Carnegie Hall

A Night of Inspiration

It’s always a thrilling experience to hear acclaimed composer, music director, and producer Ray Chew—along with his co-producer, Vivian Scott Chew—lead uplifting music from diverse traditions. Great soloists, an outstanding instrumental ensemble, and some unforgettable surprises await when the music moves you and your spirit rises.

Jeremy Denk, Piano

Hear inventive treatments of popular themes and homages to great masters in this program. Bizet’s dramatic variations owe much to a classic set by Beethoven, but also contain a quote from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Liszt honored Beethoven with a transcription of his song An die ferne Geliebte, while Schumann’s Beethoven-worship finds its voice in his deeply personal Fantasy. Inspired, in part, by an effort to raise funds for a Beethoven monument, Schumann’s tribute is a first-movement allusion to An die ferne Geliebte.

Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Haydn’s craftsmanship, melodic mastery, and sharp wit inspired generations of composers after him, including Mozart and Beethoven. Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony was the composer’s way of telling his boss, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, that the court musicians wanted to return to their families after an unexpectedly long period of employment from which they were not permitted leave—after three bustling movements, it winds down to silence to deliver the message. Haydn’s “children” have their say as well: Beethoven’s concerto bubbles over with wit and high spirits, while Mozart’s melodically splendid concert aria weaves voice and obbligato violin into a pseudo operatic duet.

Boston Symphony Orchestra

All the elements are in place for an unforgettable evening of music when a superstar pianist joins one of America’s legendary orchestras conducted by one of most innovative composers of our day. Kirill Gerstein, called “one of the distinguished classical artists of his generation” (The New York Times), performs a new piano concerto by Thomas Adès, the composer of the critically acclaimed opera The Exterminating Angel and a world-class pianist in his own right. Adès then shows why he is a much sought-after conductor when he directs Tchaikovsky’s tumultuous and melodically splendid Symphony No. 4.

Emanuel Ax, Piano

The Guardian has written that Emanuel Ax’s playing is "always marvelously articulate and totally unfussy. Nothing is done for effect or to draw attention to the player rather than to what he is playing.” He’ll bring these qualities to a recital in which he explores the daring contrapuntal innovations of Bach, Chopin’s soulful expressiveness, Ravel’s harmonic audacity, and more.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Mitsuko Uchida

Mitsuko Uchida’s "remarkable approach to the piano—with her ability to shift the weight and meaning of any line of music in the most brilliant and seamless ways—is a given,” wrote the Chicago Sun-Times of the legendary pianist. Uchida returns to Carnegie Hall to play and lead works by Mozart from the keyboard. From the virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 19 to the dramatic Piano Concerto No. 20—a work much admired by Beethoven—Uchida will leave you spellbound.

Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration

Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran draw upon their own family lore and the historical record of the Great Migration to compose tableaux that explore a continuum of music from rhythm and blues to gospel, classical to Broadway, work songs to rock ‘n’ roll. Experience the ingenuity of these artists as they take a journey from the American South after emancipation to all points North, West, and beyond—shining a light on the epic event that changed the sound of America forever.

Yefim Bronfman, Piano

Yefim Bronfman is “… one of the most gifted and brilliant and versatile” pianists, a virtuoso “with chops that need fear no comparisons” (The New York Times). In this recital, he performs one of Schubert’s final sonatas, Schumann’s brilliantly free-flowing Humoresque, and other works. In particular, Schubert’s sonata is a restless work where chiaroscuro effects intensify the drama and virtuosity drives the nervous excitement.