ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 9, From the New World (1893)
At the invitation of the visionary Mrs. Jeanette Thurber, Antonín Dvorák (along with his wife and two of their six children) came to New York in 1892 to become head of the National Conservatory (located at east 17th Street and Irving Place), a school founded by her to encourage the development of American concert music. He composed his famous Ninth Symphony, nicknamed “From the New World” during his first year in America; the following year, the New York Philharmonic premièred Dvorák’s most beloved score at Carnegie Hall. A strong advocate of indigenous music as the inspiration for art music, he felt that America’s composers should look to their native land—not “the old country”—for inspiration he provided this comment about his Ninth Symphony: “Since I have been in this country I have been deeply interested in the national music of the Negroes and the Indians. The character, the very nature of a race, is contained in its national music. For that reason my attention was at once turned in the direction of these native melodies…It is this spirit which I have tried to reproduce in my new Symphony….I have not actually used any of the melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the music and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, harmony, counterpoint and orchestral color.” His explanation notwithstanding, there is still plenty of the Old World in the ”New World” Symphony. As he remarked, the subtitle was intended to convey “impressions and greetings from the New World”… a sort of musical postcard from America. Filled with lovely melodies, bold calls from the horns, and an unforgettable theme that weaves its way throughout the symphony, the Ninth was also an expression of homesickness for his native Bohemia. The premiere was a smashing success, prompting Dvorák to write: “Carnegie Hall was crowded with the best people of New York, and the audience applauded so that, like a king, I had to take my bows repeatedly from the box in which I sat.” This symphony has entered popular culture, too, and many a man or woman on the street can hum the haunting “Goin’ Home” from the slow movement—always a star turn for the solo English horn. It made it into the movie Paradise Road, with Glenn Close organizing and leading a chorus of women prisoners of war in a Japanese POW camp in Sumatra in World War II. Having no instruments to play, their voices become the orchestra.

GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
An American in Paris (1928)
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic this delightful ballet started life while Gershwin was enjoying the heady atmosphere of 1920s Paris; he finished it in New York. He had come a long way from his Russian immigrant roots. His parents changed young George’s life when they bought him an upright piano and lessons. At age 16 he sought his fortune in Tin Pan Alley, and burst onto the scene in 1920 with the song “Swanee,” recorded by Al Jolson. He taught himself orchestration and collaborated with his older brother Ira on many of America’s greatest songs. He went on to create several beloved American classics of the concert hall: Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and An American in Paris. Gershwin wrote at length about his delightful “rhapsodic ballet,” which was choreographed and danced memorably by Gene Kelly in the 1951 movie An American in Paris. He said, “My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.” When the piece kicks into a bluesy style, the composer continues, “our American friend…has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness.” But ultimately, the American visitor “once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life.” Listen for the characteristic French car horns as you imagine ambling along Parisian boulevards.

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.