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An enchanting open-air concert in “Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s Summer Night Concert 2024” on GREAT PERFORMANCES – Aug. 23 at 9 p.m.


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Great Performances Presents:

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s Summer Night Concert

Friday, August 23  at 9:00 pm on PBS

Conducted by Grammy Award Winner Andris Nelsons

 Soprano Lise Davidsen appears as guest vocalist

 

 

Vienna Philharmonic conductor Andris Nelsons 2018. Photo: Marco Borggreve
Andris Nelsons 2018
Photo: Marco Borggreve

A long-standing annual event, Great Performances presents the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer night concert from Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. Focusing on popular works from the 19th and 20th centuries that highlight Europe’s rich musical heritage, the concert celebrates the bicentennial of distinguished Czech composer Bedřich Smetana with three musical compositions. The orchestra is led for the second time by Andris Nelsons, Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, with internationally acclaimed soprano Lise Davidsen as guest soloist, who performs arias from Richard Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” and Giuseppe Verdi’s “La forza del destino.”

 

Musical program:

  • “The Ride of the Valkyries” from “The Valkyrie” – Richard Wagner
  • “Dich, teure Halle, grüß ich wieder” from “Tannhäuser” – Richard Wagner
  • “The Moldau” from “My Homeland” No. 2 – Bedřich Smetana
  • “Polka” from “The Two Widows” – Bedřich Smetana
  • “Dance of the Comedians” from “The Bartered Bride” – Bedřich Smetana
  • Overture to “The Force of Destiny” – Giuseppe Verdi
  • “Pace, pace mio” aria from “La forza del destino” – Giuseppe Verdi
  • “La Nuit et l’Amour” interlude from Ludus pro patria – Augusta Holmès
  • Sabre Dance from “Gajaneh” – Aram Iljitsch Khatschaturjan
  • Waltz No. 2 from the Suite for Variety Orchestra – Dmitri Schostakowitsch

 

Lise Davidsenc, Norwegian opera singer head shot.
Lise Davidsenc
Credit: James Hole

Encore

  • “Heia, in den Bergen ist mein Heimatland” from “The Csárdás Princess” – Emmerich Kálmán
  • “Wiener Blut” Waltz – Johann Strauss

 

Noteworthy Facts:

  • This is the second time music conductor Andris Nelsons is conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer concert.
  • International opera star Lise Davidsen makes her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic.
  • 2024 marks the 20th year the Vienna Philharmonic has performed the Summer Night Concert from the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens in Vienna.
  • The Summer Night Concert has been transmitted in more than 80 countries worldwide.