The Philadelphia Orchestra and organist Peter Richard Conte will perform, in the old Wanamaker department store, a work slated to have its world premiere there eight decades ago.
Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie concertante was commissioned in 1926 by Rodman Wanamaker, son of the store’s founder, to be performed by the orchestra with the Wanamaker Organ. After delays in the organ’s expansion and various deaths, the premiere took place in Brussels. The work has since become standard repertoire - everywhere except in Wanamaker's.
But this September, the space’s current retail occupant, Macy’s, and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ will present the Jongen in its long-delayed premiere in the venue for which it was written, plus the world premiere of Howard Shore’s Fanfare. Also on the Sept. 27 concert are the Stokowski transcription of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, and Dupré’s Cortege and Litany, Op. 19, No. 2. Rossen Milanov will conduct.
The Wanamaker Organ, installed in the space in 1911 after its debut at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, is a National Historic Landmark. It has nearly 28,500 pipes, ranging in size from thirty-two feet to a quarter inch.
It is still played in daily concerts by Conte — the fourth person since 1911 to hold the title of “Grand Court Organist.”
Tickets for “A Grand 150th Anniversary Concert,” celebrating Macy’s 150th anniversary, benefit the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, and range from $100 to $5,000. The concert is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Macy’s, 1300 Market St. Information: 215-893-1999.
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A Musical Premiere - 80 Years Late
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Peter Dobrin has been writing about classical music and the arts for The Inquirer since 1989. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
He’s grateful for news tips, willing to engage in a certain amount of back and forth with readers, but is unfortunately unable to remove old LPs from your basement or post photographs of your cat.
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Comments (4)
Very exciting, but the pricing seems a bit out of control.
I have no doubt that this concert is very expensive to produce, but with the cheapest tickets being $100, I'm sure that a lot of people interested in attending are going to pass.
Any chance that the concert is going to be recorded?
Posted by seth | May 28, 2008 11:49 AM
Posted on May 28, 2008 11:49
The concert will be very expensive. 100-piece, world-class Philadelphia Orchestra, Limited seating availability, so the number of audience members will be restricted, extra cost of security, having the event in a retail store after hours. I hope there is enough in the budget to have a recording, but the recording rights with the orchestra would add greatly to the concert cost. I for one think it is worth $100. It is the piece written for THIS organ and THIS orchestra in THIS space (though the acoustic is better now than it was in 1928!). It can be heard like this nowhere else in the world!
Posted by Paul | May 28, 2008 6:53 PM
Posted on May 28, 2008 18:53
So how did they squeeze in 12,000+ for a 1919 concert?
http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/stokowski/organ.html
Even with the upper levels opened back then, they must have had a lot of people standing.
They should really go back and try to come up with some $50 standing room tickets.
The recording rights will have little impact on the total cost of the concert. The Orchestra could do what they currently do with Ondine -- waive their upfront fee in return for owning the master tapes and collecting a percentage of the sales after the recording sells a certain number of units.
Posted by Seth | May 28, 2008 11:26 PM
Posted on May 28, 2008 23:26
Most of the tickets are priced between $100-$500, pretty reasonable for a rare event like this that is in high demand.
There are many special and unique costs associated with presenting this special and unique concert; keep in mind that it is in a department store/office building, not a dedicated concert hall. There are enormous logistics involved in the production of this special event.
It is also a fundraiser for the non-profit Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, to support future restoration projects (the Orchestral Division restoration will be completed this summer; the Great Chorus is next in line to receive a full restoration starting next year).
The first three floors are currently open to the Grand Court. Floors 4-12 are used as commercial office space, and floors 4-7 in the Grand Court are glassed in (which greatly improved the acoustics and reverberation). The upper floors are not open to the general public anymore.
Also, unlike the 1920's, today we have modern fire code standards as to how many people can safely occupy the interior space.
Posted by Anonymous | May 29, 2008 3:08 PM
Posted on May 29, 2008 15:08