Stephen Sondheim celebrates his 80th birthday next Monday, March 22; festivities marking the occasion are taking place all season long in concert halls and theaters across the country. Sondheim's A Little Night Music recently celebrated its own birthday—the original production opened on February 25, 1973—and the recording of the current Broadway cast, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury, and Alexander Hanson, due out from Nonesuch / PS Classics in just a few weeks, on April 6, is available now for pre-order from the Nonesuch Store.

This week, the New York Philharmonic begins the birthday celebration with two sold-out concerts at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, tonight and tomorrow night. The events will be hosted by actor David Hyde Pierce and include performances of songs from throughout Sondheim's career by Nonesuch artists Audra McDonald and Mandy Patinkin; vocalists from Nonesuch recordings of his works including Laura Benanti and John McMartin (Into the Woods) and Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone (Sweeney Todd); performers on other celebrated Nonesuch cast recordings, like Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) and Jason Danieley (Floyd Collins); and such famed interpreters of his music as Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Tonight's performance also marks Lincoln Center's Spring Gala, held in the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall. For more information and a complete list of performers, visit
nyphil.org.

The concert is due to be broadcast on PBS in 2011 as part of the Great Performances series, which broadcast a performance of the 2007 revival of Sondheim's Company, starring Raúl Esparza, in 2008.

To pre-order the CD of A Little Night Music and receive the complete album as high-quality (320 kbps) MP3s at no additional charge on release day, April 6, visit the Nonesuch Store.