“BERNSTEIN’S MAHLER MARATHON: THE SONY RECORDINGS”
Hosted by FRED CHILD

13-HOUR MARATHON THROUGH
BERNSTEIN’S RECORDINGS OF MAHLER’S COMPLETE SYMPHONIES

Part of FREE Insights at the Atrium
David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
February 25, 2018, 10:00 AM–11:00 PM

Training for “Bernstein’s Mahler Marathon: The Sony Recordings”
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
February 21, 2018

The New York Philharmonic will present “Bernstein’s Mahler Marathon: The Sony Recordings,” a 13-hour expedition through Bernstein’s recordings of Mahler’s complete symphonies. Hosted by Fred Child, the free event, part of the Philharmonic’s Insights at the Atrium series, takes place Sunday, February 25, 2018, 10:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m., at the David Rubenstein Atrium.Both Bernstein and Mahler served as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, and Bernstein is credited with popularizing the music of his predecessor through performances and recordings. Bernstein’s marked scores from the New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives will be projected in real time during the marathon. Music students and fans have volunteered to “page turn” the digital score live for each of the 39 movements. Between each symphony, special guests will read selections from Bernstein’s own writings on Mahler, and video clips of Bernstein talking about Mahler will be projected.

The marathon will feature Bernstein’s performances recorded in the 1960s and released in 1967 as the first complete set of Mahler’s nine symphonies by Columbia Records (Limited Edition GMS765), which quickly gained landmark status. All of the recordings feature the New York Philharmonic, except the recording of the Eighth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present “Bernstein / Mahler ‘Titan’ Training” on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, at 7:00 p.m., an event preparing audience members for “Bernstein’s Mahler Marathon: The Sony Recordings.” Two screens will display digitized scores: one featuring Mahler’s handwritten corrections (from the Library for the Performing Arts’ collections) and the other featuring Bernstein’s annotated scores (from the New York Philharmonic Archives). These scores will also be on display in the library’s exhibition “Master Strokes: Bernstein and Mahler Scores,” which also includes Mahler’s handwritten text outlines for his Symphonies Nos. 2 and 8 and Alma Mahler’s handwritten full score of the Symphony No. 5. Special guests will share memories and insights on Bernstein and Mahler and recite Bernstein’s own written thoughts on Mahler. Reservations for the free event are available here.

“Bernstein’s Mahler Marathon: The Sony Recordings” is part of the Philharmonic’s celebrations of Bernstein’s centennial this season. The Orchestra presented Bernstein’s Philharmonic: A Centennial Festival — centering on Bernstein’s symphonic cycle, complemented by other Bernstein works as well as music by composers he admired and championed — and New Year’s Eve: Bernstein on Broadway, broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center.

Related Event

• Leonard Bernstein at 100
  On view through March 24, 2018; special hours on February 25, 2018: noon–4:00 p.m.
  New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is hosting the GRAMMY Museum’s traveling exhibit Leonard Bernstein at 100, featuring more than 30 items on loan from the New York Philharmonic Archives highlighting Bernstein’s relationship with the Philharmonic, including the score to Schumann’s Manfred Overture that he used at his Philharmonic conducting debut in 1943; the script from his first Young People’s Concert in 1958; a podium he used at the Lewisohn Stadium summer concerts in the 1940s; sharpened pencil stubs for score-marking, which he referred to as “soldiers”; as well as additional scores, photographs, programs, and more. The exhibit will include an interactive display allowing visitors to lead the New York Philharmonic, and video clips of Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts and Philharmonic performances.

Artists
Fred Child is the host of American Public Media’s Performance Today (PT), the most-listened-to classical music radio show in America. He is also the commentator and announcer for Live From Lincoln Center, the only live performing arts series on television. He is also co-host of Carnegie Hall Live, an annual series of a dozen live national radio broadcasts from America’s premier musical venue. Fred Child also appears at classical music festivals and events around the country, from PT’s annual residency at the Aspen Music Festival and School to special events at the Savannah Music Festival, Marlboro Music, Spoleto Festival USA, Summerfest La Jolla, and more. Beyond the world of classical music, Mr. Child hosted NPR’s innovative Creators@Carnegie, a program of wide-ranging performers in concert, including Brian Wilson, David Byrne, Dawn Upshaw, Youssou N’Dour, Caetano Veloso, and Emmylou Harris. Before going to NPR, he was music director and director of cultural programming at WNYC in New York; host of a live daily performance and interview program on WNYC; and, for ten years, a host at Oregon Public Broadcasting. For several years Fred Child’s pre-concert talks were a popular feature for the Washington Performing Arts Society (in Washington D.C.) and the Baltimore Symphony. He has given concert talks for Lincoln Center, Aspen Festival, Summerfest La Jolla, and many other venues across the country. In recent years, he has hosted a series of unique live national concert broadcasts, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic from Walt Disney Hall, the Last Night of the Proms from the Royal Albert Hall in London, New Year’s Eve concerts by the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra at its summer home of Tanglewood, the ground-breaking Spring for Music concerts from Carnegie Hall, and the Americana series for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff. Fred Child’s music reviews have appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, and his music reports have appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition and Weekend Edition. He has been a contributor to Billboard magazine and a concert host and commentator for BBC Radio 3. Fred Child studied classical piano while growing up in Portland, Oregon. He also dabbles in guitar, percussion, and bagpipes, and his percussion band opened for the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum. He has narrated works at the Aspen Festival, with the Virginia Symphony, with the U.S. Marine Band, and at the Round Top Festival-Institute. His rare musical performances in public include percussion with guitarist Sharon Isbin, and piano four-hands duets with André-Michel Schub. Fred Child appears as an actor in a video commissioned for the Partita for Solo Violin by Philip Glass.

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Insights at the Atrium is presented in partnership with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

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Citi. Preferred Card of the New York Philharmonic.

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Emirates is the Official Airline of the New York Philharmonic.

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Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Tickets
Insights at the Atrium events are free and open to the public. Space is limited.