Symphonic Rituals from MASS

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Fifty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s MASS—a fierce, theatrical cry for peace—premiered at the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and eleven after Yannick led The Philadelphia Orchestra’s only complete performances and recording of the work, the Orchestra reveals the stunning musical heart of this transformative masterwork in a new orchestral arrangement.

Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy to honor her husband at the opening of the performing arts center that was to bear his name, Bernstein’s MASS was brashly beautiful, expressing the chaos of a society rent by unwanted war, shattering conventions as it stirred a spectacular stew of rock, classical, jazz, and unabashedly Broadway music. But at the heart of this daring work was Bernstein’s genius for orchestral composition, the same endlessly gifted creative mind that gave us unforgettable concert music from his symphonies to his suites from Broadway hits like West Side Story and Candide.

In this world premiere performance, Yannick and the Orchestra revisit Bernstein’s MASS—answering their 2015 staged version celebrating the Bernstein Centenary, which was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and is considered one of the signature interpretations of the work. Stripped of its libretto, this wordless MASS is an instrumental masterpiece, as complex and compelling as the artist who created it.

Opening this powerful program is Brahms’s songful, evocative Second Piano Concerto, performed by 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medalist and Grand Prix winner Alexandre Kantorow.