On this day, May 18, 1976, Carnegie Hall celebrated its 85th Anniversary with the “Concert of the Century,” a benefit concert featuring performances by members of the New York Philharmonic, the Oratorio Society of New York, Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mstislav Rostropovich, and more.
Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic opened the concert with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leonore – Overture No. 3. The program also included Johann Sebastian Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, featuring Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuhin as soloists.
Carnegie Hall Archivist Gino Francesconi describes the concept for the concert in this one-minute video:
Listen to music from this concert via Apple Music.
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Special thanks to The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. for contributing to this content.
Post updated, May 21, 2018: Carnegie Hall opened in 1891 and celebrated its 85th anniversary with this concert.
