This symphony’s premiere was such a success that Brahms feared not being able to live up to it in the future. No wonder: beginning with fiery focus, passing through dark and mysterious harmonic explorations, and concluding in transcendence and serenity, this work continues to inspire and delight....

Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto opens with plaintive gentleness, the soloist alone before the orchestra takes over. So begins this conversation between piano and ensemble, enriched in this performance led by longtime collaborators Zubin Mehta and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Pia...

In this New Year’s Eve concert from 2018, Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts a festive, upbeat excerpt from Wagner’s music-drama Lohengrin as well as J. Strauss II’s lyrical Blue Danube waltz.

WAGNER (1813–83)
Introduction to Act III of Lohengrin (1846–48)

J. STRAUSS II (1825–99)
An d...

Nothing evokes a Viennese New Year’s ball quite like Strauss waltzes. Hear the famous Blue Danube and other Strauss family pieces in this effervescent performance from New Year’s Eve 1984.

J. STRAUSS II (1825–99)
Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltzes), Op. 437 (1889)
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214 ...

“Goin’ Home” is only one of the many exquisite melodies in what many consider to be the first great symphony composed on American soil. The New World is part of the very DNA of the NY Phil, which has performed it almost 400 times, beginning with its premiere.

DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)
Symphony No. 9 ...

In this 1982 performance, then Music Director Zubin Mehta leads the Philharmonic in Mozart’s final symphony, a work that combines grandeur and serenity through a thematic richness that represents the height of Mozart’s achievement.

MOZART (1756–91)
Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551, Jupiter (1...

Kathleen Battle, one of the great sopranos of her time, sings a popular aria from Mozart’s Il ré pastore (The Shepherd King). Shlomo Mintz plays the solo violin part, representing the title character’s thoughts of his absent beloved.

MOZART (1756–91)
Aria, L’amerò sarò costante, from Il ré pas...

 In this Opening Night program from 1999, then Music Director Kurt Masur leads the Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s mighty Fifth Symphony, a work that balances the forces of fate with majestic triumph.

TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–93)
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (1888)
1. Andante — Allegro con anima
2. ...

This program reflects music’s ability to speak to harmony, unity, and shared humanity. Philharmonic musicians are joined by colleagues from around the world for Mahler’s epic Seventh Symphony, an evocation of the Romantic tradition through exquisite nocturnal nature-music.

MAHLER (1860–1911)
S...

In this 1976 performance, storied pianist Van Cliburn joins musical giant Andre Previn for Grieg’s beloved Piano Concerto, a virtuosic work with one of the most recognizable openings in the repertoire.

GRIEG (1843–1907)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 16 (1868)
1. Allegro mo...

Heidi Melton and Simon O’Neill are the lovers in this tale of burning passion and forbidden love. Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts immense orchestral forces in Act I of Die Walküre, part of the epic Ring cycle, Wagner’s magnum opus that changed opera — and music — forever.

WAGNER (1813–...

Richard Strauss marshals huge orchestral forces in his tone poem depicting the life of an unnamed hero. Andre Previn conducts this historic concert from 1976, the inaugural broadcast of Live From Lincoln Center.

R. STRAUSS (1864–1949)
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), Tone Poem for Large Orche...

The great André Watts joins the Philharmonic in 1977 to perform Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto. Brahms jokingly called this a “tiny little” concerto for piano and orchestra, despite its being one of the largest ever written. The legendary Erich Leinsdorf conducts.

BRAHMS (1833–97)
Concerto No....

From its iconic opening (famously used by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey) to its concluding chord evoking the mysteries of the universe, Strauss’s tone poem based on Nietzsche’s book of the same title is one of the composer’s best-known works.

R. STRAUSS (1864–1949)
Also sprach Zarat...

Rudolf Serkin, one of the most revered Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century, joins then Music Director Zubin Mehta in a 1978 performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto.

BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, Emperor (1809)
1. Allegro
2. Adagio un poco moto ...

Legendary violinist Isaac Stern solos in Brahms’s only concerto for the instrument — a work of nearly symphonic proportions and technical fireworks in the last movement.

BRAHMS (1833–97)
Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77 (1878–79)
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Allegr...

Itzhak Perlman performs Mendelssohn’s beloved Violin Concerto in this classic 1982 performance.

MENDELSSOHN (1809–47)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 (1844)
1. Allegro molto appassionato
2. Andante
3. Allegretto ma non troppo — Allegro molto vivace
(The movements are played withou...

Comedian Danny Kaye leads the Philharmonic in a loving send-up of orchestral performance practice by conducting with his back to the Orchestra.

VERDI (1813–1901)
Triumphal March (and Ballet), from Aida (1871)

The legendary Itzhak Perlman performs Brahms’s only concerto for violin — a central piece in the repertoire and a dazzling display for the soloist.

BRAHMS (1833–97)
Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77 (1878–79)
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Allegro giocoso, ma non tropp...

Leontyne Price, one of the most acclaimed sopranos of her generation, joins the Philharmonic and then Music Director Zubin Mehta for selections by Mozart and Richard Strauss in this classic 1982 performance.

MOZART (1756–91)
Recitativo and Aria, Come scoglio, from Così fan tutte (1790)

R. ST...

Richard Strauss finished this tone poem at the age of 25, establishing himself as a master of the form and an innovator who had synthesized his own musical style. This performance from 1982 is conducted by then Music Director Zubin Mehta.

R. STRAUSS (1864–1949)
Don Juan, Tone Poem after Nikolau...

Though he’s best known as a violin virtuoso, Fritz Kreisler was also a skilled composer who wrote several popular works. Three of his best known are featured here.

KREISLER (1875–1962)
Liebeslied (1954)
Schön Rosmarin (1912)
Liebesfreud (1941)

Superstar Yo-Yo Ma performs the lyrical, moving Cello Concerto by Antonín Dvořák, which was written during the Czech composer’s extended stay in New York City.

DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (1894–95)
1. Allegro
2. Adagio, ma non troppo
3. Finale: Allegro moderato

Music Director Jaap van Zweden leads the epic Fifth Symphony by his predecessor, Gustav Mahler. This five-movement symphonic tour de force encompasses intense passion, demonic energy, and breathtaking radiance.

MAHLER (1860–1911)
Symphony No. 5 (1901–02)
PART I
1. Trauermarsch: in gemessenem ...