BSO — 2012/11/23-27

There was no concert on Thanksgiving, so the performances this week began with the Friday matinee and will continue, as frequently happens, through Tuesday evening. As usual, you can find links to the program notes, as well as audio previews of the works being presented, on the program details page of the BSO website. It also gives this brief synopsis of the program.

Christian Zacharias displays both his podium and keyboard skills in an all-Classical program featuring the three great masters of the Austro-German Classical style, beginning with the BSO's first-ever performances of Haydn's Symphony No. 76. The program continues with Mr. Zacharias at the keyboard for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 18. For the second half of the program, the BSO plays its first-ever performances of Beethoven's complete ballet score to The Creatures of Prometheus.

Actually, that last line is misleading. "The Creatures of Prometheus" consists of an overture and 16 "numbers." The BSO is performing the overture and seven of the remaining parts, including the finale. From the program note, it does not seem that they have ever done the full ballet.

You might want to check out more of the website for additional info about doings in Symphony Hall: future programs and artists, interviews with members of the orchestra, and other features.

Of course, Friday afternoon concerts are not part of my regular subscription series, all of which are for Thursday evenings, but I expected this to be an enjoyable concert, and my brother was interested also. So I got a couple of tickets. (Long-time readers may recall that I have gone to Friday concerts on the day after Thanksgiving in previous years.) I really enjoyed it. The music was not challenging or difficult to listen to, but it all had substance as well as style. As I said to my brother at the end of the concert, "This music deserves to be better known." Note, I didn't say "These composers," since they are extremely well known, but this particular music is not often performed, compared to other pieces by the same composers.

As of this moment, the Boston Globe's website doesn't yet have a review. When one becomes available, I'll post a link. So stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, as usual you can hear the concert live on Saturday evening on radio or over the web at Classical New England, as always, at 8:00 Eastern Time, with pre-concert features beginning at 7:00. As usual, the concert will be rebroadcast eight days later, on December 2, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (or Boston Time, as I like to call it). Classical New England's Boston Symphony page has an interview with the conductor/pianist and other BSO-related features.

Enjoy!

Edited to add: The Boston Globe's reviewer liked the Beethoven but was less than thrilled with the pieces before intermission.