BSO — 2015/01/22-24

Ken-David Masur, the BSO's new Assistant Conductor (and son of Kurt Masur), steps in this week in place of the ailing Tugan Sokhiev, who was to have made his BSO debut. The Globe's review found no problem worth mentioning. As usual, the Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a much more detailed review, almost entirely laudatory. I liked Maestro Masur's conducting style, and found nothing in the music to dislike. In the Saint-Saëns it was distracting that the soloist spent a lot of time looking at the violins, much more than watching the conductor. Was he taking the beat from them, or did he have a crush on one of the violinists?

Here's what the orchestra says on their performance detail page.

*This week's scheduled conductor, Tugan Sokhiev, is suffering from influenza and a sinus infection, and cannot travel to Boston. BSO assistant conductor, Ken-David Masur, will take over the performances in his place. The program remains unchanged.Ken-David Masur is joined by the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser for Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1, a single-movement, fantasia-like work by turns fiery and charming. Opening the program is Hector Berlioz's Le Corsaire Overture, which, as was often the composer's practice, took shape from earlier sketches. The title is an incidental reference to James Fenimore Cooper's The Red Rover ("Le Corsaire rouge"). Rimsky Korsakov's orchestral masterpiece, the "symphonic suite" Scheherezade, masterfully spins out its Arabian Nights-inspired tableaux via transformations of an immediately recognizable musical motif. The work features a major solo violin part usually played by the orchestra's concertmaster.

(Some emphasis added.)
See that page also for links to program notes, audio previews, and performer bios.

Listen over WCRB at 8:00 this evening or on February 2 for an enjoyable evening of good music-making, and see their BSO page for a preview with the conductor and other links.