Vienna Philharmonic by Catalani, Stravinsky, Schubert, Fra (2025/2025), Dirigent Riccardo Muti, Carnegie Hall, New York City, United States

Riccardo Muti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in back-to-back concerts at Carnegie Hall. This Saturday night program includes the Hall’s first-ever performance of Catalani’s Contemplazione, which transposes the heart-wrenching lyricism of Italian opera into a 10-minute orchestral piece. Stravinsky’s La baiser de la fée (The Fairy’s Kiss), based on The Ice-Maiden, pays tribute to the life and music of Tchaikovsky, and many New York audience members will recognize it from Balanchine’s iconic ballet. Also featured is Schubert’s magnificent final symphony—the Ninth—a work with overtly Beethoven-esque characteristics and a particularly helpful subtitle: “Great.”