BSO/Classical New England — 2019/12/28

Next week, the BSO resumes their season at Symphony Hall. This week's "encore broadcast," while the Holiday Pops conclude, is the concert performed on January 26, 2019 — about 11 months ago. I think it's worth tuning in for the repeat. I wrote about it at the time, and you can go there for links to reviews as well as for my thoughts about it. Just to expand a bit: I thought "Ciel d'hiver" actually did  evoke a winter sky.

In case you don't feel like tracking down my post from last January, here's the synopsis from the performance detail page.

Making his BSO subscription series debut, conductor John Storgårds leads pianist Martin Helmchen in Mozart's gregarious, large-scale Piano Concerto in E-flat, K.482, composed in late 1785 when Mozart was also working on his comic opera The Marriage of Figaro. The Finnish Storgårds also brings three Finnish works to Symphony Hall, beginning with Kaija Saariaho's gorgeous study of orchestral color Ciel d'hiver ("Winter Sky"), an arrangement of a movement from her earlier, symphony-like Orion. Jean Sibelius's final two symphonies, nos. 6 and 7, are two of the greatest works in the symphonic literature. Though very different from one another, both demonstrate the composer's distinctively rich orchestration and organic, fluid transformations of material.

(Some emphasis added.)

As always, you can hear it all on air or over the web on WCRB at 8:00 p.m. EST. They also have links to features about this concert and other broadcasts they offer.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/12/14

Sorry I didn't have a chance to past about last week's "encore broadcast" concert.

Now that Holiday Pops has taken over Symphony Hall, WCRB takes us for a meander down our musical memory lane. This week we can hear the concert of November 10, 2018. It starts with the American premiere of a work co-commissioned by the BSO — Māra, by Andris Dzenītis. That is followed by Symphony No. 1 by Shostakovich. After intermission they play the music for the second act of Tchaikovsky's ever popular ballet, The Nutcracker, which may help encourage people to attend a performance of the full ballet, which Boston Ballet gives every December.

You can find a bit more information as well as the usual links at the performance detail page. My post at the time (with links to reviews) recommends listening, and I have no reason to change that recommendation. As always, you can hear it at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, over WCRB online or on air.

I neglected to hit the "Publish" button on Saturday. I'm doing it now, Monday morning, for posterity and on the off chance that they'll retransmit the concert a week from today.

BSO — 2019/11/30

In 2008 I heard the Second Serenade by Brahms conducted by James Levine at Symphony Hall. I was delighted (which is not a word that normally fits my reaction to music of Brahms). If you listen, I'm confident you'll like it too. It opens the program, which continues with two pieces by Schumann. So we have a respite from music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Here's the synopsis from the performance detail page:

The German pianist and conductor Christian Zacharias returns to Symphony Hall as both conductor and pianist in a rarity for piano and orchestra by Robert Schumann, his Introduction and Allegro appassionato, which his wife Clara premiered with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig in 1850. The BSO has only played it on two occasions, both at Tanglewood more than 50 years ago. Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 was actually the second symphony he wrote. He completed its original version in 1841, just after finishing his Symphony No. 1, but was dissatisfied with it, publishing its revised, final form only a decade later. Schumann’s use of recurring thematic ideas creates an innovative, interconnected overall form. Opening the program is Brahms’ five-movement Serenade No. 2, substantial in length but generally light in mood, like the Classical-era serenades that were the composer’s models. Brahms omits violins from the orchestra for this piece, resulting in a mellow, dark-hued tone.

(Emphasis added.)

The reviewer in the Intelligencer liked the concert, especially the Schumann and recommends listening to it. I haven't found a review in the Globe yet.

I join with the reviewer in recommending that you listen to this one. It should be good all the way through (although I'm not actually familiar with the Schumann pieces). The show begins on WCRB at 8:00 p.m., EST, and will be repeated through the miracle of recording technology on December 9, also at 8:00.

Not to be missed. Enjoy!

BSO — 2019/11/16

This week's concert is pleasant enough. As the performance detail page informs us:

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes joins Andris Nelsons and the BSO for his countryman Edvard Grieg’s powerful Piano Concerto, a staple of the virtuoso repertoire. Austrian soprano Genia Kühmeier makes her BSO debut as soloist in the last movement of Mahler’s sunlit, expansive Symphony No. 4, completed in 1900. The Fourth is the last of the composer’s three Wunderhornsymphonies, which feature vocal settings of texts from the folk-poem collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a preoccupation of Mahler’s for more than a decade. The final movement is an expansion of his 1892 song “Das himmlische Leben” (“Heavenly Life”).

(Some emphasis added.)

So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer.  The one in the Globe is generally quite favorable, especially for the Grieg. I was there on Thursday, and was quite satisfied.

So give it a listen over WCRB tonight and/or Monday, November 25. Both shows start at 8:00 p.m., EST. I think you'll like what you hear.

And don't forget the links available on both the WCRB and BSO websites.

