Johannes Debus, music director of the Canadian Opera Company, made his BSO debut last summer at Tanglewood, replacing James Levine to lead a concert performance of Mozart’s delightful opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio." Mr. Debus now makes his BSO subscription series debut, stepping in to lead Sir Colin Davis’s originally planned program of music by Mozart and Haydn, with BSO principal William R. Hudgins as soloist in Mozart’s serenely beautiful Clarinet Concerto, one of his last completed works. Opening the program is Mozart’s rarely heard Symphony No. 32, a single-movement, eight-minute piece that’s more like an overture than a symphony, and which has not been played by the BSO in Symphony Hall since 1974. In contrast, Haydn’s Symphony No. 97, premiered in London in 1792 at the height of his international reputation, is a full-fledged four-movement symphony demonstrating the wealth of Haydn’s wit and craft.
The Globe reviewer liked it, but didn't exactly "rave." I enjoyed the Thursday performance also. But it didn't excite me. I had wanted to jump up and shout, "Bravo!" after the clarinet concerto and the Haydn symphony, but neither was thrillingly enough played to warrant such a reaction. So I sat in my seat and applauded vigorously for the thoroughly enjoyable performances.
As always, you can listen to the webstream on WCRB (this site also has a link for "Concert Previews and Interviews) — concert at 8:00, with "pre-game show" at 7:00. There is also introductory material available at the BSO website. Go to this page, and click the "Launch" button for the Media Center.
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