FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2016
Contact: Katherine E. Johnson
(212) 875-5718; [email protected]
NEW RECORDINGS FROM THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
WORKS BY CHRISTOPHER ROUSE
Former Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence
Odna Zhizn · Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 · Prospero’s Rooms
To Be Released May 3 on Dacapo Records
ALAN GILBERT AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: 2015–16 SEASON
DIGITAL RECORDING SERIES
Two New Albums Featuring Works by
The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen,
R. Strauss, Brahms, and Beethoven
Now Available for Download and Streaming
The New York Philharmonic announces a new album of works by Christopher Rouse, the
Philharmonic’s second Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, and the launch of Alan
Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2015–16 Season digital recording series — which will
feature ten albums of performances from the current season — for download and streaming.
The new album of works by Christopher Rouse presents four live recordings performed by
Music Director Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, three of which were composed for
the Orchestra and Alan Gilbert: Odna Zhizn, the Third and Fourth Symphonies, and Prospero’s
Rooms. The album, available now for pre-order on Amazon, will be released on May 3 by
Dacapo Records, which released the Philharmonic’s critically acclaimed cycle of the complete
symphonies and concertos of Carl Nielsen and the CD of works composed for the Philharmonic
by then Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg. The album will be distributed in the U.S. by
the Naxos Group.
Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2015–16 Season, the Philharmonic’s digital
recording series, launches with the release of two albums in a series of ten. The first album
features Alan Gilbert conducting LA Variations, the first work by The Marie-Josée Kravis
Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen during his three-season tenure, and Richard
Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, featuring newly appointed Concertmaster Frank Huang playing the
concertmaster solos. The second album includes Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emanuel
Ax as soloist; Brahms’s Tragic Overture; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Both albums are
now available for download and streaming.
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New York Philharmonic Recordings / 2
Works by Christopher Rouse on Dacapo Records
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Odna Zhizn (A Life) was given its World
Premiere in February 2010, during Alan Gilbert’s first season as Music Director. Called “a
magical score” by The New York Times, the work was “composed in homage to a person of
Russian ancestry who is very dear to me,” Christopher Rouse writes. “Her life has not been an
easy one, and the struggles she has faced are reflected in the sometimes peripatetic nature of the
music.”
Mr. Rouse’s Symphony No. 3 was given its New York Premiere by the New York Philharmonic
in June 2013 as part of Gilbert’s Playlist, the 2012–13 season–concluding programs showcasing
hallmarks of the Music Director’s tenure. Mr. Rouse writes that he “toyed with the concept of
‘rewriting’ a work composed by someone else. … to take some central aspect of an already
composed work and consider it anew.” The work he chose to reconsider — “the old bottle into
which I have tried to pour new wine” — is Prokofiev’s rarely performed Symphony No. 2.
Commissioned for the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL — which Mr. Rouse and Alan Gilbert
co-curated — Mr. Rouse’s Symphony No. 4 received its World Premiere in June 2014, led by
the Music Director. Though Mr. Rouse admits he had a particular meaning in mind when
composing the 20-minute work, he writes that he “prefers to keep it to myself.” He added that
“there’s got to be some kind of expressive message in a piece of music. My caveat is that the
message may not necessarily be a happy one, and you have to be open to that.”
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Prospero’s Rooms is dedicated to Alan Gilbert
and the Philharmonic, which gave the World Premiere in April 2013 before taking the work on
the EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour. The work is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s symbolist story
“The Masque of the Red Death,” in which Prince Prospero locks his friends in his house of seven
rooms, each painted a different color, to escape the Red Death.
“Chris Rouse is one of the most important composers working today,” said Music Director Alan
Gilbert. “He actually shapes the sound and the flow of his music in a way that only great
composers can.”
Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2015–16 Season
The New York Philharmonic’s digital recording series — now in its seventh season — will
include ten albums of more than 25 works conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert during the
2015–16 season, including performances by The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-inResidence Eric Owens; the World Premiere–Philharmonic Commission of a new Trombone
Concerto by William Bolcom, performed by Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi; performances
by Concertmaster Frank Huang, including Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons; solo performances by
Principal Tuba Alan Baer and Principal Cello Carter Brey; works by Sibelius honoring the
150th anniversary of his birth; and highlights from the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL. Check
Watch & Listen on nyphil.org for the latest releases.
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The series’ recordings, accompanied by digital liner notes, are available for download from all
major digital download services including iTunes, Amazon.com, and Google Play (ranging from
$9.99 to $13.99 per album) and streaming on Spotify. Works by Christopher Rouse are available
for pre-sale on iTunes and Amazon. Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: 2015–16
Season is produced by the New York Philharmonic and distributed by The Orchard, the
Philharmonic’s digital recordings technology partner and the leading digital distributor of
classical music. This is the seventh series of live recordings produced since Alan Gilbert became
Music Director in September 2009.
Dacapo Records was launched in 1989 in Denmark and is dedicated to producing music of the
best international standards, with Danish music throughout 1,000 years as its point of departure.
The label has received Gramophone and American Grammy Awards, as well as the Cannes
Classical Award. Dacapo Records released The Nielsen Project, the New York Philharmonic’s
critically acclaimed cycle of the complete symphonies and concertos of Carl Nielsen. For more
information, visit www.dacapo-records.dk.
The Orchard is a pioneering music, video, and film distribution company and top-ranked Multi
Channel Network operating in more than 25 global markets. With a holistic approach to sales
and marketing combined with industry-leading technology and operations, The Orchard
amplifies reach and revenue across hundreds of digital, physical, and mobile outlets around the
world. The Orchard streamlines content owners’ business complexity with an intuitive client
dashboard, comprehensive rights management, and tailored client support. Founded in 1997, The
Orchard empowers businesses and creators in the entertainment industry. For further
information, please visit www.theorchard.com.
Christopher Rouse is one of America’s most prominent composers of orchestral music. Winner
of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Trombone Concerto, Rouse has created a body of
work perhaps unequalled in its emotional intensity. His music has been played by nearly every
major orchestra in the U.S. and numerous ensembles overseas, including the Berlin
Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney and Melbourne
symphonies, and the Austrian Radio Orchestra. Christopher Rouse served as The Marie-Josée
Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic from 2012 to 2015. Recent
premieres include Rouse’s Trumpet Concerto, Heimdall’s Trumpet (2012); the concert openers
Prospero’s Rooms (2013), Supplica (2014), and Thunderstuck (2014); and Symphony No. 4
(2013). Premieres next season include Rouse’s Organ Concerto with The Philadelphia Orchestra
and his Symphony No. 5 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Christopher Rouse is published
by Boosey & Hawkes.
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The New York Philharmonic, a longtime media pioneer, was the first major American
orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, in 2004. Following on this innovation, in
2009 the Orchestra announced the first-ever subscription download series: Alan Gilbert: The
Inaugural Season, available exclusively on iTunes, produced and distributed by the New York
Philharmonic, and comprising more than 80 works, including 7 commissions, performed during
the 2009–10 season. Since 1917 the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings, with more
than 500 currently available. The Philharmonic began radio broadcasts in 1922, and is currently
represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week — syndicated worldwide 52 weeks per
year, and available on nyphil.org. On television, in the 1950s and ’60s, the Philharmonic inspired
a generation through Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts on CBS. Its television presence has
continued with annual appearances on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS, and in 2003 it made
history as the first Orchestra ever to perform live on the Grammy Awards, one of the mostwatched television events worldwide.
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Esa-Pekka Salonen is The Marie Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence from 2015–2018.
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Major support for the commissioning of Odna Zhizn (A Life) by the Francis Goelet Fund.
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FOR REVIEW COPIES, CONTACT: Jennifer Luzzo, [email protected]
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