Saturday, March 16, 2024

BSO — 2024/03/16

This week the BSO gives us three pieces for or about children and rounds the evening off with a lively and pleasantpice that's about 100 years old. Here's their description:

Saturday, March 16, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, March 25

Eminent English conductor Sir Mark Elder returns to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2011 to lead a program exploring whimsy, fantasy, and folklore. He leads the American premiere of Elena Langer’s The Dong with  the Luminous Nose, a setting of Edward Lear’s delightful “nonsense poem,” written for the BSO and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The performance features BSO Principal Cellist Blaise Déjardin as soloist along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose began as a suite of children’s piano pieces, each illustrating an iconic fairytale, while Antonín Dvořák’s The Noonday Witch is based on a much darker Czech folktale. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s energetically masterful Sinfonietta closes the program.

Sir Mark Elder, conductor 
Blaise Déjardin, cello 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Maurice RAVEL Mother Goose 
Elena LANGER The Dong with a Luminous Nose, for cello, chorus, and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
Antonín DVOŘÁK The Noonday Witch
Leoš JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

Read Edward Lear's "The Dong with a Luminous Nose" at Poetry Foundation. [Emphasis added.]

For a preview of the program with Sir Mark Elder, use the player above, and read the transcript below:

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Sir Mark Elder, and you are back with the Boston Symphony 

I recommend going to the BSO performance detail page and finding the link to the program notes, especially for the Langer and Dvořák pieces. Here's their overview of the show:

Sir Mark Elder, conductor 
Blaise Déjardin, cello 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
 James Burton, conductor 

RAVEL Mother Goose (complete) 
Elena LANGER The Dong with a Luminous Nose, for cello, chorus, and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission) Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director, through the generous support of the Arthur P. Contas Commissioning Fund.
Intermission
DVOŘÁK The Noonday Witch 
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

[…]

Eminent English conductor Sir Mark Elder returns to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2011 to lead a program full of whimsy, fantasy, and folklore. Opening the program, Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose ballet score began as a suite of children’s piano pieces, each movement illustrating an iconic tale. Next is the American premiere of Elena Langer’s The Dong with a Luminous Nose, a setting of Edward Lear’s delightful “nonsense poem” written for the BSO and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which gave the first performance in March 2023 featuring BSO principal cello Blaise Déjardin as soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Antonín Dvořák’s The Noonday Witch is based on a much darker Czech folktale. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s energetic, masterful Sinfonietta closes the concert.

The brief review in the Intelligencer is more descriptive than evaluative and contains a good description of the Langer piece. The Globe doesn't seem to have reviewed it yet.

I was there on Friday afternoon. I found the Ravel dull for the most part, but most people seem to like it. The Langer was amusing in the way the music, raucous at times and more gentle at times supported the taxt. The cellist did very well with his solos. After intermission, the Dvořák was interesting. Again, I recommend using the BSO's prograsm notes to get an idea of the action which the music represents. The Janáček is lively and fun, IMO.

All in all, it isn't must listen music, but I don't regret spending the time listening to it, and I'm looking forward to hearing it again this evening and on the 25th. Enjoy.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

BSO — 2024/03/09

 This evening the BSO presents Grieg's music for Peer Gynt with actors performing scenes of the play, as WCRB informs us:

Saturday, March 9, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, March 18

In the second BSO concert of the Music of the Midnight Sun Festival, Dima Slobodeniouk leads a performance of Peer Gynt by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and composer Edvard Grieg, reimagined by playwright and director Bill Barclay. This fantastical epic tale follows Peer from his home village through the Hall of the Mountain King to Northern Africa and back. 

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor 
Georgia Jarman, soprano
Actors from Concert Theatre Works 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Edvard GRIEG Peer Gynt

For notes and a synopsis, visit the BSO.

Hear producer, writer, and director Bill Barclay describe the unique challenges of adapting Peer Gynt in an interview with Jared Bowen on GBH's The Culture Show.

