.

Lindberg and Salonen founded Toimii, an ensemble that helped them investigate novel instrumental possibilities and compositional procedures. Lindberg was also active as a pianist, appearing in concert and on recordings, often in contemporary repertoire. In 1981 he moved to Paris, where he studied with Vinko Globokar and Gérard Grisey. Other formative training came from Franco Donatoni (in Siena), Brian Ferneyhough (in Darmstadt), and at the EMS Electronic Music Studio (in Stockholm). His work has been honored with such awards as the UNESCO International Rostrum for Composers (in 1982 and 1986), Prix Italia (1986), Nordic Council Music Prize (1988), Royal Philharmonic Society Prize (1993), and Wihuri Sibelius Prize (2003).

During the 1980s Lindberg’s music revealed a penchant for complexity. “Only the extreme is interesting,” he proclaimed, and added, “An original mode of expression can only be achieved through the marginal — the hyper-complex combined with the primitive.” As the

In ShortBorn: June 27, 1958, in Helsinki, Finland

Resides: Helsinki

Work composed: 2010–12 on commission from the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, Music Director; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; and the Gothenburg Symphony

World premiere: these performances

decade unrolled Lindberg became preoccupied with the intricacies of rhythmic interaction on multiple levels; this led to the composition, in 1983, of Zona for solo cello and chamber ensemble, which brought his investigations of rhythmic complexity to the practical limit of the unaided human mind. For his next major work, the award-winning Kraft (for orchestra plus an ancillary ensemble performing on traditional musical instruments as well as on “found objects” such as chair legs and car springs), he devised a computer program to assist in generating even more meticulous calculations to fuel his composi-tion. Other computer programs would follow, always keeping up with advances in technology.

Composers drawn to complexity often arrive at a breaking point and then move on to create with-in a sound world that appears far simpler. So it is that Lindberg then proceeded to soundscapes that, in many cases, seem more relaxed and less insistently on overload — some might fairly be described even as smooth or spacious. Neverthe-less, many of Lindberg’s scores, even those in the modern “classicist” mode, remain generally vigor-ous, colorful, dense, and kinetic, and despite the extreme refinement of his compositional method his music manages to sound spontaneous.

Although Lindberg has worked in a variety of genres, he has particularly carved out a reputa-

In the Composer’s Words

Magnus Lindberg spoke about this work with David Allenby, a representative of his publisher, Boosey & Hawkes:

For me, writing for the piano is a di-rect, physical activity, so I didn’t want to approach the work in an abstract way, almost ignoring the character-istics of the instrument. The span of the piano repertoire is overwhelm-ing, compared to other instruments, and it comes with a lot of baggage. I worked through a lot of styles when performing as a pianist, including ten years playing in a keyboard duo, and I had to get to grips with pieces by Cage, Stockhausen, Berio, and Zim-mermann. I don’t believe it is easy or even fruitful any more for a composer to invent a completely new universe for the instrument; rather, the com-plexity of pianistic history needs to be absorbed into a personal lan-guage. I’ve tried to achieve this, not through post-modern style-hopping, but rather through a structure that creates a tension between different modes of expression. ...

Though the concerto runs continu-ously, there are three clear sections that evolved naturally during composition. The first presents everything in exposi-tory fashion, the second is a contrasting slow movement with cadenza, and the third is a more direct, straightforward finale. The sections are bound together because they all use the same material, but the later movements are not tradi-tional variations of the first. As in the Clarinet Concerto, you’ll hear recogniz-able, exclamatory motives, almost like characters in a drama. The tension and structure comes from the journeys and points of arrival and departure, with blurs and blends of identity.

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Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky became involved with his mysterious patron, Nadezhda von Meck, and began com-posing his Fourth Symphony practically at the same time — in fact, these two “projects” were greatly connected in his mind. In letters to her he often referred to it as “our symphony,” sometimes even as “your symphony.” By May 1877 he had completed the lion’s share of the work, and wrote: “I should like to dedicate it to you because I believe you would find in it an echo of your most intimate thoughts and emotions.”

