Difficult Listening Hour: Penderecki to Conduct Penderecki in NYC, with Yalies in Tow

by Seth Colter Walls

Doesn’t Yale just burn you up? Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns is told he’ll have to buy Yale an international airport if he wants them to admit his Dangerfield-esque son? I laughed at that pretty hard, when I was in public school. But now, the Philharmonia of Yale is coming to New York to perform a concert of works by Krzysztof Penderecki at Carnegie Hall on April 30. And they’re bringing along Krzysztof Penderecki to conduct — which I have to admit is a rather impressive way to roll. So I guess I can forgive, especially because you can still buy tickets to the Carnegie Hall concert for as little as $7.50 (partial view), or $15 (full view). You should buy now, however!

Penderecki is probably best known for his 1962 piece “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” (image-less YouTube version below), which you could argue would be a lot less famous if it were titled “Threnody for the Traditionally-Minded Opponents of Tone Clusters,” or even if it had kept its original title of 8’37, but then history is history.

I’m also kind of a fan of The Devils of Loudon, his opera about demonic possession.

On this concert bill, I’m also curious about Penderecki’s Symphony No. 4, and the 2008-penned Concerto for Horn and Orchestra. Should be a worthwhile event!

SEMI-RELATED: The New York Philharmonic has just posted an archival performance of Stravinsky conducting the world premiere of his Symphony in Three Movements, back in 1946. It’s a totally free listen. Details on their Valery Gergiev-led Stravinsky Festival are here. (You may recall our prior discussion of Gergiev.)