BSO — 2012/11/29-12/01

This week's Boston Symphony program is mostly French, with three French composers, a French conductor, and a French pianist. There is also music by a Scottish composer. Some details are provided in the BSO's details page, which also has links to program notes, audio previews, and an interview with the conductor.

Returning to the BSO podium for the third consecutive season, French conductor Stéphane Denève leads the BSO in a trio of French works by composers from his native country: Berlioz's dynamic overture to his unfinished early opera Les Francs-juges, Albert Roussel's Suite No. 2 from his 1930 ballet Bacchus et Ariane, and Saint-Saëns's Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, with fellow Frenchman Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist. Also on the program are the Three Interludes from The Sacrifice, Scottish contemporary composer James MacMillan's 2006 opera on a story from The Mabinogion, an ancient collection of Welsh legend.

I was there on Thursday, and I'm looking forward to hearing the music again on the broadcast and the webstream repeat. I wouldn't call any of it the greatest music of all time, but it all was good and I think a rehearing or two will bring even more understanding and enjoyment. The newest piece, interludes from MacMillan's opera "The Sacrifice, felt more accessible during the performance than had MacMillan's St. John Passion, which we heard almost three years ago. The Globe's reviewer was very pleased with the performance.

Go to Classical New England to listen to the webstream approximately live this evening and check out their BSO page for broadcast/streaming schedules as well as their own interview with the conductor.