Carnegie Hall Live

Classical 90.5 gives you the best seat in Carnegie Hall (without actually being there) for eight select concerts, hosted by Fred Child and Jeff Spurgeon. Each broadcast gives you the experience of being at the world-famous hall, and includes special guests and interviews and commentary from the audience. Carnegie Hall Live is presented in partnership with Carnegie Hall, WQXR and American Public Media. There is a live chat during the performance, and you can follow the conversation on Twitter using #CHLive.

The Philadelphia Orchestra | January 17, 2013, 8pm
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in his first year as music director, leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in Ravel’s La Valse and Shostakovich’s intense, politically charged Symphony No. 5. Leonidas Kavakos, arguably “the most deeply satisfying violinist performing today” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), joins them for the New York premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s highly anticipated Violin Concerto.

Renee Fleming & Susan Graham | January 27, 2013 | 8pm
Their pairing in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier in 2000 and 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera is now a celebrated part of opera lore; since then, Renée Fleming and Susan Graham have teamed up time and again, creating sparks together in recordings and on the concert stage. Now these all-American divas bring their unparalleled talents to Carnegie Hall for an unforgettable night of song.

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra | February 3, 2013 | 2pm
As one of its members aptly puts it, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is “a human laboratory that can express to the whole world how to cope with each other.” Established in 1999 as a workshop for young musicians from Israel, Palestine, and other Arab countries, the group is celebrated for its interpretations of Beethoven, which exude “youthful gusto and enthusiasm” (The Independent, London). On this program, it performs Beethoven’s symphonies nos. 2 and 9.

Ensemble Matheus | March 6, 2013 | 8pm

Together with its powerful leader, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Matheus performs the Baroque repertoire it specializes in with white-hot energy. The ensemble is, as Stephen Brookes of The Washington Post put it, “aggressive, vibrant, and focused to an absolutely electrifying pitch.”

La Pasión Según San Marcos | March 10, 2013 | 3pm

At the heart of Osvaldo Golijov’s residency as Carnegie Hall’s Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair is this performance of his La Pasión según San Marcos, featuring members of the Venezuelan chorus to which the piece is dedicated, together with high school singers from throughout New York City. Drawing on the sounds of Latin America with texts in Spanish, Latin, and Aramaic, the piece is evocative, wildly inventive, and entirely characteristic of Golijov’s personal aesthetic.

March 20, 2013, 8 p.m. ET
Updated: The Berlin Philharmonic
Due to ongoing labor negotiations at the San Francisco Symphony, we’ll be airing a concert from the Season I archive of Carnegie Hall Live by the Berlin Philharmonic, performing Mahler’s Second Symphony “Resurrection” led by Sir Simon Rattle.
San Francisco Symphony | March 20, 2013 | 8pm
Yuja Wang astonishes audiences wherever she appears. She was “a goddess” in Philadelphia (The Philadelphia Inquirer), and displayed “chutzpah and raw talent” in our nation’s capital (The Washington Post). The New York Times raved that she “seems to have everything: speed, flexibility, pianistic thunder, and interpretive nuance.” See what has people buzzing when Wang performs Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

Jonathan Biss & Elias String Quartet | April 2, 2013 | 8pm
“What I feel for Schumann goes beyond love and admiration,” says Jonathan Biss. “The intensity of his passion for music, and his will to use music as a poetic and personal, yet fully realized and deeply expressive language strike me as the highest aims imaginable for a musician.” On this program, part of his season-long focus on Mozart, Janáček, and Schumann, Biss joins members of the Elias String Quartet for Schumann’s Piano Quartet.

Staatskapelle Dresden | April 19, 2013 | 8pm
In 2010, Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden recorded Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 to enthusiastic critical acclaim. Don’t miss your chance to hear this “venerable, remarkable orchestra” (The New York Times) live in concert.