To make sure he got a good view, the author of this #dailydocument letter requested specific seats for his subscription to Gustav Mahler’s first season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1909. Check out this letter and more subscription requests at the Digital Archives.
And in anticipation of clearer skies ahead, subscribe to the 2020-21 season: nyphil.org/subscribe
We're looking forward to seeing you back in your seats!
Krzysztof Penderecki had a rich relationship with the New York Philharmonic dating back to the early 1970s. Today we mourn the passing of the great composer at the age of 86.
In May 1980 then-Music Director Zubin Mehta and the Philharmonic performed the World Premiere of his Christmas Symphony (No. 2) at Avery Fisher Hall before bringing it to the Concerts in the Parks and on tour to Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Salzburg later that summer.
Below, Zubin Mehta brings Krzysztof Penderecki onstage after the European Premiere of the symphony in Edinburgh, August 24, 1980.
On this day in 1941, violinist Erica Morini performed Louis Spohr’s Violin Concerto No. 9 in D minor with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Music Director John Barbirolli.
The New York Post wrote: “To say that Erica Morini is the greatest woman violinist is not to do her complete justice, for her talents as instrumentalist and musician, particularly the former, place her among those who are considered tops in the trade, regardless of sex.”
If you want to do more than just WATCH our rebroadcast of Mahler 5, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, you can open up the Digital Archives and check out Leonard Bernstein's marked score — or pick a part! — and follow along with the video.
Feel free to indulge yourself while listening to Philharmonic recordings at home...
But don’t commit these deadly sins in the concert hall!
“The Seven Deadly Concert Sinners.” Cartoon by Whitney Darrow Jr.
Are you tuning in tonight for The Metropolitan Opera streaming of Das Rheingold?
Well for today’s #dailydocument, and in anticipation of warmer and brighter times ahead, read about the New York Philharmonic’s 1937 concert operas (including Das Rheingold) performed at our previous summer home, Lewisohn Stadium.
In past times of difficulty and distance, New York Philharmonic listeners gathered to share in music on the radio. Here’s a letter from an American prisoner of War in Germany during WWII asking for program notes to go along with the broadcasts.
