(From left): Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma perform together during Carnegie Hall’s 125th Anniversary Concert on May 5, New York. (AP)

NEW YORK, May 6, (Agencies): James Taylor thought back four decades to his Carnegie Hall debut and said it was “the sort of cultural sign” that he had made it to a certain level of stardom.

“We celebrated,” the singer-songwriter said. “That’s why I don’t remember it that well.”

Taylor helped Carnegie Hall commemorate its 125th anniversary Thursday night with a gala concert that included performances by singer/pianist Michael Feinstein, soprano Renee Fleming, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, pianists Emanuel Ax and Lang Lang, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Two retired singers, soprano Martina Arroyo and mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, gave spoken tributes, and First Lady Michelle Obama recorded a video that was played. Horne, who is 82, joked that she felt as if she’d been at Carnegie for all 125 years.

Host Richard Gere paid tribute to the violinist Isaac Stern, who made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1943, led the campaign that saved the hall from demolition after the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center in 1962 and served as Carnegie’s president until his death in 2001.

“Mr Stern, we thank you, sir,” Gere said to applause.

A two-part gala was held when Carnegie celebrated its centennial on May 5, 1991 — exactly 100 years after Tchaikovsky conducted his Festival Coronation March with the New York Symphony Orchestra during the first performance. The centennial gala opened with a world premiere, Joan Tower’s “Third Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman,” and James Levine and Zubin Mehta conducted the New York Philharmonic. Both programs were solely classical, with no musical tribute to the jazz greats who performed at Carnegie or the rock bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

Classical

This program, which lasted a little more than 90 minutes, was more varied, starting with classical and moving onto Feinstein and Taylor. With Pablo Heras-Casado conducting the Orchestra of St Luke’s and the Oratorio Society of New York, Gere spoke between performances and listed many of Carnegie’s most famous performers, such as pianist Vladimir Horowitz and violinist Jascha Heifetz. He recounted anecdotes accompanied by video projections of more than a century of photographs and programs.

Among the highlights was Fleming and Leonard in the Barcarolle from Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann),” a revered singer and one of classical music’s rising stars. With the lights turning the hall a shimmering blue to evoke the mood of the sky above a Venetian Canal, Fleming’s vibrant, milky soprano and Leonard’s dusky mezzo combined in “Belle nuit, o nuit d’amour (Beautiful night, oh night of love),” a duet that made one think of music’s past and future.

Lang Lang, ever the showman, sparked in Ernesto Lecuona’s “... y la negra bailaba! (and black danced)” and later served as a celebrity page-turner for Ax during the encore as the two took turns at the keyboard.

Fleming was richly moving in Strauss’ “Morgen,” and Leonard gave a vocally hearty but dramatically restrained performance of the Habenera from Bizet’s “Carmen.”

Also:

WASHINGTON: It seems Donald Trump believes you can always get what you want. The US Republican presumptive presidential nominee appears to have dismissed a demand by the The Rolling Stones that he stop using the band’s songs during his campaign events.

“You know, we use so many songs,” Trump told CNBC. “We have the rights to use them. I always buy the rights.”

Trump has frequently used hits by The Rolling Stone’s to fire up supporters at campaign events, but the band have joined a growing number of musicians who have expressed anger at his use of their music. “The Rolling Stones have never given permission to the Trump campaign to use their songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately,” the legendary rock group said in a statement on Wednesday.

But Trump doubled down on The Rolling Stones’ music as he wrapped up a rally in Charleston, West Virginia on Thursday, his first since dispatching his last Republican presidential rivals.

He walked off stage to John Denver’s “Almost Heaven” blaring from the public address system, which was followed up by The Rolling Stones hits “Start Me Up” and “You Can’t Always Get What you Want”.

The Trump campaign has honored previous requests to stop using music at its rallies.

Everlast last month demanded Trump stop playing “Jump Around” by the rapper’s former band House of Pain, while Neil Young, R.E.M. and Adele have also spoken out.

Political campaigns do not typically need musicians’ express permission to use their songs during rallies as long as they obtain “blanket licenses” from licensing associations. However, performers usually can ask to have certain songs excluded.

Trump has an uncontested path to the Republican presidential nomination after his victory in Indiana’s primary on Tuesday pushed remaining challengers Ted Cruz and then Ohio Governor John Kasich out of the race.