Okay, so even if it does have the vexing habit of dropping last-minute surprises on those of us who work in print media (most recent example: sending out a press release yesterday about Steve Reich appearing with So Percussion at Richardson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow), I have to admit Princeton University has really outdone itself for next season. Joyce DiDonato, Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Isserlis, Bobby McFarren, the Takács Quartet, Abigail Washburn, Pinchas Zukerman and more will appear as part of the 125th season of the university’s flagship concert series. An artistic residency by Gustavo Dudamel serves to put the whole enterprise way over the top. Dudamel will bring musicians from the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic. And this is just the series that we KNOW about.
During the intermission of today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, I’ll be joined by the amazing Marna Seltzer, Director of Princeton University Concerts, who will preview next season’s outstanding artist roster. Our on-air conversation will take place around 1:00 p.m.
Prior to that, I hope you’ll join me at 12:00 for a knockout recital given at Richardson Auditorium on November 17 by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. The concert will include works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Maurice Ravel, and Johannes Brahms, interleaved with musical reflections on Brahms by Brett Dean.
Then, a little after 2:00, with the trees budding but the weather still wildly in flux, we’ll attempt coax spring, with two major works inspired by the season, performed by venerable orchestras located comparatively nearby – John Knowles Paine’s Symphony No. 2 “Im Frühling” (“In Springtime”), with the New York Philharmonic, and Igor Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”), with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In whatever language, we spring into great music, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