Then Tchaikovsky’s life veered off in a bizarre direction when he precipitously married and just as quickly abandoned his bride. During this misadventure and his subsequent meltdown, the Fourth Symphony was put on hold. Only in the latter half of 1877 did the composer edit and orchestrate what he had composed between February and May. “Our sym-phony progresses,” he wrote to von Meck late that summer:

The first movement will give me a great

deal of trouble with respect to orchestra-

tion. It is very long and complicated; at the

same time I consider it the best movement.

The three remaining movements are very

simple, and it will be easy and pleasant to

orchestrate them.

In ShortBorn: May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia

Died: November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg

Work composed: perhaps March 1877–January 9, 1878; dedicated “To my best friend,” by which Tchaikovsky meant Mme. Nadezhda von Meck

World premiere: February 22, 1878, at a concert of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow, Nikolai Rubinstein, conductor

New York Philharmonic premiere: January 31, 1890, Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony (which would merge with the New York Philharmonic in 1928 to form today’s New York Philharmonic)

Tchaikovsky’s comment is apt: the center of gravity is indeed placed on the first movement, and the other three stand as shorter, less imposing pendants. When von Meck begged him to explain the meaning behind the music, Tchaikovsky broke his rule of not revealing his secret programs and penned a rather detailed description in prose of the opening movement:

The introduction is the seed of the whole

symphony, undoubtedly the central theme.

This is Fate, i.e., that fateful force which

prevents the impulse toward happiness

from entirely achieving its goal, forever on

jealous guard lest peace and well-being

should ever be attained in complete and

unclouded form, hanging above us like

the Sword of Damocles, constantly and

unremittingly poisoning the soul. Its force

is invisible, and can never be overcome.

Our only choice is to surrender to it, and to

languish fruitlessly. ...

Notes on the Program(continued)

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When all seems lost, there appears a

sweet and gentle daydream. Some bliss-

ful, radiant human image hurries by and

beckons us away. ... How good this feels!

How distant now seems the obsessive first

theme of the Allegro. ...

No! These were dreams, and fate wakes

us from them. Thus all life is an unbroken

alternation of harsh reality with fleeting

dreams and visions of happiness. ... There

is no escape. ... We can only drift upon this

sea until it engulfs and submerges us in its

depths. That, roughly, is the program of the

first movement.

So he continues, at length, for each of the ensuing movements: he described the second as

another phase of depression ... that melan-

choly feeling that comes in the evenings

when, weary from your labor, you sit alone,

and take a book — but it falls from your hand.

The third, he went on, comprises “the elusive images that can rush past in the imagination when you have drunk a little wine and experience the first stage of intoxication”; the fourth, “a picture of festive merriment of the people.” Even recognizing that Tchaikovsky penned these words after he had essentially completed the symphony, one might find something authentic and convincing in his program, given the emo-tional roller coaster he had ridden in the preceding months.

On the other hand, music is not prose, and its essence is different from that of the written word — or, as the composer

Listen for the Oboe Solo

A famous oboe solo opens the Andan-tino in modo di canzona, a generally melancholy movement in B-flat minor.

“You feel nostalgic for the past,” Tchaikovsky wrote to his patron, Na-dezhda von Meck, of this movement, continuing, “yet no compulsion to start life over again. Life has wearied you; it is pleasant to pause and weigh things up.” Much of the movement does seem to carry a heavy weight on its shoul-ders, but — as in the first movement — the proceedings are leavened by glimpses of balletic arabesques.

reminded von Meck by quoting Heinrich Heine, “Where words end, music begins.” To his pupil and friend Sergei Taneyev, Tchaikovsky wrote:

Of course my symphony is program music,

but it would be impossible to give the program

in words. ... But ought this not always to be

the case with a symphony, the most lyrical of

musical forms? Ought it not to express all those

things for which words cannot be found but

which nevertheless arise in the heart and cry

out for expression?

Instrumentation: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, and strings.

