Watch the New York Philharmonic Practice

There's a bunch of things to do in New York that are quintessentially New York-y. There's the traditional touristy joints like Top of the Rock, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, and all manner of pizza, burger, and ice cream spots. Most people who visit the city also like to check out a show or two on Broadway -- believe me, I know, I've been dragged to more than one showing of Legally Blonde over the years. However, there's only so many times you can hit the Met or walk someone over the Brooklyn Bridge before you start to feel like a New York broken record. Well, here's something else to keep in your arsenal of things-to-entertain-out-of-town-guests: You can now watch the Philharmonic practice at Lincoln Center.

Tickets to a real performance are not cheap, and while watching them practice isn’t free, it might as well be at only $16 per person. Plus, it has that in-the-know cachet that’s worth a lot more. The practices start at 9:45am and run through 12:30-1pm. Breaking it down, that’s about $5 an hour to watch some great musicians jam . This week’s offering is no less than Emanuel Ax playing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Full schedule:

Sept. 30 - Emanuel Ax Plays Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto
Nov. 5 - Thomas Hampson & Mozart’s Prague Symphony
Nov. 12 - Garrick Ohlsson, Haydn & Sibelius
Nov. 19 - Muti Conducts Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet
Dec. 3 - Salonen, Ravel & Debussy’s La Mer

Dec. 10 - Dohnányi, Dicterow, Phelps & Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante
Dec. 15 - Handel’s Messiah
Dec. 29 - Andsnes Performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23
Jan. 6 - Rush Hour Concert: Gilbert & Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2
Jan. 14 - Hampson & Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
Feb. 10 - Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony & Sinfonia concertante for Winds
Feb. 18 - Robertson & Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Feb. 25 - Gil Shaham Plays Barber’s Violin Concerto
March 4 - András Schiff Plays Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1
March 10 - Repin, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto & Franck’s Symphony in D Minor
March 18 - Pinchas Zukerman & Brahms
March 25 - All Mozart Program with Jeffrey Kahane
April 7 - Rush Hour Concert: Mozart’s Paris & Brahms’s Fourth symphonies
April 14 - Riccardo Muti Conducts Mozart & Schubert
May 12 - Masur Conducts Beethoven and Bruckner
May 26 - Gilbert Conducts Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre
June 3 - Susan Graham & Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony
June 10 - Lisa Batiashvili Plays Sibelius & Brahms’s Second Symphony
June 17 - Hardenberger, Mozart, and Wagner
June 23 - Beethoven’s Missa solemnis