To hear a preview of Peer Gynt with conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Dima Slobodeniouk, who's back in Boston for a presentation really, of Peer Gynt. I don't want to say performance. It's really a presentation, this theatrical adaptation

You can also read about it at the BSO's performance detail page:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor 
Georgia Jarman, soprano 
Actors from Concert Theatre Works
Caleb Mayo (Peer Gynt) 
Bobbie Steinbach (Åse) 
Robert Walsh (Button Moulder / Father of the Groom) 
Will Lyman (Voice of The Boyg) 
Risher Reddick (The Mountain King / Mads Moen / Herr Trumpetterstrale / Hussein) 
Caroline Lawton (Woman in Green / Aslak’s Wife / Herr von Eberkopf) 
Daniel Berger-Jones (Aslak / Mr. Cotton / Begriffenfeldt) 
Kortney Adams (Ingrid / Monsieur Ballon / Anitra) 
Vidar Skrede (Hardanger fiddler)
 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
 James Burton, conductor 

GRIEG Peer Gynt 
written and directed by Bill Barclay adapted from the play by Henrik Ibsen

Please note that there is no intermission in these concerts.

This week's performances by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are supported by the Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Fund for Voice and Chorus.

In the second of the Music of the Midnight Sun concerts, Finland-based Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk leads a staged performance of Peer Gynt, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and composer Edvard Grieg. This fantastical, epic tale, theatrically reimagined by director-playwright Bill Barclay, follows Peer on his adventures from his home village through the Hall of the Mountain King, to Northern Africa, and back. 

Music of the Midnight Sun is supported, in part by the American Scandinavian Foundation.

Fun fact: Caleb Mayo, who plays Peer Gynt is from my home town.

I saw a performance when the show was first given, and he did very well. The show was enjoyable to watch. I'm not sure how well it will translate to radio, but having the dialogue to flesh out the music should add something to our understanding of what the music's all about.

The review in the Globe is long on description, but favorable to the performance and performers. The Intelligencer doesn't have a review of this perfomance, but the review from 2017 gives a very good description on the action that takes place (as well as "Egmont" which is not being given this time).

All in all, I recommend giving it a hearing this evening and/or on March 18.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

BSO — 2024/03/02

 The BSO is beginning a two-week "Music of the Midnight Sun" Festival this week. WCRB has the basic information:

Saturday, March 2, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, March 11

Finnish conductor John Storgårds leads the first of two BSO programs in the Music of the Midnight Sun festival, an exploration of Nordic music and storytelling. Outi Tarkiainen’s Midnight Sun Variations transports you to her homeland of Finland. Evoking similarly vivid soundscapes, the BSO performs three tone poems by Jean Sibelius based on Finnish legends. And Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto makes his BSO debut in the orchestra’s first-ever performances of the great Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto.

John Storgårds, conductor
Pekka Kuusisto, violin

Outi TARKIAINEN Midnight Sun Variations 
Carl NIELSEN Violin Concerto
Jean SIBELIUS The Oceanides and The Bard
SIBELIUS Tapiola

To hear a preview of Nielsen's Violin Concerto with Pekka Kuusisto, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath. I'm at Symphony Hall with Pekka Kuusisto, who is here with the Boston Symphony for the very first time. Pekka, thank you for a little bit of your time today. I apprecia

I have a ticket waiting for me at the box office, but I haven't had a nap today, and I'm feeling a bit drowsy. Unfortunately, public transportation is very spotty in the late evenings, so I think I'll just stay home and listen to WCRB along with you.

