All-Star Orchestra
A simple concept used in sporting events, you bring the best musicians from every orchestra in the country to Manhattan to film the best music, without an audience, for our cameras only. This is the All-Star Orchestra TV series on PBS.
- 2013-2024
- 6 seasons
- APT
- Music
A simple concept used in sporting events, you bring the best musicians from every orchestra in the country to Manhattan to film the best music, without an audience, for our cameras only. This is the All-Star Orchestra TV series on PBS.
Season 6 Episode Guide
4 Episodes 2024
Episode 1
A Symphonic Organ Spectacular
Sun, Sep 29, 2024
The ultimate romantic pairing: a full symphony orchestra with a magnificent organ. French composer Camille Saint-Saëns created his "Organ Symphony" in 1886, and it has thrilled audiences worldwide ever since. The program opens with Mexican composer Carlos Chávez' Sinfonía india from 1931 featuring authentic melodies of indigenous peoples and native percussion instruments of Aztec heritage.
Episode 2
Symphonic Metamorphosis
Sun, Sep 29, 2024
The splashy, colorful Symphonic Metamorphosis was composed for American audiences by the great Paul Hindemith after he fled Nazi Germany in 1940, and it has been a concert favorite ever since. Catchy themes are transformed by the orchestra into constantly changing shapes and colors. Also featured are the romantic masterpiece Les Preludes by Franz Liszt and the exquisitely beautiful Slow Movement composed by the young Anton Webern as a gift to his future wife.
Episode 3
Concerto for Orchestra
Sun, Sep 29, 2024
Hungary's greatest composer Béla Bartók moved to New York during World War II, and he overcame serious health problems to create a musical masterpiece showing off all the instruments of the orchestra in unique and unforgettable style. His Concerto for Orchestra is truly one of the peaks of the 20th century repertoire. Opening the program is Bach's magnificent Prelude and Fugue in D Major in a spectacular large orchestration by Ottorino Respighi.
Episode 4
Schubert's Immortal "Unfinished Symphony"
Sun, Sep 29, 2024
When he died in 1828 at age 31, Franz Schubert left behind an unfinished symphony that was discovered only years later. Musicians and the public were stunned by the beauty and profundity of this mysterious work, and its magic continues to enthrall. Also featured are the folkloric Rounds by David Diamond and the Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman by one of America's great living composers, Joan Tower.