BSO — 2026/01/10

 This evening the BSO returns to Symphony Hall. Thwy open this part of the season with the first of a series of concerts with the heading "E Pluribus Unum," celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

 Here's how WCRB describes it: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-10/samuel-barbers-vanessa-with-the-bso

Saturday, January 10, 2026
8:00 PM

To begin the Boston Symphony’s E Pluribus Unum, or From Many, One, a broad, multi-concert exploration of American music, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Samuel Barber’s hauntingly beautiful opera “Vanessa,” in collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera. This is the BSO’s first full performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning work, which The New York Times lauded as “the best American opera ever presented” when it premiered to 17 curtain calls at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Jennifer Holloway, soprano (Vanessa)
Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (Erika)
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (The Old Baroness)
Ganson Salmon, tenor (Anatol)
Patrick Carfizzi, baritone (The Old Doctor)
Wei Wu, bass (Major Domo/Footman)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductor
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus
Brett Hodgdon, conductor

Samuel BARBER Vanessa

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way: https://www.bso.org/events/jan-8-10-barber-vanessa?performance=2026-01-10-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Jennifer Holloway, soprano (Vanessa) Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (Erika) Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (The Old Baroness) Ganson Salmon, tenor (Anatol) Patrick Carfizzi, baritone (The Old Doctor) Wei Wu, bass (Major Domo/Footman) Alexandra Dietrich, staging coordinator Tanglewood Festival Chorus Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductorBoston Lyric Opera ChorusBrett Hodgdon, conductorBARBER Vanessa  

Composed by Samuel Barber
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Presented under license from G, Schirmer, Inc., copyright owners

Andris Nelsons leads some of the most acclaimed stars of opera today in performances of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, a work considered by many the greatest American opera. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1958, Vanessa premiered at the Metropolitan Opera that year. Barber wrote the opera on a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti; they aimed for a cosmopolitan, nostalgic work on lost love and the consequences of self-delusion. Barber’s romantic lyricism is ever-present in this powerfully affecting work, a centerpiece of this season’s E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One focus.

At the page there are arrows giving links to the performer bios and (hooray!) to the program notes.

Perhaps you can find the libretto somewhere. The program notes willl give a bit of an idea of what is going on, but it will be almost impossible to follow word for word without the libretto. 

The favorable review in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2026/01/10/bso-vanessa/ might be interesrting.

Well, I heard the Saturday afternoon broadcast from the Met in 1958 and didn't much care fior it then. I was there on Thursday evening this week and still don't like it. Apart from a couple of spots (especially the party scene) the music is unmelodic to my ears, and even with supertitles it wasn't always easy to figure out what they were singing. The story itself is kind of interesting, and the guy who sang the role of the Old Doctor was very good, but overall, I can't recommend listening unless you're curious or really like 20th Century music.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/12/20

 This week's encore broadcast is an interesting program: Haydn and Stravinsky. The conductor makes a case both for playing Haydn and for putting Stravinsky on the same program. I recommend reading the interview on WCRB's page: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2024-10-31/isabelle-faust-and-alan-gilbert-join-the-bso-for-haydn-and-stravinsky

Saturday, December 20, 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return to Symphony Hall for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career.

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Marie Therese
Igor STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

This concert was originally broadcast on February 22, 2025, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear a preview of the program with Alan Gilbert, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Alan Gilbert, back for a concert with the BSO that I think is just a really interesting program and one that doesn't sort of organically fall off a tree, I feel like.

Here's a similar description from the BSO's performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/alan-gilbert-conducts-haydn-stravinsky?performance=2025-02-22-20:00

Alan Gilbert, conductor Isabelle Faust, Violin 

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Maria Theresia
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
-Intermission-
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto, a work at the core of his sparkling and witty neoclassical period. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career, during which he largely created the foundations for the 18th-century Viennese Classical era.

If you go to the actual page, the arrows are links to performer bios. I don't know why they won't provide links to the program notes as well, but there you have it.

There is an enthusiastic review https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/02/21/done-to-perfection/ in the Intelligencer.

I think this concert is worth listening to.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/12/13

We get "encore broadcasts" while the BSO is on hiatus and Holiday Pops takes over Symphony Hall. Return with us now to last February to hear music of Schubert and Brahms conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. WCRB informs us: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2024-10-31/blomstedt-conducts-the-bso

Saturday, December 13, 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, one of the masters of the art of conducting for over seven decades returns to lead the BSO in Franz Schubert's light-hearted, cheerful Symphony No. 6, as well as the First Symphony by Johannes Brahms.

Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Franz SCHUBERT Symphony No. 6
Johannes BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

This broadcast was originally broadcast on February 15, 2025, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear Herbert Blomstedt in a conversation with GBH's Arun Rath, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: 

Arun Rath This is GBH is All Things Considered. I'm Arun Rath.

The BSO performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/schubert-brahams?performance=2025-02-15-20:00 seems to have a link to MaestroBlomstedt's bio, when you go to the page itself, but none to the program notes for the pieces played:

Herbert Blomstedt, conductor 

Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 6
-Intermission-
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

Herbert Blomstedt, celebrating a seven-decade conducting career, returns to lead the BSO in Franz Schubert's light-hearted, cheerful Symphony No. 6, composed when he was 20 and notable as a satisfyingly classical work preceding his more searching later symphonies. Brahms was strongly influenced by Schubert but more so still by Beethoven, whose symphonic shadow apparently kept Brahms from completing his First Symphony until he was 43 years old. A prominent theme in its finale is a direct nod to Beethoven’s Ninth.

I posted about it at the time (with a number of embarrassing typos). You might be interested in my observations from the previous day's performance as well as the "enthusiastic review" in the Intelligencer, which I'm linking here again. https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/02/14/blomstedt-balm/

I definitely recommend listening this evening.

BSO — 2025/11/29

 This evening the BSO gives us standard 19th Century music, namely Dvořák's Cello Concerto followed, after intermission, by his Symphony № 8. Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/an-all-dvorak-program-with-rachid-ferrandez-and-the-bso

Saturday, November 29, 2025
8:00 PM

Samy Rachid leads the Boston Symphony in an all-Dvořák program, featuring the Czech composer’s folk-inspired Eighth Symphony and his beloved Cello Concerto, with award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

All-Dvořák program 
Antonín DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Pablo Ferrandez appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

The interviews available on the page should be interesting.

Here's the blurb on the BSO performance detail page, which also has the usual links to performer bios and program notes: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-28-29-dvorak?performance=2025-11-29-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Samy Rachid, conductor Pablo Ferrández, Cello DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8  

Award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández returns to Symphony Hall to perform one of the most beloved works in the cello repertoire. Written while the composer was living and teaching in the U.S., Dvořák’s Cello Concerto weaves a virtuosic solo line into a rich orchestral tapestry that both pays tribute to and draws inspiration from his Bohemian homeland. The Eighth Symphony is a similarly folk-inspired work, warm and full of charm. Filled with folk dance rhythms and unexpected harmonic shifts, it captures the composer’s deep connection to his home.

If you can't access the bios and program notes via my quote, you'll have to go the the actual BSO page and click on the arrow after the item you want.

I was at the performance in Friday and thought it was very good. The conductor wore a nicely tailored suit, narrow at the waist, and conducted with clear but not excessive gestures to which the orchestra responded well. The enthusiastic review in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/29/free-range/ expresses it more completely and with pictures so you cab see the suit.

I caught much of Robert Kirzinger's pre-concert talk and he called attention to the prominence of the flute in these pieces, which gives a special interest to Brian McCreath's interview with Lorna McGhee in which they discuss the flute part in the s8th Symphony.

If you can't listen this evening, by all means try to catch the rebroadcast at 8 p.m., Boston Time, on December 8.

BSO — 2025/11/22

 Unfamiliar music forms the first part of this evening's concert, a recent composition followed by a largely unknown concerto from mid 20th Century. Neither is too tough to take (at least for me). After intermission we get something much more familiar. Here's what WCRB has on their website: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/joshua-bell-the-bso-and-de-hartmanns-violin-concerto

Saturday, November 22, 2025
8:00 PM

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler leads the rarely heard Violin Concerto by Thomas de Hartmann, with soloist Joshua Bell. The program also spotlights two works of vivid storytelling: Grace-Evangeline Mason’s 2021 work The Imagined Forest and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Anna Handler, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Grace-Evangeline MASON The Imagined Forest
Thomas DE HARTMANN Violin Concerto
Modest MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition

In an interview with CRB's Brian McCreath, Anna Handler describes the experience of being called to step in to conduct this program on short notice, her trust in colleagues both within the BSO and from the wider musical world, and her fascination with Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Anna Handler, who is our conductor for the Boston Symphony this week, which wasn't the case a week ago or so, but Anna, thank you for your time today. I appreciate it.

