Isabelle Faust is one of the best violinists in the world. In the contrast - only apparent - between bravura and modesty lies the secret of the affection felt by those who find themselves listening to her. At the pinnacle of her career, having worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Bernard Haitink, Faust retains the care of one who each time humbly approaches the study of the score, ready to be transformed by it. Béla Bartók's Concerto No. 1 avoids exhibitionism and special effects. Led by Vasily Petrenko, the violin and orchestra flesh out the music that contains all the discoveries of the mature Bartók, who studied the Hungarian folk repertoire. Instead, it is Russian musical traditions that inspire some passages from Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, the composer's last work. Petrenko offers, for the first time in the Philharmonic's season, The Chairman Dances by John Adams. The composer recounts, "This music was a parody of what I imagined Chinese film music from the 1930s sounded like.... I fantasized about the somewhat ridiculous but irresistible image of a young Mao Tse-tung dancing the foxtrot with his mistress Chiang Ch'ing, former film queen and future Madame Mao."

Duration: about 1 hour and 40 minutes, with intermission

‍Ticketson sale from Friday, October 20, 2023 at 2 p.m.