Amy Beach’s Gaelic returns to Philadelphia after 100-year absence

By Cameron Kelsall, 13 March 2026

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“rarely has the piano in Marian Anderson Hall sounded so rich and enveloping”

Reviewed at Kimmel Center: Marian Anderson Hall, Philadelphia on 12 March 2026

Weber, Der Freischütz: Overture

Liszt, Piano Concerto no. 2 in A major, S 125

Mozart, Piano Sonata no. 16 in C major, K545 (Allegro)

Beach, Symphony in E minor "Gaelic", Op.32

Marc-André Hamelin, Piano

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Conductor

Marin Alsop brings unexpected pleasures to Philadelphia Orchestra

Kurt Gottschalk, 18th June

The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates the 50th birthday of the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Fairmount Park, with Marin Alsop serving up a surprise in Ravel's Boléro.

****1

Raising flags and questioning promises at Philadelphia’s Highmark Mann

Kurt Gottschalk, 17th June

Peter Boyer’s oratorio A Hundred Years On, commemorating the centenary of the 1876 World’s Fair, softens the blow of jingoism, looking to an earlier era of hope and broken promise.

***11

Philadelphia Orchestra closes season with a pair of American masters

Cameron Kelsall, 7th June

Hélène Grimaud and Emily D'Angelo join Yannick Nézet-Séguin for a varied and variable program of Gershwin and Bernstein.

***11

Alsop conducts a substitute Marsalis symphony at Carnegie Hall

David Wolfson, 29th May

The premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony no. 5 is postponed, substituted by selections from his Jungle Symphony, along with a disappointing Beethoven’s Seventh at Carnegie Hall.

***11

Philadelphia Orchestra debuts Tyshawn Sorey’s static Piano Concerto

Cameron Kelsall, 15th May

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the premiere of For Marilyn Crispell alongside the 1873 version of Bruckner’s “Wagner Symphony”, the Third.

***11

A superb Salzburg sojourn: Philadelphia Orchestra plays Mozart

Cameron Kelsall, 11th April

Guest conductor Harry Bicket brings a sense of urgency to Mozart's Requiem and pulse-quickening energy to Symphony no. 40.

****1

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Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall is a classical music critic and cultural reporter. He has written for Bachtrack since 2019, and his byline has appeared in many national and international classical music publications. Based in Philadelphia, he regularly travels around the United States for musical events. In addition to his career in journalism, Cameron also teaches in the Theatre Arts program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a certified sommelier and avid home cook. His favorite composer is Mahler. Twitter: @CameronPKelsall.

Amy Beach’s Gaelic returns to the Philadelphia Orchestra after 100-year absence