Anna Handler Thank you for having me. It's a very, very interesting and exciting moment in my development and my life right now.

Brian McCreath And the reason for that is that the originally scheduled conductor couldn't be here because of an injury apparently. But here you are

The interview is quite interesting as it goes on to tell of the circumstances of the confuctor's learning that she would have to confuct rehearsals as well as the concert performances, and how she scrambled to be reaady.

The BSO performance detail page gives us the following, with links to performer bios and program notes: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-20-22-mason-hartm-mussor?performance=2025-11-22-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Anna Handler, conductor Joshua Bell, violin Grace-Evangeline MASON The Imagined Forest  DE HARTMANN Violin Concerto       intermissionMUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition  

Violin superstar Joshua Bell performs Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto, a rediscovered gem full of drama, technical virtuosity, and beautiful motifs. Grace-Evangeline Mason’s The Imagined Forest takes the audience on a journey through the fantasy, folklore, and danger of the woodlands. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with its distinct storytelling, hilarious characters, and epic finale, unfolds like a vivid musical gallery, each movement painting a scene. BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler leads this program in her Symphony Hall debut. 

I was at the Friday afternoon concert and found the music of the first half quite tolerable, even if I wouldn't have imagined a forest listening to the first piece. Joshua Bell was outstanding in the concerto, at times playing so softly I could just barely hear him in the back of the auditorium.

The Globe reviewer https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/22/arts/bso-anna-handler-joshua-bell/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results was very pleased. There is no review yet in the Intelligencer.

In some ways, this is a major event. In other ways, it is second tier, but still very good, music exceptionally well performed. I definitely think it's worth a listen.

BSO — 2025/11/15

 Tomight's BSO concert hives us a couple of new pieces (one a world premiere this week) before intermission, and a "warhorse" of the repertory after. WCRB says: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/slobodeniouk-conducts-brahms-sierra-and-a-world-premiere

Saturday, November 15, 2025
8:00 PM

Dima Slobodeniouk conducts the Boston Symphony in the highly anticipated world premiere of Tania León’s Time to Time. Afterwards, James Carter is the soloist in Roberto Sierra’s Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra, and the BSO performs Brahms’s lyrically pastoral Second Symphony.

This performance is part of the E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One celebration, honoring the diverse voices that shape our nation’s musical heritage. Inspired by the spirit of America’s motto, E Pluribus Unum: From Many One is a multi-year celebration that embraces the plurality and singularity of American music. The 2025–26 season’s repertoire includes about three dozen works by composers who have woven the rich tapestry of American music, from Copland, Barber, and Bernstein to modern trailblazers like John Williams, John Adams, Tania León, and Carlos Simon.

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
James Carter, saxophones

Tania LEÓN Time to Time (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Roberto SIERRA Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra
Johannes BRAHMS Symphony No. 2

In a preview of this program, Dima Slobodeniouk describes the signature sound of music by Tania León, the excitement of Sierra's Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra, and what it means to perform Brahms with the BSO. Listen in the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Dima Slobodeniouk, back with the Boston Symphony after some exciting stuff over the summer, but here you are now at Symphony Hall. So Dima, thanks for your time today, I appreciate it.

Dima Slobodeniouk Hi Brian, great to be back

The BSO's performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/nov-13-15-leon-sierra?performance=2025-11-15-20:00 has links to performers bios and program notes (which may give some idea of what to expect, especially before the intermission). There is also the following overview:

Frequent guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk leads this celebration of Caribbean composers, beginning with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban American Tania León’s BSO-commissioned Time to Time, whose title reveals the composer’s characteristic preoccupation with duration and rhythm. Puerto Rico-born Roberto Sierra wrote his effervescent, jazz- and Latin-tinged concerto especially for James Carter’s lyricism and technical prowess on both soprano and tenor sax. Johannes Brahms’ Second Symphony is considered among his warmest, most pastoral works.

There is a favorable review https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/arts/bso-tania-leon-brahms/?event=event12 in the Globe. The review in the Intelligencer is also favorable https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/15/leon-ierra-brahms-backseated/ and very descriptive.

I'm interested to actually hear the new pieces.