Music Director James Levine to Lead The MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, 5/19

The MET Orchestra concludes its 2012-2013 season at Carnegie Hall with the much anticipated return of Music Director James Levine leading the orchestra on Sunday, May 19 at 3:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Maestro Levine is set to conduct the prelude to Act I of Wagner's Lohengrin; Schubert's Symphony No. 9, "Great"; and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58, with pianist Evgeny Kissin. Maestro Levine last performed at Carnegie Hall with the MET Orchestra on Sunday, April 10, 2011 with Mr. Kissin.

Since his June 5, 1971, debut at The Metropolitan Opera with Tosca, Music Director James Levine has developed a relationship with the company that is unparalleled in its history and unique in the musical world today. He conducted the first-ever Met performances of Mozart's Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, I Lombardi and Stiffelio, Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Schoenberg's Erwartung and Moses und Aron, Berg's Lulu, Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, as well as the world premieres of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and John Harbison's The Great Gatsby. All told, he has led nearly 2,500 performances of 85 different operas at the Met. Maestro Levine inaugurated the "Metropolitan Opera Presents" television series for PBS in 1977, founded The Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 1980, and returned Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen to the repertoire in 1989 (in the first integral cycles in over 35 years there). Expanding on that tradition, he and the MET Orchestra began touring in concert in 1991, and since then have performed around the world as well as in its own subscription series at Carnegie Hall.

In the 2013-2014 Metropolitan Opera season, Maestro Levine, who has conducted more performances at the Met than any conductor in the company's 129-year history, is scheduled to lead three operas at the Met, including a new production of Verdi's Falstaff and revivals of Mozart's Così fan tutte and Berg's Wozzeck. He will also conduct all three Carnegie Hall concerts by the MET Orchestra beginning on October 13 with the overture from Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, Elliott Carter's "Variations for Orchestra", Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, and selections from Rossini's Giovanna d'Arco and Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. On December 22, Maestro Levine conducts an all-Mahler program with the composer's first song cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer), featuring baritone Peter Mattei, and Symphony No. 7. The final concert of the orchestra's season on May 11 is an all-Dvo?ák program, including the Carnival Overture, Symphony No. 7 in D minor; and Cello Concerto in B minor, featuring soloist Lynn Harrell.

Pianist Evgeny Kissin was born in Moscow in 1971. He came to international attention in March 1984 when he performed Chopin's Piano Concertos in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow State Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitaenko. Since Mr. Kissin's first appearances outside Russia in 1985, he has played with all of the leading orchestras and conductors and in recital in many of the world's greatest halls. In 1992, Mr. Kissin performed on the Grammy Awards, and in 1995 he became Musical America's youngest Instrumentalist of the Year. Mr. Kissin's recordings have received numerous awards, including a Grammy, the Edison Klassiek, the Diapason d'Or, and the Grand Prix of La Nouvelle Academie du Disque.

The MET Orchestra is today regarded as one of the world's finest orchestras. From the time of the company's inception in 1883, the ensemble has worked with leading conductors in both opera and concert performances and has developed into an orchestra of enormous technical polish and style. Seven new productions-two of them Met premieres-and 21 revivals, including three complete Ring cycles, featuring many of the world's greatest singers and conductors, highlight The Metropolitan Opera's 2012-2013 season.

PROGRAM:

Sunday, May 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
The MET Orchestra
James Levine, Music Director and Conductor
Evgeny Kissin, Piano

Richard Wagner Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
Franz Schubert Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944, "Great"ll.

Tickets, priced at $63-$204, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.

In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50 percent of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts.

Photo © Chris Lee 2011.