Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Performs Free NAUMBURG Concert, 7/15

In its third consecutive season with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays an all-Beethoven program on Tuesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the free, annual, open-air summer concert series at the historic Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, located south of the 72nd Street cross-drive in Manhattan. The three Beethoven works on the program are the Coriolan Overture, Op. 62; Octet for Winds in E-flat major, Op. 103; and Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. A thousand seats are provided on a first-come, first-served basis to this ticketless concert. Benches around the Concert Ground are also available. WQXR broadcasts the concert live on 105.9 FM and via live-stream at www.wqxr.org. For more information, visit www.naumburgconcerts.org.

In an onstage interview at an Orpheus concert at Carnegie Hall in 2012, one of the players said that in the orchestra's first decades, there was disagreement about whether its chamber-music approach would work for Beethoven. After Orpheus last performed an all-Beethoven program at a sold-out Carnegie concert this past January, The New York Times responded, "It doesn't only work, it's delightful ... Orpheus had snap in the Coriolan Overture." Orpheus will bring back theCoriolan Overture to open this coming Naumburg performance, followed by Beethoven's Octet for Winds. In their review of Orpheus' first self-produced album featuring recent live performances of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, Gramophone said Orpheus performed "in their trademark virtuoso, positive style." "The Seventh in particular [showed] the creativity-through-collaboration model working at full blend and firing on all cylinders," and the Presto of that symphony "[found] Orpheus at their most brilliant yet." Orpheus will conclude the Naumburg concert with Beethoven's First Symphony.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Naumburg Orchestral Concerts recently extended their collaboration for the annual summer concert series through 2016. Since their first concert on the series in the summer of 2012, Orpheus has presented programs of popular and lesser-known pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries, including works by Bartók, Beethoven, Grieg, Haydn, Rossini, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.

Orpheus Executive Director Krishna Thiagarajan said, "It is very important to me that Orpheus has a presence in the New York summer scene, with an outlet that is free and accessible for everyone. Naumburg has a wonderful history and Orpheus is proud to be a part of this extraordinary series."