BSO — 2019/11/09

One of the reviewers said there are two concerts this evening; before intermission it is music by French composers, and afterwards it is Russian (or perhaps we should say Soviet). Anyway, there are three pieces on the program. Here is how the performance detail page summarizes it:

Andris Nelsons and the BSO continue their survey of the complete symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich with his Twelfth, The Year 1917, composed in 1961. Its subtitle refers to the successful Bolshevik Revolution that resulted in the establishment of the communist Soviet Union. These are the BSO’s first performances of the complete symphony. (Its third movement, “Aurora,” named for a warship whose crew took part in the Revolution, was performed during a series of BSO Youth Concerts marking the composer’s centenary in November 2006.)

Opening these concerts are the American premiere performances of the French-American composer Betsy Jolas’ Letters from Bachville, a BSO commission. Jolas, who celebrates her 93rd birthday in 2019, has been on the faculty of the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Center on several occasions. The outstanding Mitsuko Uchida joins the BSO and Mr. Nelsons for Ravel’s scintillating and poignant Piano Concerto in G.

(Some emphasis added.)

Don't forget the links to additional information which can be found on that page as well as on WCRB's page describing this concert.

The reviews are in. The Globe reviewer found the last three movements of the Shostakovich and the slow movement of the Ravel well played, and found no fault with any of the rest of it. As for the new piece by Betsy Jolas, he was noncommittal. The reviewer in the Musical Intelligencer gave Jolas even shorter, and equally noncommittal, shrift. He enthused over the playing of the Ravel, then dismissed the Shostakovich as too long and, except in the slow movement, too loud.

I was there on Thursday and, like the reviewers, found little in "Letters from Bachville" that could be recognized as Bach. So I'd suggest just listening to it as a piece of music with no associations, and see how it feels. I didn't notice anything really terrible on Thursday, so it may be okay. Like the reviewers, I think the slow movement of the Ravel was the highlight of the evening.

You can listen (and enjoy at least some of it, I hope) this evening and again on Monday, November 18, at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, over the broadcast and streaming facilities of WCRB.

BSO — 2019/11/02

Tonight we get to hear two orchestras for the price of one as the GHO (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) joins the BSO for the final concert of "Leipzig Week in Boston." Here's the blurb from the performance detail page:

To conclude “Leipzig Week in Boston,” an intermixed orchestra of BSO and Gewandhausorchester members plays three concerts under Andris Nelsons’ direction. Haydn’s 1792 Sinfonia concertante—here featuring soloists from both the BSO and the GHO—was written during the first of the composer’s wildly successful visits to England, for which he also wrote the twelve “London” symphonies. Richard Strauss’ Festive Prelude for organ and orchestra, featuring French organist Olivier Latry as soloist, was written for the opening of Vienna’s Konzerthaus in 1913; its only BSO performances were later that same year. The organ also has a major role in the Russian composer and mystic Alexander Scriabin’s lushly exotic Poem of Ecstasy (1908), which features kaleidoscopic orchestral effects and rich, post-Romantic harmonies. Completing the program is Schoenberg’s intoxicating Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”) for strings, an 1899 tone poem considered to be the composer’s first masterpiece.

(Some emphasis added.)

Maestro Nelsons has the clout to bring this collaboration about since he is Kapellmeister of the GHO as well as Music Director of the BSO.

The Thursday concert wasn't part of my subscription, so I'm looking forward to hearing it for the first time this evening. I have heard the Scriabin and Schoenberg pieces before and I'd say they're okay. The first half of the concert will be new to me, and I expect it to be good.

The review in the Globe is definitely mixed. The reviewer finds combining the two orchestras less than a complete success (not saying anything was actually bad), although he found the Haydn good. The Boston Musical Intelligencer hasn't yet posted a review of this concert.

You can check out the links on the performance detail page as well as on WCRB's website.

And as always, you can hear it on air or over the web via WCRB tonight or November 11 at 8:00 p.m.

Enjoy!

BSO — 2019/10/26

The centerpiece of this week's concert is likely to be challenging, maybe even unpleasant. I refer to the piano concerto by Dieter Ammann. Normally, I go to concerts where a piece is to be given its world, American, or BSO premiere. But I was otherwise engaged on Thursday and Friday, so I'll be hearing it for the first time over the radio this evening. We have to rely on the program note (linked on the performance detail page) and the reviews to get an idea of what we are in for. Here's the synopsis of the concert from the performance detail page:

Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki returns for a program of sensually colorful French music as well as the American premiere of Swiss composer Dieter Ammann’s new work for piano and orchestra, written for the German-born Swiss pianist Andreas Haefliger. Boasting both jazz and modernist credentials, Ammann writes music of great spontaneity and verve. Debussy’s three-movement La Mer—which was given its American premiere by the BSO in 1907—is among the greatest of all French orchestral works, a musical depiction of the changing states of the sea over the course of a day. The program also includes two shorter works: Fauré’s stately, gorgeous, and familiar Pavane, as well as the third movement of Olivier Messiaen’s early orchestral work L’Ascension (1932), which already demonstrates the composer’s unique voice as well as his Debussy-influenced musical heritage.

