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....

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 ...

Thomas Schippers, acclaimed for his work in opera, is joined by legendary vocalists in this 1965 New York Philharmonic performance of Rossini’s Stabat Mater, a Rococo revisiting of a timeless text. Alec Baldwin is your host.

ROSSINI (1792–1868)
Stabat Mater (1831–41) 
1. Introduction: Stabat ...

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–...

A journey from the somber to the sublime. Gemma New conducts Mahler’s ode to his wife, Mozart’s eloquent dirge, Schubert’s most beloved symphony, Jessie Montgomery’s vivid musical depiction of the Lower East Side of her youth, and Carlos Simon’s Beethoven-inspired paean to triumph over fate.

MA...

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