with Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor
WHEN: Saturday, May 5. Doors 1:30pm / Performance 2pm
WHERE: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark NJ
TICKETS: Start at $39
The London Symphony Orchestra's Musical Director, Sir Simon Rattle, brings a program devoted to Gustav Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 9—the composer's final symphony, and arguably his greatest achievement.
The London Symphony Orchestra is known worldwide for a grand, lush sound that has been popularized on the big screen (including the first six Star Wars films), and repeatedly reached No. 1 on the iTunes classical download charts. Gustav Mahler's extravagant masterpiece—which includes waltzes, marches, fanfares, folk tunes and more—has been described as "the last pinnacle of Vienna's orchestral history," "an epic novel without words," and "the first masterpiece of Hollywood music before there were movies." Sir Simon Rattle is known for leading his former ensemble, the Berliner Philharmoniker, in Mahler's Ninth, and the London Symphony Orchestra is long associated with its performances of this work. Rattle once said that the music of Mahler never needed any translation for him; it just made sense. This performance promises to be a revelation.
After studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Sir Simon Rattle took on various engagements in England and the USA, where he was principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1980 Simon Rattle was appointed principal conductor and artistic adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). He became the orchestra's music director in 1990 and remained with the ensemble until 1998, and continued to conduct leading orchestras in the USA and Europe such as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 2002, Rattle assumed the post of chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmonie. In 2017, Rattle became Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. The Grammy Award-winning conductor has made over 70 recordings with EMI and is also a member of the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) was established in 1904 and has a unique ethos. As a musical collective, it is built on artistic ownership and partnership. With an inimitable signature sound, the LSO's mission is to bring the greatest music to the greatest number of people. The LSO has been the only Resident Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in the City of London since it opened in 1982, giving 70 symphonic concerts there every year. The Orchestra works with a family of artists that includes some of the world's greatest conductors -- Sir Simon Rattle as Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth as Principal Guest Conductors, Michael Tilson Thomas as Conductor Laureate and André Previn as Conductor Emeritus. Through LSO Discovery, it is a pioneer of music education, offering musical experiences to 60,000 people every year and over 100 live events at its music education centre LSO St Luke's on Old Street. With the formation of its own record label LSO Live in 1999 the LSO pioneered a revolution in recording live orchestral music. The LSO strives to embrace new digital technologies - having successfully moved into digital film, Blu-Ray Audio, downloads, streaming and virtual reality -- and it continues to innovate with platforms such as LSO Play, a web-based video player that allows people to observe the Orchestra from different angles. The LSO is also a highly successful creative enterprise, with 80% of all funding self-generated.
Join us for the Bank of America Classical Overtures, held an hour prior to each classical concert. These interactive presentations are hosted by Maestro George Marriner Maull of New Jersey's Discovery Orchestra and are free to ticket holders.
