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CARNEGIE HALL CELEBRATES BERLIN
Premiered on January 7, 2008 on PBS (check local listings)
INTRODUCTION
In November 2007, Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City heralded the explosion of creativity taking place in contemporary Berlin with a 17-day "Berlin in Lights" festival, celebrating a city that has reemerged as one of the world's artistic centers. Joining the festivities, GREAT PERFORMANCES returns to Carnegie Hall's famed stage for one of the festival's centerpiece events: a performance by the celebrated Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of its acclaimed music director and conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, of Gustav Mahler's towering "Symphony No. 9."
Coverage of other "Berlin in Lights" activities will highlight the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela -- which the Berliner Philharmoniker mentors -- and its brilliant young conductor, Gustavo Dudamel (recently announced as the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), performing Bartók's "Concerto for Orchestra."
In the 125 years that the Berlin Philharmonic has been in existence, the orchestra has had only nine principal conductors. Sir Simon Rattle was appointed chief conductor and artistic director in September 2002, taking over the reins from Claudio Abbado. A renowned Mahler interpreter, Rattle first recorded works by the Austrian composer in 1987: "Symphony No. 2," with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Eventually he recorded "Symphony No. 9" with the Vienna Philharmonic and Symphonies 5 and 10 with the Berliner Philharmonic. His new recording of Mahler's "Ninth" with the Berlin was released, solely as a digital download, in November 2007 to coincide with the "Berlin in Lights" festival.
Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 9" is a profound statement about life and leave-taking. It was composed in 1909-1910, during his term as music director of the New York Philharmonic (when he conducted in Carnegie Hall, where Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic perform the "Ninth" in this program). This turned out to be Mahler's last completed symphony, a fact that gives it extra weight. That it also is constructed along similar lines to Tchaikovsky's last completed symphony adds to that expressive power. Like Tchaikovsky's "Sixth," Mahler's "Ninth" begins and ends with mostly slow movements and has two lighter, more energetic movements in between. Get additional details about the Mahler symphony and Bartók's "Concerto for Orchestra" in the song list, and watch excerpts of both works. Discover more about Simon Rattle's tenure with the venerable orchestra in the essay by contributor Tim Smith. Finally, meet the exuberant and much-heralded conductor of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in Dialogue.
The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra records exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Their most recent CD releases include MAHLER 5 (2007) and BEETHOVEN 5 & 7 (2006).
Special funding for CARNEGIE HALL CELEBRATES BERLIN was provided by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, in memory of Stephen M. Kellen, and the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.
Top banner photo: Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic
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photo: Conductor Sir Simon Rattle
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