The New York Philharmonic performs at the Shed in New York City, guest-conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, April 14, 2021. Photo by Chris Lee
“Esa-Pekka Salonen walked on stage to join the New York Philharmonic, which had not gathered before an audience for exactly 400 days,” writes Ronald Blum in Thursday’s (4/15) Associated Press. “ ‘On behalf of all us on stage, welcome back,’ the conductor told the crowd Wednesday night. ‘We have been dreaming of this moment for a long time.’ The philharmonic gave its first public performance after a historic hiatus of more than 13 months caused by the coronavirus pandemic, playing at the Shed in Hudson Yards, about 2 miles from its under-renovation Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.” The program was repeated on Thursday. “ ‘I’m kind of on a euphoric high right now, because I missed it more than I realized,’ concertmaster Frank Huang said.… There was a reduced force of 23 strings—all masked—and no brass or woodwinds for … Caroline Shaw’s ‘Entr’acte,’ Jean Sibelius’ ‘Rakastava (The Lover)’ and Richard Strauss’ ‘Metamorphosen.’ The cavernous Shed, which opened in April 2019, had a masked audience of 150.… Said Salonen, ‘The three works we have chosen to play tonight all share a sense of moaning, nostalgia and loss elevated to something deeply and essentially human by sheer beauty.’ ”
