Welcome to the 2010-2011 season at the Philadelphia Orchestra!
My name is Amalya Lehmann and I am the new editor of the eZseatU blog. I am a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, studying musicology, cognitive science, and violin. As one of the eZseatU campus representatives, you will see me attending Philadelphia Orchestra concerts almost weekly!
As Philadelphia-area students, we are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to attend concerts by one of the leading orchestras in the world, for only $25 a year. Whether you are just getting into classical music, or you have listened to classical music and attended concerts for years, there will be a concert for you!
For students on both ends of the spectrum, you don’t want to miss your first opportunity to attend a concert this year—the Orchestra's FREE College Concert, on Tuesday, September 28, at 8 pm!
The program begins with chief conductor Charles Dutoit leading the Le Corsaire Overture by one of his favorite composers, Hector Berlioz, composer of the famous Symphonie Fantastique.
The program follows with Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, one of the most popular pieces in the repertoire and one of the most beloved to violinists: all advanced violinists feel like they reach a significant milestone when they finish working on ‘THE Mendelssohn’! The Concerto’s first movement begins with a beautiful, soaring melody, and features a thrilling end to the cadenza, full of butterfly-like string crossings, with the orchestra playing the opening theme. The second movement is slow and warm by contrast, featuring elegant and bittersweet melodies in the solo violin part, accompanied by a murmuring and rousing orchestra. The work ends with the brilliant, bubbly, and fast last movement.
You may have heard him play the soundtrack to the Academy-award winning film The Red Violin, or have seen him featured as one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. You may have also read about his experiment with the Washington Post, in which he entered a Washington D.C. Metro Station, wore a baseball cap, and started playing violin to passersby. World-renowned American violinist Joshua Bell is sure to play a beautiful account of the Concerto at this concert. Bell made his professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 14, and in the years since, has performed all over the world, and released numerous CD’s, including collaborations with Regina Spektor, Sting, and Bela Fleck.
In the second half of the program, the Orchestra begins its celebration of Gustav Mahler’s 150th Birthday with a performance of his appropriately named Symphony No. 1 (“The Titan”), one of his most ambitious works that reshaped what could be included in a symphony. Full of Mahler’s own songs, klezmer, street dances, and a funeral march based on the popular tune “Frère Jacques”, this piece inspired wild reactions at its first performances due to its unconventional structure, material, and emotional character. Be sure to stick around for this epic masterpiece!
Besides this fantastic program, there will be a number of festivities marking this special annual event, ranging from live band performances to meeting the Orchestra’s musicians to receiving an autograph from Joshua Bell. Best of all, you will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with other music lovers your age, studying in Philadelphia-area colleges.
So mark your calendars, reserve your ticket, and invite your friends—this is a night not to be missed! See you then!
