Conductor Valery Gergiev (Photo by Marco Borggreve)
“A tone temple”—that’s how one New York newspaper described Carnegie Hall when the venue first opened its doors 120 years ago. And while that descriptive phrase may feel a tad outdated in the 21st century, the world’s most famous concert venue is celebrating this big anniversary in style in their coming 2011-12 season, announced earlier today.
The conductor for Carnegie’s very first opening night was Tchaikovsky, making his only trip to the United States, which came just eighteen months before his death. That memorable occasion creates a nice focal point for special programming this year, beginning with a “Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg” month-long celebration led by Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra that includes all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, his ever-popular Variations on a Rococo Theme (to be played on opening night by guest artist Yo-Yo Ma on Oct. 5, opening night), and soprano Anna Netrebko’s New York recital debut on Oct. 26.
In his remarks about the season, Carnegie’s executive and artistic director, Clive Gillinson, called the period that followed the hall’s opening, from the 1890s until the outbreak of World War I, a “golden era” for music and culture; to that point, much of the music that will be played in the coming year at the hall comes from this epoch, including works by Debussy (Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune) and Scriabin’s Le poeme de l’extase. Additionally, in a continuation of Carnegie’s continued outreach to other cultural institutions around the city, the venue is partnering with a number of museums, including the Morgan Library, the Museum of the City of New York, and the New-York Historical Society, to present exhibitions, lectures, and panel discussions exploring New York at the turn of the last century.
However, music of our own time is not falling by the wayside: conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony are bringing their immensely popular “American Mavericks” concept to New York in a series of concerts that range from orchestral music of Cowell, Cage, Varese, Ruggles, Feldman, Ives, and John Adams with soloist singers Jessye Norman, Meredith Monk, and Joan La Barbara, as well as pianist Emanuel Ax, along with smaller-scaled performances by So Percussion and soloists from the San Francisco Symphony.
In addition, the newly named composer-in-residence is Finland’s Kaija Saariaho, whose programs include the New York premiere of her work Laterna magica, to be performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, in addition to performances by fellow Finns: the soprano Karita Mattila and the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. The season also includes world and New York premieres of Carnegie-commissioned works by Philip Glass, John Adams, David Lang, Bill Frisell, Jorg Widmann, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, as well as Charles Wuorinen, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Sofia Gubaidulina, John Harbison, Bruce Adolphe, Stephen Hartke, and Vijay Iyer.
Carnegie also continues its popular “Perspectives” programming of artist-curated series, this year with pianist Andras Schiff, who explores the life and legacy of Bela Bartok, and the early music ensemble L’Arpeggiata, led by harpist Christina Pluhar, who will be the first period-performance artists to curate “Perspectives.”
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
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