The New Jersey Symphony in a Beethoven and Schubert Program

The program

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor”

• I. Allegro
• II. Adagio un poco mosso
• III. Rondo: Allegro

Intermission

Franz Schubert Symphony No. 9 in C Major, “The Great”

• I. Andante – Allegro, ma non troppo
• II. Andante con moto
• III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio
• IV. Allegro vivace

The concert

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (the NJSO) presented its first concert of its Princeton Season on October 23, 2026, at Richardson Auditorium, on the campus of Princeton University.

Pianist George Li was soloist for Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, followed by Schubert’s Ninth Symphony. Xian Zhang conducted.

Mr. Li won the Silver Medal at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 2015, and he has continued to thrill audiences here and abroad. He has three estimable recordings. Tonight’s concert was everything you could expect: Beethoven thrillingly and magnificently played; sensitively rendered with great rapport between conductor and soloist; and all combined with absolute assurance and technical excellence.

George Li received great acclaim afterwards, being recalled several times before rewarding his audience with an encore. An absolutely wonderful experience.

Schubert’s.Ninth Symphony was the second half of the program. For those who may never have heard it before, it does break with Classical formula in that it is insistently driving, obsessed with spiraling dynamics and emphasis. It is no wonder that at times one could hear Berlioz, Mendelssohn, even Mahler presaged in the work. The audience were spellbound. One young man seated nearby kept twisting locks of his copious hair, which alarmed those who were transfixed by his obsession. The unbearable tension of the symphony finally building into a sonic ejaculation, which drove the audience into a frenzy.