'Vienna: City of Dreams' opens with VPO in Beethoven and Schoenberg

By David Allen, 26 February 2014

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“This Ninth was pretty routine, something that no Beethoven and certainly no Ninth should ever be.”

Reviewed at Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium, New York City on 25 February 2014

Schoenberg, Friede auf Erden, Op.13

Beethoven, Symphony no. 9 in D minor "Choral", Op.125

Vienna Philharmonic

Franz Welser-Möst, Conductor

Ricarda Merbeth, Soprano

Zoryana Kushpler, Mezzo-soprano

Peter Seiffert, Tenor

Günther Groissböck, Bass

New York Choral Artists

Joseph Flummerfelt, Director

Shared language and living history: Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Phil

Chanda VanderHart, 19th March

Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman and the Vienna Philharmonic meet in repertoire they know intimately, illuminating it through mutual understanding.

*****

Vienna Philharmonic closes Carnegie residency

Edward Sava-Segal, 1st March

Andris Nelsons pairs Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra with Sibelius’ Second Symphony to conclude the Vienna Philharmonic's latest Carnegie Hall residency.

****1

Contemplation and exuberance: Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall

Susan Stempleski, 28th February

Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the New York premiere of a solemn, modernist work paired with two high-spirited symphonies from the 18th and 19th centuries.

****1

A vanished Old World with the Vienna Philharmonic in Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 20th January

A Vienna Philharmonic evening conjures a vanished world: Strauss’ muscular drama and intimate humour, Haydn’s inward gravity and a graceful waltz to close.

****1

The Vienna Philharmonic explores Central Europe with Jakub Hrůša

Chanda VanderHart, 11th December

At the Konzerthaus, the Vienna Philharmonic travels across the Austrian borders with Jakub Hrůša into the varied sound worlds of Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia.

****1

Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic’s Bruckner 5 in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 20th November

A tightly focused and cohesive Bruckner Fifth Symphony at the Seoul Arts Center as Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic continue their Asian tour in compelling fashion.

*****

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David Allen

David is a PhD student at Columbia University, where he studies international history. A lapsed pianist and organist, he writes on concerts on both sides of the Atlantic, and blogs at Unpredictable Inevitability.