With New Leadership, New York Philharmonic Warms to Philip Glass

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His official title is still Music Director Designate, but for the musicians of the New York Philharmonic he’s the new boss: Jaap van Zweden, the Dutch conductor who will take over the reins of the city’s most storied ensemble, tests the waters with a pair of concerts comprising Mahler and Philip Glass. Critics who fretted over his lackadaisical embrace of contemporary music may be heartened to see Mr. van Zweden start the new season with a New York premiere of the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra by Mr. Glass, who has long been cold-shouldered by the Philharmonic.

But it is Mr. van Zweden’s interpretation of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a self-contained cosmos of musical colors, affects and idioms, that New Yorkers will be parsing for clues as to what sort of effect he will have on the orchestra’s sound. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22 and 23, at 8 p.m., David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, nyphil.org.

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