In September 2009 Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. "Passion & Pain: Adams, Haydn & Schubert" is one of four individual performances produced and distributed by the New York Philharmonic and personally selected by Alan Gilbert for commercial release during his inaugural season with the Philharmonic.

The featured work on this album of compositions by Justin Dello Joio is the American composer's new piano concerto, "Oceans Apart", composed for keyboard titan, Garrick Ohlsson. Ohlsson is joined by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alan Gilbert, the artists who premiered the concerto in 2023. The program also includes chamber works performed by the New York Philharmonic's principal cellist, Carter Brey, with pianist Christopher O'Riley; and the American Brass Quintet, and organist Colin Fowler.