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Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 08/12/2008 - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Adds Fourth Concert to 2008-09 Schedule
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA ADDS FOURTH CONCERT TO
CARNEGIE HALL’S 2008–2009 SCHEDULE, FEBRUARY 25, 2009
Added Performance, Presented By National Academy Foundation,
Features Zubin Mehta Conducting the Philharmonic With Pianist Lang Lang
The National Academy Foundation and Carnegie Hall today announced that a fourth concert by the renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been added to Carnegie Hall’s 2008–2009 schedule. The additional concert, presented by the National Academy Foundation, will take place on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Proceeds will benefit the National Academy Foundation (NAF). With this performance, the Vienna Philharmonic continues its tradition of giving back to society, having offered to donate its services to NAF, benefitting youth throughout the United States. Zubin Mehta, who will conduct all four Carnegie Hall performances by the orchestra this season, leads a program to include Wagner’s Overture to Rienzi; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21, with soloist Lang Lang; as well as Johann Strauss's Overture to Die Fledermaus, “Kaiser” Waltz, Op. 437, “Wo die Citronen blüh'n!,” Op. 364, and other Viennese favorites. Both Mr. Mehta and Lang Lang will also donate their services.
Created as a partnership between business leaders and educators to address the need to prepare students for professional careers, the National Academy Foundation is an acclaimed national network of urban high school academies—schools within schools—with rigorous, career-themed curricula based on current industry and educational expertise. Each year, NAF serves more than 50,000 students through the Academy of Finance, the Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, and the Academy of Information Technology in over 500 Academies in 40 states and the District of Columbia. NAF’s record of success includes 90% graduation rates (compared to 50% in major urban areas) with 80% of graduates going to college.
Carnegie Hall will present three previously-announced performances by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra this season on Friday, February 27, Saturday, February 28, and Sunday, March 1. Complete program information for all four concerts is listed below.
Conductor Zubin Mehta was born in Bombay, India and received his first musical education by his father Mehli Mehta, the founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Mehta was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967 and the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra from 1962 to 1978. In 1969, he became Music Adviser to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, was made Music Director of that orchestra in 1977, and, in 1981, he was named Music Director for Life. The New York Philharmonic named him Music Director in 1978, commencing a tenure lasting 13 years, the longest in the orchestra's history, and from 1998 to 2006, he was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Since 1985, he has been chief conductor of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. Mr. Mehta has conducted at many major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, and the opera houses of Chicago and Florence as well as at the Salzburg Festival. In 1999 Zubin Mehta was awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award" from the United Nations and in 2006 he was named a Kennedy Center Honoree. Mr. Mehta first conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in 1961, and, in 2001, after 40 years of artistic collaboration, as the orchestra's longest serving conductor, he was awarded Honorary Membership. He has conducted the orchestra at home and on tour, and has led the Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concert many times, most recently in 2007.
26-year-old pianist Lang Lang has played sold out concerts in major cities around the world and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Vienna Philharmonic, and many of the top American orchestras. 2008 performance highlights included the New Year’s Eve opening of the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing with Seiji Ozawa, a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic at the closing of the Euro Cup, an open-air tour including concerts in New York’s Central Park with the New York Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Dresden, and Hamburg. Recently, Lang Lang performed at the 50th Grammy Awards with jazz great Herbie Hancock. As part of his 2007–2008 US solo recital tour he performed at Carnegie Hall in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage in March 2008. Lang Lang began playing piano at the age of 3 and gave his first public recital at the age of 5. At 17, he made headlines when he was called upon as a last-minute substitution at the “Gala of the Century” where he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Lang Lang records exclusively for the Deutsche Grammophon/Universal record label and every CD he has made has entered the top classical charts as well as many pop charts around the globe. A highlight of 2008 will be the release of a new recording of Chopin’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2 with the Vienna Philharmonic.
There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more consistently and closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In the course of its more than 160-year history, the musicians of this most prominent orchestra of the capital city of music have been an integral part of a musical epoch that must certainly be regarded as unique. Since its inception through Otto Nicolai in 1842, the fascination that the orchestra has exercised upon prominent composers and conductors, as well as on audiences all over the world, is based not only on a homogenous musical style carefully bequeathed from one generation to the next, but also on its unique structure and history. The desire to provide artistically worthy performances of the symphonic works of Mozart and Beethoven in their own city led to the decision on the part of the court opera musicians to present a “Philharmonic” concert series independent of their work at the opera, and upon their own responsibility and risk.
With concerts at home and on tour around the world, today’s Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is much more than Austria’s most coveted “cultural export.” The orchestra’s members are considered ambassadors, expressing through their performances the ideals of peace, humanity, and reconciliation with which music is so inseparably bound, and regularly donating services to create events that promote peace through music. Examples of this include the orchestra’s historic performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Sir Simon Rattle in 2000 at Mauthausen, the former site of Austria’s largest concentration camp during World War II; the 2002 concert in New York City’s St. Patrick Cathedral in remembrance of victims of terrorism; annual benefits in New York City benefitting the American Austrian Foundation/Salzburg Cornell (Medical Seminars); and, beginning in 1999, the annual donation of partial proceeds from the VPO’s New Years Concerts to a variety of humanitarian organizations. The Vienna Philharmonic, since 2005, have been Goodwill Ambassadors for the World Health Organization, and, in 2006, became supporters of the "Hear the World" initiative, a hearing awareness campaign. As of November 2008, Rolex is the worldwide presenting sponsor of the Vienna Philharmonic.
Program Information
Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Zubin Mehta, Conductor
Lang Lang, Piano
Program to include:
RICHARD WAGNER Overture to Rienzi
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
JOHANN STRAUSS Overture to Die Fledermaus
JOHANN STRAUSS "Kaiser" Waltz, Op. 437
JOHANN STRAUSS "Wo die Citronen blüh'n!," Op. 364
Presented by the National Academy Foundation (www.naf.org). Please note that tickets for this concert cannot be exchanged for any other Carnegie Hall event.
For information on National Academy Foundation Gala benefit tickets to include Pre-Concert Celebration, please contact Betsy Aitkenhead at 212-635-2400, ext. 272. For concert only tickets, please call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or visit www.carnegiehall.org.
Tickets: $66, $81, $106, $147, $192, $213
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Friday, February 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Zubin Mehta, Conductor
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4
ANTON BRUCKNER Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
Sponsored by KPMG LLP
Tickets: $66, $81, $106, $147, $192, $213
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Saturday, February 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Zubin Mehta, Conductor
Angela Maria Blasi, Soprano
HUGO WOLF Italian Serenade
JOSEPH MARX Songs TBA
FRANZ SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944, "Great"
This concert is made possible, in part, by the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation.
Tickets: $66, $81, $106, $147, $192, $213
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Sunday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Zubin Mehta, Conductor
Rainer Küchl, Violin
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
JOSEPH HAYDN Symphony No. 104 in D Major, "London"
RICHARD STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
This concert is made possible, in part, by the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation.
Tickets: $66, $81, $106, $147, $192, $213
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
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Ticket Information
Beginning on September 2, single tickets will be available. Subscriptions are currently 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, www.carnegiehall.org.
In addition, for all Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of partial-view 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. 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.
A limited number of student/senior citizen discount tickets, priced at $10, may also be available for some Carnegie Hall events. They are on sale at the Box Office day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance. Student/senior discount tickets for some Weill Recital Hall events are available at the Box Office one hour before the performance. Please call CarnegieCharge for ticket availability.
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