Tanglewood — 2013/08/09-11

August 9  We have Sibelius and Brahms on offer Friday evening.

Christoph von Dohnányi takes the podium on Friday, August 9, at 8:30 p.m. leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra and soloist Gil Shaham in Sibelius's Violin Concerto, a virtuosic work that eschews strict traditional forms for a freer, more organic style; similar to Sibelius's most popular symphonies, the concerto provides plenty of energy and excitement, as well as splendid, sweeping climaxes. The program concludes with Brahms's rich and multifaceted Symphony No. 2, which combines pastoral beauty with melancholic reverie then gains momentum and sprints to a thrilling finale.

As always, go to the performance detail page for links to background material.


August 10  Saturday brings another Brahms Symphony and (continuing a series begun last week) a Beethoven Piano Concerto. The program also includes a piece by a favorite of James Levine, the recently deceased centenarian Elliott Carter. Go to the performance detail page for the links. It describes the program as follows:

On Saturday, August 10, at 8:30 p.m., pianist Yefim Bronfmanjoins Maestro von Dohnányi and the orchestra for Beethoven's stormy Third Piano Concerto, a dramatic, tumultuous work in which Beethoven takes an audible step away from the style of Mozart, his towering forebear in the piano concerto genre. Also on the program are Brahms's towering Symphony No. 4-Brahms's ultimate fusion of past and present, combining a mastery of Classical, Baroque, and even Renaissance techniques with his own lush Romantic idiom-and Elliott Carter's meditative Sound Fields, the composer's only workfor string orchestra, performed in commemoration of Mr. Carter's recent passing.

August 11  The final concert of the weekend is an all Beethoven program, including another of the piano concertos, a symphony, and an overture, to wit:

On Sunday afternoon, August 11, at 2:30 p.m., Christian Zacharias returns to the BSO for an all-Beethoven program, building on a relationship as conductor/pianist with the orchestra that began with his BSO conducting debut during the orchestra's 2010-11 season. To open and close the concert, Mr. Zacharias will conduct the composer's Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus and his Symphony No. 6, Pastoral. At the heart of the program, Mr. Zacharias leads the Piano Concerto No. 2 from the keyboard. Used as a means for the young Beethoven to display his virtuosic pianistic talents in concert and make a reputation for himself in Vienna, the work is quite Mozartean in form and character but hints at the storminess that was soon to come.

Here's the link to the performance detail page.


Classical New England will broadcast and stream all three virtually live (there is a delay of a few seconds) with introductory material beginning 1/2 hour before the scheduled concert times. Their BSO page has lots of potentially interesting links to things beyond just these three concerts.