Carnegie adjusts program for return, adds Beethoven cycle

NEW YORK (AP) — Carnegie Hall has changed the program for its return from the coronavirus shutdown and added a Beethoven cycle to the season with the Philadelphia Orchestra and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Opening night on Oct. 6 will be the first performance at the hall since closing March 13, 2020.

Pianist Yuja Wang will perform Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in place of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Nézet-Séguin, Carnegie said Thursday. The program also includes Valerie Coleman’s “Seven O’Clock Shout,” commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra to honor frontline workers and celebrate human connection; Iman Habibi’s “Jeder Baum spricht” on climate crisis; and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The concert will be broadcast on radio worldwide.

The Beethoven cycle continues on Oct. 20 (Nos. 4 and 6), Nov. 9 (Nos. 1, 7, and 8), Dec. 7 (Nos. 2 and 3) and Jan. 11 (No. 9).

Carnegie added several more programs to its schedule Thursday in what still amounts to a season of reduced performances from pre-pandemic levels.