For additional information, you can go to the BSO's own performance detail page, with its links to performer bios and program notes. Their introduction is as follows:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

John Storgårds, conductor 
Pekka Kuusisto, violin

Outi TARKIAINEN Midnight Sun Variations 
NIELSEN Violin Concerto
Intermission
SIBELIUS The Oceanides and The Bard 
SIBELIUS Tapiola

The music and culture of Finland permeate Symphony Hall in this concert. Finnish conductor John Storgårds leads the first program in our Music of the Midnight Sun series, an exploration of Nordic storytelling and music. Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s nuanced and colorful Midnight Sun Variations transport you to her homeland. Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto debuts with the BSO as the orchestra performs the great Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 1911 Violin Concerto for the first time. The program closes with three of Jean Sibelius’s tone poems based on Finnish legends, their moods ranging from sweeping power to contemplative mystery.

Somebody in my grandmother's generation was quoted by my mother as saying, "A little Sibelius goes a long way." Listening to his music has led me to disagree. Sibelius was a very good composer, IMO, and I'm looking forward  to hearing the music on the second half of the program. As for the first half, the composer's description of "Midnight Sun Variations" in the program notes has me interested to hear it, and I have no doubt the Nielsen violin concerto will be good. I can't find any reviews in the Globe or the Intelligencer.

With what I've seen about the program, I think it should be worth listening to. Don't forget the chance to listen again with the rebroadcast on March 11.

Enjoy.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/02/24

 This eveningwe reeturn with WCRB to that thrilling evening of yesteryear — February 4, 2023, to be exact — for an enocre broadcast of the BSO in excerpts from "Tannhäuser." Further detail is here from WCRB:

Saturday, February 24th, 2024
8:00 PM

In this encore broadcast, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and a stellar lineup of soloists in highlights from Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Amber Wagner, soprano (Elisabeth)
Marina Prudenskaya, mezzo-soprano (Venus)
Klaus Florian Vogt, tenor (Tannhäuser)
Christian Gerhaher, baritone (Wolfram)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

ALL-WAGNER
Overture and “Venusberg Music” from Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser, Act III

Hear a preview with Andris Nelsons in the audio player above, and read the transcript below:

This concert was originally broadcasted on Feb 4th, 2023 and is no longer available on demand.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Andris Nelsons, who's back in Boston to lead a concert of excerpts from Tannhäuser, Wagner's opera. Andris, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it.

I posted about it at the time, and I assume the links there are still working.

It's good music, I think, and worth listening to. As I commented then about the story: "The thing is, the opera is fiction using the historical characters of the great medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia (also known as Elizabeth of Hungary), and the poet/minstrel Tannhäuser. There was also a jubilee year in which pilgrims flocked to Rome. But basically, the opera is a pretty good story of sin, love, and redemption." There probably won't be a further rebroadcast on Monday, March 4, since they don't customarily do that with the "encore broadcasts." So listen this evening if you can.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

BSO — 2024/02/17

 As usual, we can get the basics about this evening's Boston Symphony concert from WCRB's webpage:

Saturday, February 17, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 26

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim won the gold medal in the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the youngest person ever to do so. His final round performance featured Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece he performs with the BSO at Symphony Hall with returning guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev. Sokhiev also leads a rarity: French composer Ernest Chausson’s only symphony and the composer’s masterpiece, the passionate Symphony in B-flat. 

Tugan Sokhiev, conductor
Yunchan Lim, piano

Sergei RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Ernest CHAUSSON Symphony in B-flat

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

See Chausson's brother-in-law Henry Lerolle's painting "The Organ Rehearsal," depicting Chausson at the organ console, a the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Tugan Sokhiev, who has returned to the Boston Symphony for the first time in a few years, I think Tugan

Further information is available at the BSO performance detail page, which tells us:

Tugan Sokhiev, conductor 
Yunchan Lim, piano

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Intermission
CHAUSSON Symphony in B-flat

Friday afternoon’s concert is in memory of Jerome H. Grossman, MD, supported by the Grossman Family

Saturday evening's performance by Yunchan Lim is supported by Elizabeth W. and John M. Loder.

Saturday evening’s concert is in memory of Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn.