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New York Philharmonic

ALAN GILBERTMusic Director The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair

Case ScaglioneJoshua WeilersteinAssistant Conductors

Leonard BernsteinLaureate Conductor, 1943–1990

Kurt MasurMusic Director Emeritus

VIOLINS

Glenn Dicterow Concertmaster The Charles E. Culpeper Chair

Sheryl Staples Principal Associate Concertmaster The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair

Michelle Kim Assistant Concertmaster The William Petschek Family Chair

Enrico Di CeccoCarol WebbYoko Takebe

Hae-Young Ham The Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. George

Chair

Lisa GiHae KimKuan Cheng LuNewton Mansfield The Edward and Priscilla Pilcher

Chair

Kerry McDermottAnna RabinovaCharles Rex The Shirley Bacot Shamel Chair

Fiona SimonSharon YamadaElizabeth Zeltser The William and Elfriede Ulrich Chair

Yulia Ziskel

Marc Ginsberg Principal

Lisa Kim* In Memory of Laura Mitchell

Soohyun Kwon The Joan and Joel I. Picket Chair

Duoming Ba

Marilyn Dubow The Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Chair

Martin EshelmanQuan Ge The Gary W. Parr Chair

Judith GinsbergStephanie Jeong+Hanna LachertHyunju Lee Joo Young OhDaniel ReedMark SchmoocklerNa SunVladimir Tsypin

VIOLAS

Cynthia Phelps Principal The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose

Chair

Rebecca Young* The Joan and Joel Smilow Chair

Irene Breslaw** The Norma and Lloyd Chazen Chair

Dorian Rence

Katherine Greene The Mr. and Mrs. William J.

McDonough Chair

Dawn HannayVivek KamathPeter KenoteKenneth MirkinJudith NelsonRobert Rinehart The Mr. and Mrs. G. Chris Andersen

Chair

CELLOS

Carter Brey Principal The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Chair

Eileen Moon* The Paul and Diane Guenther Chair

Eric Bartlett The Shirley and Jon Brodsky Foundation Chair

Maria Kitsopoulos

Elizabeth Dyson The Mr. and Mrs. James E. Buckman Chair

Sumire Kudo

Qiang TuRu-Pei Yeh The Credit Suisse Chair

in honor of Paul Calello

Wei Yu Wilhelmina Smith++

BASSES

Timothy Cobb++ Acting Principal The Redfield D. Beckwith Chair

Orin O’Brien* Acting Associate Principal The Herbert M. Citrin Chair

William Blossom The Ludmila S. and Carl B. Hess

Chair

Randall ButlerDavid J. GrossmanSatoshi Okamoto

FLUTES

Robert Langevin Principal The Lila Acheson Wallace Chair

Sandra Church*Mindy Kaufman

PICCOLO

Mindy Kaufman

OBOES

Liang Wang Principal The Alice Tully Chair

Sherry Sylar*Robert Botti The Lizabeth and Frank Newman Chair

ENGLISH HORN-

CLARINETS

Mark Nuccio Acting Principal The Edna and W. Van Alan Clark

Chair

Pascual Martínez Forteza* Acting Associate Principal The Honey M. Kurtz Family Chair

Alucia Scalzo++Amy Zoloto++

E-FLAT CLARINET

Pascual Martínez Forteza

BASS CLARINET

Amy Zoloto++

BASSOONS

Judith LeClair Principal The Pels Family Chair

Kim Laskowski*Roger NyeArlen Fast

CONTRABASSOON

Arlen Fast

HORNS

Philip Myers Principal The Ruth F. and Alan J. Broder Chair

Stewart Rose++* Acting Associate Principal

R. Allen Spanjer Howard WallDavid Smith++ TRUMPETS

Philip Smith Principal The Paula Levin Chair

Matthew Muckey*Ethan BensdorfThomas V. Smith

TROMBONES

Joseph Alessi Principal The Gurnee F. and Marjorie L. Hart

Chair

Daniele Morandini++* Acting Associate Principal

David Finlayson The Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen

Chair

BASS TROMBONE

James Markey The Daria L. and William C. Foster Chair

TUBA

Alan Baer Principal

TIMPANI

Markus Rhoten Principal The Carlos Moseley Chair

Kyle Zerna**

PERCUSSION

Christopher S. Lamb Principal The Constance R. Hoguet Friends of the Philharmonic Chair

