Performers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Principal Conductor
Víkingur Ólafsson, Piano

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of its New York debut at Carnegie Hall, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra performs back-to-back concerts with exciting ties to the historic Herbert von Karajan–led performances. Tonight only, they are led by Santtu-Matias Rouvali in the conductor’s highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut. The program begins with a New York premiere by Gabriela Ortiz, the visionary holder of Carnegie Hall’s 2024–2025 Debs Composer’s Chair. Beethoven’s spirited “Emperor” Piano Concerto is performed with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, whose interpretation has been praised as “the most complete, the most emotionally coherent account … masterful” (Bachtrack). The concert culminates with Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, an evocative work that resounds with Finland’s natural beauty and culminates with its magnificent “swan hymn.”

Program
GABRIELA ORTIZ New Work (NY Premiere)
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5