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...

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...

Renowned soprano Jessye Norman performs Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, a pensive set of orchestral songs meditating on love and death — perhaps Mahler’s favorite themes. Then she joins Zubin Mehta and the Orchestra in Wagner’s ecstatic aria of fatal love.

MAHLER (1860 –1911)
Five Late Songs to Poems ...

Sir James Galway solos in Jacques Ibert’s sunny, spirited Flute Concerto. This 2008 performance is conducted by then Music Director Lorin Maazel.

IBERT (1890–1962)
Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1932–33)
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Allegro scherzando

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

Legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich performs Dvořák’s powerful Cello Concerto, written during the Czech composer’s time 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

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....

Emanuel Ax solos in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto — a work of spirit and elegance. Kurt Masur, the Philharmonic’s Music Director at the time, conducts this 1994 performance.

BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 (ca. 1795 / 1800)
1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. R...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

This most uplifting, inspiring of concertos is rich with virtuosic flourishes, the blending of brilliance with quiet, and Beethoven’s unique brand of wit. As soloist, pianist Stephen Hough brings “bracing clarity” and his “richly poetic” artistry to this masterwork (The New York Times).

BEETHOVE...