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Mann also scores famed Royal Ballet

The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform three star-studded weeks at the Mann this summer, and London's famed Royal Ballet will perform two masterpieces in a major coup by the outdoor West Philadelphia facility.

The

Philadelphia Orchestra

will perform three star-studded weeks at the Mann this summer, and London's famed

Royal Ballet

will perform two masterpieces in a major coup by the outdoor West Philadelphia facility.

Mann music director Rossen Milanov, leading six programs, has selected an A-list of soloists, including pianists Lang Lang (July 18, with Long Yu conducting), Andre Watts (July 20), and Christopher O'Riley, host of the popular radio show "From the Top" (July 26, Jun Markl conducting). Other major soloists include violinists Itzhak Perlman (June 28), Midori (July 19) and Elissa Lee Koljonen (July 25) and cellist Alisa Weilerstein (June 29, Ludovic Morlot conducting).

Morlot, Long Yu and Markl, from France, China and Germany respectively, will debut with the orchestra. Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" (July 25) will be played to an animated video of the story.

Beginning with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (June 27) and ending with the annual Tchaikovsky night, featuring soprano Krassimira Stoyanova (July 27) - both with fireworks (and Milanov conducting) - the name-packed programming is intended to make up for this season's reduction to nine concerts.

The first three orchestra concerts (June 26-28), come after the newly announced "Best Of" week at the Kimmel Center, and will precede their first two-week residency in Vail, Colo.

"Because of the Vail visit," said orchestra president James Undercofler, "the idea was to present nine concerts, plus two by the Philly Pops [see cover story, Page 37], but make them all blockbuster events. We've played 12 concerts in recent years at the Mann, though we had 15 last year in celebration of the facility's 30th anniversary."

The orchestra's contract with the Mann stipulates "up to 12 concerts," so future programming may depend on other commitments. Vail, where the Rochester and New York Philharmonics both play in the summer season, is a prestigious venue, and it's expected the Philadelphia Orchestra will return there in the future.

The 88-member Royal Ballet will perform Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" (July 10-11) and Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" (July 12-13). Each of the four nights will feature a different internationally renowned cast, with Boris Gruzin and Valeriy Ovsyanikov conducting.

Mann President Peter Lane said he had been negotiating to bring in the Royal Ballet for years. "When I received a call in October from their general manager, I thought they were considering 2008. But it turned out that a week in Korea was canceled, and they were available . . .

"You can't get a ticket to the Royal in London," Lane said.

"Believe me, it took support from a lot of organizations to make this happen," he said of the $1.4 million Mann production. "It's not playing in New York, Washington or Boston, and this is the only American showing other than Texas." *

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