The New York Phiharmonic will present the fourth season of The Art Of The Score: Film Week at the Philharmonic, September 13–17, 2016, featuring complete screenings of two iconic films set in New York City with ties to the New York Philharmonic: West Side Story, conducted by David Newman, and Manhattan, conducted by Alan Gilbert, with the scores — by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, respectively — performed live to the films.
“Ever since we began The Art Of The Score, I have hoped to be able to arrange to present Manhattan with the New York Philharmonic playing that marvelous all-Gershwin score — which it recorded for the original sound track — live,” said Alec Baldwin, Artistic Advisor of The Art Of The Score. “Now is just the right time for it to finally happen, as it fits perfectly with the Orchestra’s salute to New York as part of its 175th anniversary season. This great city has inspired countless filmmakers, so the challenge was selecting which movie to pair with the Woody Allen classic. When we thought of West Side Story, with its magnificent music and Bernstein’s connection to this great orchestra, the choice was inevitable.”
The Philharmonic inaugurated The Art Of The Score, highlighting some of the genre’s most distinctive uses of music, in September 2013 with two programs of film music: Hitchcock! — which celebrated Alfred Hitchcock and the music written for his films by composers including Bernard Herrmann, Lyn Murray, and Dimitri Tiomkin through film clips accompanied by live performances of the scores — and 2001: A Space Odyssey — which was screened in its entirety as the Orchestra performed the score live, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert. The second season featured La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema — highlighting iconic Italian film scores by Nino Rota, Andrea and Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, and others — and Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times: The Tramp at 100 — paying tribute to Charlie Chaplin and the 100th birthday of his character, The Little Tramp, including a complete screening of Modern Times with the reconstructed score, composed by Chaplin with Alfred Newman’s help, performed live to the film. The third season featured two complete Academy Award®–winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront, featuring Bernstein’s Oscar®–nominated score, and The Godfather, featuring Nino Rota’s score.
