At the New York Philharmonic Fall Gala on Monday night, a cultural sea change brewed.
To an outsider’s untrained eye, it was business as usual at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall: a sea of tuxedos and floor-length ballgowns, New Yorkers from old money and a classical music concert played by the orchestra and guest pianist Lang Lang.
But the differences compared to Philharmonics past were palpable.
A new music director, Jaap van Zweden, and president and chief executive officer, Deborah Borda, injected unprecedented life into the performance — at one point, van Zweden was so passionately rocking back and forth while conducting that his baton broke in half and went flying into the violinists’ area.
The first black principal clarinet in New York Philharmonic history, Anthony McGill, led his section in one of his first concerts of the season.
And Bradley Cooper, who has taken an interest in the Philharmonic since he started researching an upcoming role as former music director Leonard Bernstein, came to the concert and dinner. Cooper took photos with Lang Lang and shook the hands of Philharmonic board members like they were friends from way back. (Maybe that’s not too far off, since, according to whispers from some
To an outsider’s untrained eye, it was business as usual at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall: a sea of tuxedos and floor-length ballgowns, New Yorkers from old money and a classical music concert played by the orchestra and guest pianist Lang Lang.
But the differences compared to Philharmonics past were palpable.
A new music director, Jaap van Zweden, and president and chief executive officer, Deborah Borda, injected unprecedented life into the performance — at one point, van Zweden was so passionately rocking back and forth while conducting that his baton broke in half and went flying into the violinists’ area.
The first black principal clarinet in New York Philharmonic history, Anthony McGill, led his section in one of his first concerts of the season.
And Bradley Cooper, who has taken an interest in the Philharmonic since he started researching an upcoming role as former music director Leonard Bernstein, came to the concert and dinner. Cooper took photos with Lang Lang and shook the hands of Philharmonic board members like they were friends from way back. (Maybe that’s not too far off, since, according to whispers from some