LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No. 4 (1806)
After a private 1807 premiere at the palace of his patron, Prince Josef Franz von Lobkowitz, Beethoven played the Fourth Piano Concerto publicly in 1808; but due to his increasing deafness it was to be his last such performance. The concert was an extraordinary, four-hour marathon that also included his Fifth and Sixth symphonies, the Choral Fantasy, sections of his Mass in C, and a concert aria. All this in an unheated hall in late December. The dedication had been promised to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein, but when the concerto was published, the dedicatee was Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven’s longtime friend. Ever the iconoclast, Beethoven began his concerto with an unaccompanied gentle introduction from the piano, followed by the orchestra playing alone and at great length. The concept was at least astonishing, if not shocking, to early-19th century ears. Listen also for the beautiful, intense “conversation” between soloist and orchestra that music theorist Adolf Marx compared to Orpheus taming the wild beasts with his lyre—an appealing, if unlikely, explanation of Beethoven’s beautifully constructed music. An equally valid interpretation sees two opposing ideas in a struggle for dominance, with the piano’s more restrained insistence gaining the upper hand. The rondo finale begins quietly but dashes to a joyful and brilliant close.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 7 (1811-1812)
Beethoven’s most instantly appealing symphony was first performed in Vienna in 1813, at a benefit concert for Austrian soldiers who had been wounded in the Napoleonic wars. (Also on that program was his “Battle Symphony,” Wellington’s Victory, one of the few works of Beethoven that is not in the first tier of his masterpieces today, but was immensely popular in Beethoven’s lifetime.). The Symphony proved so popular that it was performed three more times in the months following the premiere. Beethoven himself said it was “one of the happiest products of my poor talents.” Still, its rhythmic drive and energy caused some unusual comments from his contemporaries. The many unusual characterizations and comparisons ascribed to it from all quarters, seem to underscore this; for example: the dour Friedrich Wieck (Clara Schumann’s father) opined that the music could only have been written by someone who was seriously intoxicated; Carl Maria von Weber said that Beethoven was ready for the madhouse; music writer Ernest Newman spoke of “a divine intoxication of the spirit”; but Richard Wagner, called it “the apotheosis of the dance” and continued, “if anyone plays the Seventh, tables and benches, cans and cups, the grandmother, the blind and the lame, aye, the children in the cradle fall to dancing.” And it has been choreographed more than once, including by Twyla Tharp for New York City Ballet in 2000. Beginning with an introduction of marvelous anticipation, punctuated by fortissimo chords, the symphony is unleashed with rhythmically complex and unrelenting momentum that never lets up. Even the traditionally slower second movement isn’t particularly slow. This Allegretto, encored at the premiere of the Symphony, has had a life of its own, being played as a separate piece. The driving energy and sheer exuberance of Beethoven’s Seventh will sweep you along, too—from that suspenseful opening to whirlwind ending, where every part of you will feel like dancing.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Egmont Overture (1810)
Beethoven was drawn to the nobility of the title character of Goethe’s play Egmont, for which he composed the incidental music, including this stirring overture. The music portrays the tragic Count Egmont (1522-1568), who, after a political trial, is executed for opposing the Spanish persecution of Protestants in Flanders. Having glimpsed freedom triumphant in a vision, Egmont dies a hero to his people. Composer and poet never drew close, though they respected each other “professionally.” Beethoven admired Goethe “with the greatest reverence and with an unutterably deep feeling for his glorious creations.” Goethe, in turn, wrote that Beethoven’s “talent astonished me prodigiously, but he is, unfortunately, a wholly untamed person….Yet he is to be excused and much pitied, for he has lost his hearing, which is, perhaps, of less injury to his art than to his social relations.”

In September 2009 Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first native New Yorker to hold the post.

For his inaugural season he introduced a number of new initiatives: the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, held by Magnus Lindberg, and Artist-in-Residence, first held by Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series. In the 2009–10 season he led the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi. He also took the Philharmonic to nine cities on the EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour in January–February 2010, and is conducting world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season, Mr. Gilbert became the first person to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that includes coaching, conducting, and hosting performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert's 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the Philharmonic's Concerts in the Parks and Free Indoor Concerts, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and performances at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and he has conducted other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; and the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of the Santa Fe Opera.

Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School. From 1995 to 1997 he was the assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award, and his recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. On May 15, 2010, The Curtis Institute of Music awarded Mr. Gilbert an Honorary Doctor of Music degree.

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EMANUEL AX, piano, born in 1948 in Lvov, Poland
Emanuel Ax is renowned not only for his poetic temperament and unsurpassed virtuosity, but also for the exceptional breadth of his performing activities. Each season his distinguished career includes appearances with major symphony orchestras worldwide, recitals in the most celebrated concert halls, chamber music collaborations, the commissioning and performance of new music, and adding to his acclaimed discography. One of the most popular and respected pianists in the world, Emanuel Ax started his piano career in Warsaw when he was just seven years old. “That’s what I wanted to do, and that’s what I’m doing. I also went to a regular college as well as the conservatory. That was my dad’s influence—music is a pretty iffy career. … What you need is luck.” While still a boy, in 1961, he and his family moved to Winnipeg, Canada. Thanks to the sponsorship of the Boys Clubs of America he enrolled in the pre-college division at Juilliard, and was soon winning prize after prize, including the Young Concert Artists Award, the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 1974, and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 1979. Seven Grammy Awards further attest to his achievements. His exquisite lyricism and brilliant technique allow him to tackle all parts of the repertoire, from Mozart to today’s music. In recent seasons he has premiered John Adams’s Century Rolls, Christopher Rouse’s Seeing, and Bright Sheng’s Red Silk Dance, and at these Philharmonic concerts he plays Messiaen’s Couleurs de la cité céleste. He says, “Performing remains enormously fun for me and in some ways it is becoming even more fun. …And how lucky am I to be in a profession where I never have to think about retiring, but can play music forever.”

“His greatness, his overwhelming authority as musician, technician and probing intellect emerges quickly as he plays. Within minutes, we are totally captured by his intensity and pianistic achievement.” Los Angeles Times

“His performances have a clarity and unpretentiousness that direct our focus to the music itself and not the interpreter at the keyboard.” Chicago Sun Times

Find additional upcoming performances with Emanuel Ax