Happily, there will still be a Ren_ on hand to provide operatic thrills — Ren_ Pape, the bass with the "black diamond" voice, who just completed runs at the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi's Don Carlo and Mozart's Die Zauberfl‹te. Pape will sing two Verdi arias, one from Don Carlo and another from Macbeth, along with the "Catalogue Aria" from Mozart's Don Giovanni — all accompanied by the Symphonica Toscanini.

The strictly orchestral portion of the program remains unchanged. The Philharmonic will open the concert with Strauss's tone poem Don Juan, followed by the Symphonica playing a famous musical monument to its hometown, Respighi's Pines of Rome. Following the opera selections, the combined orchestras will conclude the program with Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. The entire concert will be conducted by Lorin Maazel, who is music director of both orchestras.

More information on the "Tribute to Toscanini" gala is available at www.nyphil.org. To learn more about the Symphonica Toscanini and the U.S. and worldwide tour in memory of its namesake which the orchestra is currently undertaking, visit www.symphonicatoscanini.com.