Generations of music lovers have made The Philadelphia Orchestra part of their holiday celebrations. This December, the Orchestra once again becomes a destination for listeners who want to experience the sublime sounds of the season. A Family Concert – Holiday Traditions Around the World – explores music from across the globe (December 8), and Handel’s Messiah, an audience favorite since the composer’s time, returns for its 47th annual outing by the Orchestra (December 16).
A new offering this year – Holiday Organ and Brass – showcases the majesty of the Kimmel Center’s Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ and the Orchestra’s splendid brass section (December 18). The Glorious Sound of Christmas, first introduced as a best-selling album in 1962, continues to delight today on compact disc and as a trio of concerts (December 20-22). Finally, the annual New Year’s Eve Concert closes out the year with violinist Leila Josefowicz joining members of the Orchestra for music of Vienna and beyond (December 31).
Family Concert – Holiday Traditions Around the World
Music is a vital part of ceremonies and celebrations around the globe. During holiday season in America, the air is filled with the sounds of “White Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” “Little Drummer Boy,” and selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. But what do people listen to in other lands? Holiday Traditions Around the World explores music heard in different cultures during the winter holidays. The program also features 11-year-old harpist Katherine Kapelsohn, a winner of the Orchestra’s 2007 Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, performing a movement from Dittersdorf’s elegant Harp Concerto.
Conductor David Amado returns to lead this program (December 8, 2007). The Philadelphia Orchestra Family Concerts are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross. Additional support is provided by UGI Amerigas, the Presser Foundation, and the Zisman Family Foundation.
Handel’s Messiah
The Philadelphia Orchestras opens its holiday concerts with a time-honored tradition: a performance of Handel’s Messiah (December 16). The work was a favorite of the composer and has delighted audiences for over two centuries. British conductor Christopher Warren-Green makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut leading the Orchestra’s 47th consecutive annual performance of the beloved oratorio. Joining him are four soloists fully versed in Baroque style. Three make their Philadelphia Orchestra debuts: young Romanian soprano Eliana Pretorian, South African countertenor Christopher Ainslie, and British bass-baritone Stephen Richardson. Tenor Mark Tucker returns after singing Messiah with the Orchestra in 2001. The soloists are joined by The Philadelphia Singers Chorale.
Christopher Warren-Green has held the position of music director of the London Chamber Orchestra since 1988. In Great Britain he has conducted the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic. In North America, he led the National Symphony and has led the orchestras of St. Louis, Minnesota, Indianapolis, Vancouver, and Victoria. Mr. Warren-Green has also established strong ties with the Seattle Symphony and returns there on a regular basis. Last season he made his debut with Japan’s NHK Symphony. Mr. Warren-Green has recorded extensively for BMG, EMI, Philips, Virgin, and Chandos, and most recently for Deutsche Grammophon.
Holiday Organ and Brass
New this year, Holiday Organ and Brass blends the sound of the Orchestra’s splendid brass players and the Kimmel Center’s acclaimed Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ (December 18). The concert features seasonal selections for this festive combination of instruments. The Orchestra’s brass section has received glowing reviews lately, with the San Francisco Chronicle describing the section’s sound as “darkly gleaming” and the Chicago Tribune writing that the brass are “as robust as ever.” The organ, inaugurated in May 2006, has received its own share of praise. The Wall Street Journal has described it as “a versatile 6,938- pipe beast with a wide tonal palette” and the Philadelphia Daily News has written that its dynamics range “from whisper soft to grandly majestic to a bone-liquefying bass roar.”
The Glorious Sound of Christmas
With The Glorious Sound of Christmas, The Philadelphia Orchestra lends its lush sound to festive orchestral classics and selections from its best-selling Christmas album of the same name (December 20-22). The program features two favorite carols from the recording – “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” – and a holiday sing-along. Also included are a variety of pieces that are evocative of the holiday season, including Gustav Holst’s “Christmas Day” (a set of variations on “In dulci jubilo”) and Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorful Suite from Christmas Eve. Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Conductor Rossen Milanov conducts the concert. (Mr. Milanov’s bio is below.)
New Year’s Eve Concert
For the Orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve Concert, Associate Conductor Rossen Milanov, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and members of The Philadelphia Orchestra take audiences on a musical journey on the Danube River (December 31). The concert opens in Vienna with Johann Strauss Jr.’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” Waltz. From there, the program follows the River through the Czech Republic (Smetana’s “The Moldau,” from Má vlast), Hungary (gypsy-tinged selections by Johann Strauss Jr., Ravel, and Brahms), and Romania (Dinicu’s Hora-staccato).
Formerly a model for Chanel’s Allure fragrance, Ms. Josefowicz brings glamour and “explosive virtuosity and stylistic versatility” to the stage (Washington Post). She performs two works by the Austrianborn violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler. “Liebesleid” and “Liebesfreud” are two of Kreisler’s best-loved works, and the Orchestra’s first performed them on its 1977 New Year’s Eve Concert 30 years ago. After a final stop in Slovakia (Dvoák’s Slavonic Dance, Op 26, No. 1), the concert closes in Vienna, with Johann Strauss Jr.’s celebratory “Emperor” Waltz.
Rossen Milanov is associate conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and artistic director of The Philadelphia Orchestra at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, Mr. Milanov serves as music director of New Jersey’s Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony); music director of the New Symphony Orchestra in his native city of Sofia, Bulgaria; and chief conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony. During the 2007-08 season, Mr. Milanov debuts with Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, London’s BBC Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, and the Royal Scottish Philharmonic. He has return engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Slovenian National Radio Orchestra, and the Curtis Opera Theatre, and he conducts the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra in a European tour. - www.philorch.org
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