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim — the youngest person ever to win the gold medal in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition — joins returning guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev to perform one of the greatest, most popular, and most virtuosic works in the repertoire: Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3, which the composer himself played with the BSO in 1919 and 1935. Sokhiev also leads a rare gem of a piece: French composer Ernest Chausson’s passionate one and only symphony. The Symphony in B-flat (1890) was a favorite of former BSO Music Director Charles Munch, and the BSO last performed it in 1993.

See the page for links to performer bios and program notes.

The review in the Globe was enthusiastic, that in the Intelligencer a bit less so, but together they give me the impression that this is a concert not to be missed. Sotune in or connect on the web if you can (and don't forget the repeat on the 26th) and enjoy. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

BSO — 2024/02/10

 This evening's BSO program has only two works. I'll let WCRB tell you about them:

Saturday, February 10, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 19

Karina Canellakis leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Bartók’s chilling and thrilling two-character opera Bluebeard’s Castle, based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill returns to Symphony Hall and German bass-baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle makes his BSO debut. Also returning to the BSO stage is cellist Alisa Weilerstein, performing Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone 

Joseph HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Béla BARTÓK Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 

For a libretto and translation of Duke Bluebeard's Castle, visit Colorado MahlerFest.

To hear a preview of Bluebeard's Castle and Haydn's Cello Concerto with conductor Karina Canellakis, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Karina Canellakis, so good to have you back

The Haydn piece is very pleasant. I hear it on the radio from time to time. As for the Bartók, I was at a BSO performance a nnumber of years ago and my recollection is that I found it dull. I guess it's supposed to be allegorical.

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano 
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
Jeremiah Kissel, narrator

HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Intermission
BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle*

*Concert performance; sung in Hungarian with English supertitles

Thursday evening's concert is supported by Alex Healy. Friday afternoon's performance by the vocal soloists is supported by a generous gift from the Ethan Ayer Vocal Soloist Fund.
Friday afternoon's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by the May and Dan Pierce Guest Artist Fund.
Saturday evening's concert is supported by Mr. C. Thomas Brown.
Saturday evening's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by Professor Paul L. Joskow and Dr. Barbara Chasen Joskow.

American conductor Karina Canellakis returns to lead a concert performance of Béla Bartók’s chilling and evocative opera Bluebeard's Castle. Based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past, the opera features some of Bartók’s most riveting orchestral writing. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill sings the role of Judith, Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg is Bluebeard, and speaker Jeremiah Kissel performs the opera’s Prologue in these performances. To begin these concerts, the innovative American cellist Alisa Weilerstein is soloist in Joseph Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Scholar and writer Lucy Caplan will give the Friday Preview on February 9 at 12:15pm. Admission included with ticket.

Thursday's performance will end around 9:30pm, Friday's performance will end around 3:30pm, and Saturday's performance will end around 10pm.

Regretfully, baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle has had to withdraw from his performances this week in the role of Bluebeard in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle due to illness. We are fortunate that bass-baritone Nathan Berg is able to sing the role in his place at very short notice.


See that page for program notes.

The Globe liked the performances but felt that there was no connection between the pieces. The review in the Intelligencer is quite complete and favorable.

So maybe enjoy the Haydn and give the Bartók a try.

Saturday, February 3, 2024

BSO — 2024/02/03

 This is definitely a "must listen" concert. WCRB tells us the basics on their website:

Saturday, February 3, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 12

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra welcome American violinist Randall Goosby, the youngest-ever winner of the Sphinx Concerto Competition, to Symphony Hall! Nelsons conducts Max Bruch’s spirited Violin Concerto No. 1 with Goosby as the soloist, as well as Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, the ReformationSymphony. The concert opens with the overture to the opera The Wreckers by celebrated early 20th century suffragette and composer Dame Ethel Smyth.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin

Dame Ethel SMYTH Overture to The Wreckers
Max BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5, Reformation

To hear Randall Goosby describe his history with Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, what he learned while studying with Itzhak Perlman, and why he's passionate about music by Florence Price, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

To learn more about Ethel Smyth and Isabella Stewart Gardner, visit the Gardner Museum.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: 

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Randall Goosby, here with the Boston Symphony for the very first time. Randall, is it also your first time playing in Symphony Hall at all?

