BSO — 2017/09/30

This week the BSO gives us Piano Concerto No. 4 by Beethoven, with Paul Lewis as soloist. After intermission it's Shostakovich's 11th Symphony, "The Year 1905." Music Director Andris Nelsons is on the podium. The orchestra's program detail page has this to say about it.

The BSO and Andris Nelsons continue their multi-year survey of the complete Shostakovich symphonies with his Symphony No. 11, which the BSO has never performed. Conceived to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first, failed Russian Revolution (thus the nickname The Year 1905), it was completed in 1957 and earned Shostakovich the prestigious Lenin Prize, a sign of considerable official approval. In keeping with its subject matter, the symphony makes extensive reference to Russian revolutionary songs. To begin the program, English pianist Paul Lewis is soloist in Beethoven's lyrical and poetic Piano Concerto No. 4, which famously opens with a disarmingly intimate passage for solo piano.

Also see the performance detail page for the customary links to performer bios, program notes, audio previews and podcasts.

During the Symphony Hall season The same program is usually given on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, an sometimes on the following Tuesday. So reviews are often available for me to refer to, and often I attend a Thursday performance, enabling me to give my own observations. This week both the Boston Globe and the Boston Musical Intelligencer found Lewis less emotional than they'd have liked in the Beethove — not that they could point to anything actually wrong, just that they'd have liked a different interpretation. Both reviewers liked the Shostakovich. As usual, the Globe, with space limitations, gives mostly background information, while BMInt says more about the actual performance.

My own impression was that the Beethoven was nicely done. I'd never heard the Shostakovich before, and, since there is no break between the four movements and there were more changes of mood than movements, I couldn't tell where one movement ended and the next began. But that's okay. There were parts that seemed to evoke the chill of winter and parts that clearly represented the violence of the troops firing on the people. There were parts that were very loud, and parts so soft I could barely hear them. Overall, I found it fascinating, and I'd say it's not as "difficult" as some of Shostakovich's music.

The broadcast and stream will be on WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time this evening, September 30. Their home page, where you find the Listen Live button, also has a link to their podcast with interviews about the concert, among other things; and you can also access further information about their programming. (There is an indication that the 8:00 p.m. slot on Mondays is also given to BSO performances. It may well present rebroadcasts of concerts from nine days earlier.)

I'm sure you'll like the Beethoven concerto. Why not stick around and give the Shostakovich symphony a try?