The New York Philharmonic and Alisa Weilerstein Perform at NJPAC, 3/9

Maestro David Zinman, making his NJPAC debut, conducts the New York Philharmonic and recent MacArthur Foundation Fellow Alisa Weilerstein in a Beethoven and Barber program in NJPAC's Prudential Hall on Friday, March 9 at 8pm.  This performance is part of NJPAC's Bank of America Classical Series and is presented during the Philharmonic's three week Modern Beethoven festival in Manhattan under the baton of Zinman.

Tickets are $40-$125 and may be purchased by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark, or by visiting the NJPAC website at www.njpac.org.   

One hour prior to the performance, ticketholders are invited to a free Bank of America Classical Overture – a pre-performance discussion about the evening's program hosted by George Marriner Maull, music director and conductor of The Discovery Orchestra.

 

 

Program Information:

New York Philharmonic

David Zinman, conductor

Alisa Weilerstein, cello

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8

BARBER Cello Concerto

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4

 

Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 was composed primarily at a countryside spa and completed in Linz.  It was premiered in Vienna on February 27, 1814.  Samuel Barber's Cello Concerto, composed in 1945, was premiered in 1946 by Raya Garbousova - for whom it was written - and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.  It won the 1947 New York Music Critics' Circle Award and is considered by many to be one of the masterworks of the genre. Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 was dedicated to Count Franz von Oppersdorff - at whose palace Beethoven was staying while composing the work.  It premiered in March 1807.

 

 

About the Artists:

David Zinman made his New York Philharmonic debut in June 1973 and has since conducted the Orchestra 50 times.  He is in his 16th season as music director of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. He was music director of the Rotterdam and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (where he is credited as transforming it into a world-class ensemble), as well as music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School and the American Academy of Conducting for 13 years.

 

Since his debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967, he has conducted many of the world's leading orchestras including the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic. His previous European engagements include the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

 

Zinman's more than 100 recordings have earned him five Grammy awards, two Grand Prix du Disque, two Edison Prizes, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, and a Gramophone Award.   He is currently working on two projects for Sony/BMG, a Mahler cycle and a recording of all the Schubert symphonies.

 

American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has attracted worldwide attention for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship.  In September 2011 she was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and in 2010 she became an exclusive recording artist for Decca Classics, the first cellist to be signed by the label in over 30 years. She has appeared with all of the major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe with conductors including Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Mark Elder, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Marek Janowski, Paavo Järvi, Jeffrey Kahane, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Ludovic Morlot, Peter Oundjian, Matthias Pintscher, Yuri Temirkanov, Osmo Vänskä, Simone Young and David Zinman.

Founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians, the New York Philharmonic 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.

 

The latest in a distinguished line of musical giants, Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director in September 2009.  Since its inception, the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, commissioning or premiering many important works, such as Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin's Concerto in F; and Copland's Connotations, in addition to the U.S. premieres of works such as Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 and Brahms's Symphony No. 4.

 

Calendar Listing:

New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents

New York Philharmonic

David Zinman, conductor

Alisa Weilerstein, cello

Friday, March 9, 2012 at 8:00pm

NJPAC's Prudential Hall

1 Center Street, Newark, NJ 07102

 

Maestro David Zinman, making his NJPAC debut, conducts the New York Philharmonic and recent MacArthur Foundation Fellow Alisa Weilerstein in Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and 8 as well as Barber's Cello Concerto.

 

Tickets: $40-$125

Available at www.njpac.org, 1-888-466-5722 or at the box office at 1 Center Street, Newark, NJ

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