Randall Goosby It is. It's actually my first time stepping foot in Symphony Hall.

I was there for the Friday matinee performance, and it was all good listening. The Bruch and Mendelssohn are familiar pieces and pleasant to hear.(Of course the Reformation itself isn't my favorite thing, but Mendelssohn's symphony is good music.)  The Smyth. on the other hand is something I've never heard  before (and the BSO has never played). It's fascinating and quite musical, although in a style suitable for the story of the opera.

By all means check out the BSO performance detail page for the informative program note about the Overture to The Wreckers (as well as for the other information available). Here's their summary for the concert as a whole:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Randall Goosby, violin

SMYTH Overture to The Wreckers 
BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
Intermission
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5, Reformation

Saturday evening’s concert is in memory of Jane O’Keefe, supported by Cecilia O’Keefe.

Music Director Andris Nelsons opens the program with the overture to the 1906 opera The Wreckers by Dame Ethel Smyth, a composer and suffragist who was one of England’s leading musicians of her time. American violinist Randall Goosby, the youngest-ever winner of the Sphinx Concerto Competition, makes his BSO debut with Max Bruch’s spirited Violin Concerto No. 1. The program closes with Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, composed in 1830 as part of celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The music quotes the familiar hymn “Ein feste Burg,” a link to Reformation leader Martin Luther. 

On February 2 the Friday Preview will be given by Marc Mandel, former BSO Director of Program Publications, at 12:15pm. Admission included with ticket.

Friday's concert will end around 3:15pm, and Saturday's concert will end around 9:45pm.

I can't find a review in the Globe, but there's a favorable one in the Intelligencer, concentrating on the violinist, who was quite good.

Even the familiar music seemed fresh. I also noticed several fresh faces. The contrabassonist looked to be in his twenties, and his low notes were clearly audible . There looked like a couple of new players in the second row of the double basses, and I don't remember seeing the female trombonist. There were also a couple of unfamiliar horn players. Sometime I should look at the orcheedstra's online personnel page to find out a bit about them, but at any rate there's always some change going on as the older members retire and new ones are brought in.

This is a concert well worth hearing. Don't forget the rebroadcast on February 12.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

BSO — 2024/01/27

 Oops! Tonight's show begins an hour early at 7:00. Here's what you need to know:

Saturday, January 27, 2024
7:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 5

Andris Nelsons's conducts the BSO in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the most ambitious endeavor in their multi-year survey of works by Shostakovich. Based on Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novella by the same name, the opera weaves the lurid story of Katarina Ismailova, an oppressed, ambitious, and ultimately murderous wife of a provincial merchant.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Kristine Opolais, soprano (Katerina Izmailova)
Brenden Gunnell, tenor (Sergei)
Peter Hoare, tenor (Zinovy Izmailov)
Günther Groissböck, bass (Boris Izmailov and Ghost of Boris)
Michelle Trainor, soprano (Aksinya)
Alexandra LoBianco, soprano (Female Convict)
Maria Barakova, mezzo-soprano (Sonyetka)
Matthew DiBattista, tenor (Teacher)
Neal Ferreira, tenor (Foreman)
Charles Blandy, tenor (Foreman & Drunken Guest)
Yeghishe Manucharyan, tenor (Foreman & Coachman)
Alexander Kravets, tenor (Shabby Peasant)
David Kravitz, baritone (Millhand)
Brandon Cedel, bass (Porter & Policeman)
Joo Won Kang, baritone (Steward)
Patrick Guetti, bass (Officer and Sentry)
Goran Juric, bass (Priest)
Anatoli Sivko, bass (Chief of Police)
Paata Burchuladze, bass (Old Convict)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
James Burton, conductor

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

To read artist biographies and program notes, visit the BSO.