Daniel Druckman* The Mr. and Mrs. Ronald J. Ulrich Chair

Kyle Zerna

HARP

Nancy Allen Principal The Mr. and Mrs. William T. Knight III

Chair

KEYBOARD In Memory of Paul Jacobs

HARPSICHORD

Paolo Bordignon

PIANO The Karen and Richard S. LeFrak Chair

Eric Huebner Jonathan Feldman

ORGAN

Kent Tritle

LIBRARIANS

Lawrence Tarlow Principal

Sandra Pearson** Sara Griffin**

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER

Carl R. Schiebler

STAGE REPRESENTATIVE

Joseph Faretta

AUDIO DIRECTOR

Lawrence Rock

* Associate Principal** Assistant Principal+ On Leave++ Replacement/Extra

The New York Philharmonic uses the revolving seating method for section string players who are listed alphabetically in the roster.

HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY

Emanuel Ax Pierre BoulezStanley DruckerLorin Maazel Zubin MehtaCarlos Moseley

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The Music Director

New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, began his tenure in September 2009, creating what New York magazine called “a fresh future for the Philharmon-ic.” The first native New Yorker to hold the post, he has sought to make the Orches-tra a point of civic pride for both the city and the country.

Mr. Gilbert’s creative approach to pro-gramming combines works in fresh and innovative ways. He has forged artistic partnerships, introducing the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence and The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, an annual three-week festival, and CONTACT!, the new-music series. In 2011–12 he con-ducts world premieres, Mahler sympho-

nies, a residency at London’s Barbican Centre, tours to Europe and California, and a season-concluding musical explora-tion of space at the Park Avenue Armory featuring Stockhausen’s theatrical immer-sion, Gruppen. He also made his Philhar-monic soloist debut performing J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins alongside Frank Peter Zimmermann in October 2011. Last season’s highlights included two tours of European music capitals, Carnegie Hall’s 120th Anniversary Concert, and Janácek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, hailed by The Washington Post as “another victory,” building on 2010’s wildly successful stag-ing of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, which The New York Times called “an instant Philharmonic milestone.”

In September 2011 Alan Gilbert became

Director of Conducting and Orchestral Stud-ies at The Juilliard School, where he is the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of Ham-burg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, he regu-larly conducts the world’s leading orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Or-chestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Alan Gilbert made his acclaimed Metro-politan Opera debut in 2008 leading John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, the DVD of which won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2011. Other recordings have garnered Grammy Award nominations and top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. Mr. Gilbert studied

at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and Juilliard, and was assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (1995–97). In May 2010 he received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Curtis, and in December 2011 he received Columbia University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award for his “exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers and to contem-porary music.”

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The Artist

Yefim Bronfman’s commanding technique and lyrical gifts have won him critical ac-claim and enthusiastic audiences world-wide, whether for solo recitals, orchestral engagements, or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings. His 2011–12 season includes return engagements to the orchestras of Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Portland, and Kansas City, as well as a residency with The Cleveland Orchestra that focuses on the concertos and chamber music of Brahms. He is completing a two-season project of the three Bartók concertos with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in two orchestral concerts and in a solo recital in Decem-ber in recognition of the ensemble’s 75th anniversary. Following the performance in New York heard here, he joined Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic on the CALIFORNIA 2012 tour, during which he reprised Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and also performed

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.Mr. Bronfman’s recent highlights include

recitals in Los Angeles and San Francisco; performances with the Los Angeles Phil-harmonic and the Houston, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Atlanta symphony orchestras; and, with his longtime friend and collabora-tor Pinchas Zukerman, duo recitals across the country. His recording of the Bartók piano concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won a Grammy Award in 1997. Mr. Bronfman’s recent releases include Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and all the Beethoven piano concertos and the Triple Concerto with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Truls Mørk, and the Tönhalle Orchester Zürich for the Arte Nova/BMG label.

Yefim Bronfman was born in Tashkent, in the Soviet Union, in 1958 and emigrated with his family to Israel in 1973. He made his international debut two years later with Zubin Mehta and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In 1991 he gave a series of joint recitals with violinist Isaac Stern in Russia, marking Mr. Bronfman’s first public performances there since age 15. That same year he was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. Yefim Bronfman became an American citizen in July 1989.

