ASO’s Dec 7 concert is “Against the Avant-Garde”

“Leon Botstein goes where other conductors fear to tread.” – New Yorker

In “Against the Avant-Garde”, a program that only the American Symphony Orchestra could present, Leon Botstein leads the intrepid ensemble in U.S. premieres of works by Walter Braunfels, Hermann Suter, and Joseph Marx. The concert, part of Lincoln Center’s prestigious “Great Performers” series, takes place on Sunday, December 7 at 3 pm in Avery Fisher Hall. The soloist for Suter’s 1924 Violin Concerto will be British violinist, and exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, Daniel Hope.

Among the many cultural changes brought about by World War I, concert
music experienced an avant-garde revolution, caused as much by
jubilation as by the death of the old world order and the perceived
death of Romanticism. While many composers – especially those under the
influence of Stravinsky – turned away from Romanticism, many others
struggled to prove that Romantic music was still relevant and thriving.
Among the most successful retro-Romantics of their day were Hermann
Suter (1870-1926), Walter Braunfels (1882-1954), and Joseph Marx
(1882-1964), each of whom is to be given a belated United States
premiere during the second Lincoln Center concert of the ASO’s 2008-09
season.

Daniel Hope, a champion of the
new, the old, and the unjustly neglected, discusses Suter’s Violin
Concerto in a video interview at the ASO’s website: americansymphony.org/aso-videos.php

Additional program details and ticket information follows.

“Against the Avant-Garde: Romanticisms of the 1920s”
Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 3 pm, at Avery Fisher Hall

Walter Braunfels (1882-1954)
Don Juan, Op. 34 (1923) U.S. premiere

Hermann Suter (1870-1926)
Violin Concerto, Op. 23 (1924) U.S. premiere
Daniel Hope, violin

Joseph Marx (1882-1964)
Eine Herbstsymphonie (Autumn Symphony, 1921) U.S. premiere

Tickets start at just $28; call 212.868.9ASO (9276). Group discounts available. All ticket sales are final.

Enjoy an illuminating pre-concert talk with American Symphony Orchestra
Music Director, Leon Botstein, at 1:45 pm in the auditorium of Avery
Fisher Hall.

Learn more about this concert and the rest of the season at www.americansymphony.org or from (212) 868-9ASO (9276).

The American Symphony Orchestra’s 2008-09 season and programs are made
possible, in part, through support from National Endowment for the
Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of
Cultural Affairs, and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.
Major support is provided by American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Con
Edison, HBO, and Carroll, Guido, & Groffman, LLP. Additional
support is provided by The Winston Foundation, The Faith Golding
Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie
Samuels Foundation, The Bay and Paul Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty
Foundation, DuBose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Trust, The Edith C.
Blum Foundation, and Solon E. Summerfield Foundation.