To hear a preview with Music Director Andris Nelsons, BSO Vice President for Artistic Planning Anthony Fogg, and GBH's Jared Bowen on The Culture Show, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about The Culture Show on GBH, Monday-Friday at 2pm.

TRANSCRIPT:

Jared Bowen Andris Nelsons, Tony Fogg, thank you so much for sitting down with us.

Andris Nelsons Great pleasure, thank you.

Anthony Fogg Pleasure.

Jared Bowen So, Andris, I am so eager to to talk to you about your connection to this piece. But, Tony, let me start with you for a second. For the Boston Symphony Orchestra to take on this opera, this is a very 

I'll add more as we go along.

BSO performance detail page, which includes link to program notes.

Review in the Intelligencer.

Review in the Globe.

Saturday, January 20, 2024

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/01/20

 The BSO isn't performing this weekend, so WCRB is giving us an encore broadcast of a concert from last April. Here's the scoop:

Saturday, January 20, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, French cellist Gautier Capuçon takes center stage with the Boston Symphony for the American premiere of Thierry Escaich’s new work for cello and orchestra, and Andris Nelsons conducts Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso and Rachmaninoff’s romantic Symphony No. 2.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Gautier Capuçon, cello

Maurice RAVEL Alborada del gracioso
Thierry ESCAICH Les Chants de l’Aube, for cello and orchestra
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

This concert was originally broadcasted on April 15, 2023, and is no longer available on demand.

Hear a preview of Thierry Escaich's Les Chants de l’Aube with cellist Gautier Capuçon using the audio player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Gautier Capuçon, who is back in Boston after some really memor

I posted about it (with many typos) at the time of the actual performance and said it was all "very okay." If you can find that post, the links to the favorable reviews still work. It looks as if I neglected to give the link for the performance detail page. Here it is.

So, while I thought it wasn't "must listen" music, I still recommend giving it a hearing.

Saturday, January 13, 2024

BSO — 2024/01/13

 The BSO is back live with a concert I don't especially care about. WCRB gives us the essentials: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2023-09-25/leons-stride-and-ravel-with-seong-jin-cho-and-the-bso

Saturday, January 13, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 22

Recent Pulitzer Prize winner and 2022 Kennedy Center honoree Tania León brings Strideto Symphony Hall, a piece inspired by Susan B. Anthony and the steps women continue to take towards equality. Award-winning pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost an arm in World War I. The concert closes with one of the most influential pieces in history: Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Seong-Jin Cho, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride 
Maurice RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand
Igor STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

Watch Tania León describe the creative process behind Stride.

From NPR: Tania León Wins Music Pulitzer ForStride, Celebrating Women's Resilience.

To hear Seong-Jin Cho preview Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Seong-Jin Cho

I'll listen to the first piece out of curiosity. As far as I'm concerned, the Concerto for the Left Hand is innocuous but nothing special, so I'll leave the radio on; but I don't like Rite of Spring, so I may well turn the radio off after intermission.

The BSO's performance detail page tells us:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Seong-Jin Cho, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride
RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand
Intermission
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

This week’s performances of Tania León Stride are supported in part by income from the Morton Margolis fund in the BSO’s endowment.
Thursday evening's performance by Seong-Jin Cho is supported by the Nathan R. Miller Family Guest Artist Fund.

Tania León’s Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Stride draws on her Cuban heritage and her long association with dance to create music rich with rhythmic vitality and scintillating instrumental colors. Superstar Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho plays Maurice Ravel’s dramatic Piano Concerto for the left hand, originally composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his arm during World War I. Closing the concert is and one of the most influential pieces in history: Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score The Rite of Spring, a work of primal power.

Program notes are there for each of the pieces.

So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer, but the Globe is very favorable, especially for the Ravel concerto.

Enjoy, if you listen.