May 2, 2013—A significant new recording by the New York Philharmonic and its Music Director Alan Gilbert will be released by the Danish recording label Dacapo Records this month, featuring works by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg, who was the New York Philharmonic’s Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence from 2009-2012. In Europe, the release is set to coincide with the New York Philharmonic’s EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour with a concert in Dresden on Tuesday 14 May that will feature music by the Finnish composer.
About the CD
The new CD presents three orchestral works that Magnus Lindberg composed for the New York Philharmonic, all recorded live at the orchestra’s acclaimed first performances at Avery Fisher Hall. The opening work, EXPO, has a special meaning for the orchestra and Gilbert, since it was the first work on the program on the evening when Alan Gilbert took up the post as the New York Philharmonic’s new Music Director in 2009. The CD further features the Israeli-American star pianist Yefim Bronfman as the soloist in Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
A Statement of Artistic Priorities
In his time as Music Director Alan Gilbert has won great recognition for his innovative choice of repertoire for the world famous symphony orchestra. Concurrently with his appointment he presented the new composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic with a much-fanfared first performance, and this was noted as unusual in, among other media The New York Times, which wrote: “Alan Gilbert made a statement about his artistic priorities by opening his first program as music director with the premiere of a work by Magnus Lindberg.”
New York Look
Quite exceptionally, New York’s famous Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has granted permission to use art from the museum’s collection for the CD cover. For Magnus Lindberg’s music, a detail of the work Wounds and Absent Objects by Anish Kapoor, donated to MoMA by the Jacqueline Brody Fund and Harry Kahn Fund, will be featured.
Unusual Choice
That the New York Philharmonic has chosen the Danish recording label Dacapo Records to release this CD is significant. Says Alan Gilbert, the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic “I was so impressed by the quality of our collaboration with Dacapo Records on the first release in The Nielsen Project that they were my first choice to produce this new, ambitious recording. The technical expertise and artistic sensitivity of their team will enrich the presentation of performances of these works, in their premieres. I couldn’t be more pleased with this capture of the excitement and brilliance of the New York Philharmonic’s performances of music by Magnus Lindberg, who developed a real affinity with the musicians during his three-year tenure with us.”
Says Henrik Rørdam, president of Dacapo Records: “It is a great honor that the New York Philharmonic has wished to collaborate with Dacapo as the recording label for this high-profile Composer-in-Residence CD release, and it gives Dacapo a quite unique opportunity for further development of the close relationship with the orchestra that was initiated with The Nielsen Project.“
