‘Summertime Classics: Born on the Fourth of July’

It’s said that during George Gershwin’s first rehearsal with the notoriously Eurocentric New York Philharmonic, the orchestra squawked through Concerto in F, testing the limits of the composer’s temper. But Gershwin had the upper hand; he’d arrived in a ridiculous bowler hat, and cleared his piano solos without even putting out his cigar. Eighty years later, the Philharmonic honors this once-maligned master of American music with the spotlight at this year’s Fourth of July celebration, which also features more “serious” works by Copland and Sousa.

Fri., July 3, 8 p.m.; Sat., July 4, 3 p.m., 2009