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New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. It currently plays some 180 concerts a year, and on May 5, 2010, gave its 15,000th concert — a milestone unmatched by any other sym-phony orchestra in the world.

Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, began his tenure in September 2009, the latest in a dis-tinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Lorin Maazel (2002–09); Kurt Masur (Music Director 1991–2002, Music Director Emeritus since 2002); Zubin Mehta (1978–91); Pierre Boulez (1971–77); and Leonard Bernstein (appointed Music Director in 1958; given the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor in 1969).

Since its inception the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, commissioning and/or premiering many important works, such as Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; and Copland’s Connotations. The Philharmonic has also given the U.S. premieres of such works as Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4. This pioneering tradition has continued to the present day, with works of major contem-porary composers regularly scheduled each season, including John Adams’s Pu-litzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning

On the Transmigration of Souls; Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto; Magnus Lind-berg’s EXPO and Al largo; Wynton Marsa-lis’s Swing Symphony (Symphony No. 3); Christopher Rouse’s Odna Zhizn; and, by the end of the 2010–11 season, 11 works in CONTACT!, the new-music series.

The roster of composers and conductors who have led the Philharmonic includes such historic figures as Theodore Thomas, Antonín Dvorák, Gustav Mahler (music di-rector 1909–11), Otto Klemperer, Richard Strauss, Willem Mengelberg (Music Direc-tor 1922–30), Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini (Music Director 1928–36), Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Bruno Walter (Music Advisor 1947–49), Dimitri Mitro-poulos (Music Director 1949–58), Klaus Tennstedt, George Szell (Music Advisor 1969–70), and Erich Leinsdorf.

Long a leader in American musical life, the Philharmonic has become renowned around the globe, appearing in 430 cities in 63 countries on 5 continents. Under Alan Gilbert’s leadership, the Orchestra made its Vietnam debut at the Hanoi Op-era House in October 2009. In February 2008 the Philharmonic, conducted by then Music Director Lorin Maazel, gave a his-toric performance in Pyongyang, D.P.R.K., earning the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy. In 2012 the Philharmonic becomes an International Associate of London’s Barbican Centre.

The Philharmonic has long been a me-dia pioneer, having begun radio broadcasts in 1922, and is currently represented by

The New York Philharmonic This Week — syndicated nationally and internation-ally 52 weeks per year, and available at nyphil.org. It continues its television presence on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS, and in 2003 made history as the first symphony orchestra ever to perform live on the Grammy Awards. Since 1917 the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings, and in 2004 became the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live. Since June 2009 more than 50 concerts have been released as downloads, and the Philharmonic’s self-produced record-ings will continue with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2011–12 Season, comprising 12 releases. Famous for its long-running Young People’s Concerts, the Philharmonic has developed a wide range of educational programs, among them the School Partnership Program that enriches music education in New York City, and Learning Overtures, which fosters interna-tional exchange among educators.

Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic.

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New York Philharmonic

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Executive Producer: Vince Ford

Producers: Lawrence Rock and Mark Travis

Recording and Mastering Engineer: Lawrence Rock

Assistant Producer: Nick Bremer

Photos of Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: Chris Lee

Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2 used with permission from Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

Major funding for this recording is provided to the New York Philharmonic by Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser.

Alan Gilbert, Music Director, holds The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair.

Magnus Lindberg is The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence of the New York

Philharmonic.

Major support for the commissioning of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2 provided by the

Francis Goelet Fund.

Yefim Bronfman’s appearance is made possible through the Hedwig van Ameringen Guest Artists

Endowment Fund.

Classical 105.9 FM WQXR is the Radio Home of the New York Philharmonic.

Instruments made possible, in part, by The Richard S. and Karen LeFrak Endowment Fund.

Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural

Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Steinway is the Official Piano of the New York Philharmonic and Avery Fisher Hall.

Exclusive timepiece of the New York Philharmonic

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New York Philharmonic

Performed, produced, and distributed by the New York Philharmonic© 2012 New York Philharmonic

NYP 20120108