(Some emphasis added.)

Here are the reviews. The Globe is generally favorable, while the Intelligencer gives a lengthy description of "The Piano Concerto" and is less than thrilled with the conducting of the French pieces.

If the new piece proves intolerable, you can always come back after intermission. I'm not familiar with the Messiaen work, but from the descriptions, I'm guessing that it won't be quite so "advanced" as some of his later compositions.

As always, WCRB will transmit it all live this evening at 8:00 p.m. and retransmit it at the same time on Monday, November 4.

BSO — 2019/10/19

Sorry I missed last week, but I was away.

This week it's "the four B's," extending Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms with some Bartók. The performance detail page describes it like this:

The eminent Hungarian-born pianist András Schiff made his BSO debut in 1983 and last appeared with the orchestra in 2008. In his first appearances with the BSO as a conductor, he leads Bach’s F minor concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from the keyboard. After intermission, he takes the podium to conduct Brahms’s Haydn Variations and Bartók’s pungent folk-influenced Dance Suite. The Haydn Variations are based on the “Chorale St. Antoni,” a well-known melody once attributed to Haydn. Composed in 1873, this was Brahms’ biggest foray into purely orchestral music prior to completing his first symphony three years later. Based on a variety of traditional dance melodies, Bartók’s Dance Suite was immensely successful at the time of its 1923 premiere.

(Some emphasis added.)

The page has the usual links to program notes and related media. WCRB has a page with a link to an interview with Maestro Schiff.

I was still away on Thursday, so I didn't hear the performance, but the reviewer in the Globe was deeply impressed with Maestro Schiff's performance. The review in the Intelligencer is equally favorable, if less extensive.

So, by all means give a listen over WCRB this evening at 8:00, Boston Time. You can also hear the rebroadcast at 8 p.m. on Monday, October 28.

BSO — 2019/10/05

Sorry. I've run out of time. Here's the basics.

https://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/102512/  See this page for the usual links to additional information.

Firebrand Chinese pianist Yuja Wang returns to Symphony Hall to perform Shostakovich’s brightly powerful Piano Concerto No. 1, which includes virtuosic exchanges between the pianist and a solo trumpet, here the BSO’s principal trumpet, Thomas Rolfs. Opening the program is American composer James Lee III’s celebratory, at times mysterious Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula, a ten-minute work referring to the autumnal Feast of the Tabernacles. (Lee was a 2002 Fellow of the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Center.) Closing the program is music from Bedřich Smetana’s patriotic orchestral cycle Má Vlast (“My Country”), colorful and widely varying musical pictures evoking the composer’s Czech homeland.

BSO — 2019/09/28

One great piece and one okay one (my opinion) are on the program this evening. Fortunately, the great one comes before my brother calls from Tokyo, so I get to hear it and only have to miss the okay one. Here's the description from the performance detail page (which also has the usual links to program notes etc.):

The outstanding Italian-born violinist Augustin Hadelich returns to Symphony Hall to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a pinnacle of the violin repertoire. It is also one of the most challenging violin concertos, demanding the utmost sensitivity and sense of line in its many lyrical passages, as well as pinpoint intensity in its faster episodes. Richard Strauss wrote a series of tone poems in the 1890s depicting larger-than-life concepts via such characters as Don Juan, Don Quixote, and—in the somewhat tongue-in-cheek Ein Heldenleben (“A Heroic Life”)—himself. By contrast, in his 1903 tone poem Symphonia domestica he turns his unsurpassed orchestral imagination to “a day in my family life,” depicting the ordinary interactions of himself, his wife Pauline, and their young son. These performances are part of Andris Nelsons’ and the BSO’s ongoing focus on Strauss’ works.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, the Boston Globe either couldn't be bothered to review the BSO performance on Thursday, or  they've skillfully hidden the review from me. The reviewer in the Boston Musical Intelligencer is ravished by the violin concerto and chuckles with amusement at the well played symphony.

The glitch with WCRB's home page continues, but there is this. I hope those of you who are outside the range of their radio signal can find your way to a Listen Live button. Or try WAMC in Albany, NY. Maybe they also have a webstream.

You may note that the page I linked also talks of the encore broadcasts on the Moday nine days after the actual performance. For some reason, it doesn't say anything about it until next week's concert. But I suppose it will do no harm to listen in on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 at 8:00 p.m. to see if they give us the encores of last week's concert and this.

BSO — 2019/09/21

This evening we get the first Saturday concert of the new season. Here's the orchestra's synopsis from their program detail page:

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the opening concerts of the orchestra’s 2019–20 season, which feature the world premiere of the second BSO commission by the young American composer Eric Nathan, his Concerto for Orchestra, which highlights the virtuosity of the BSO’s various instrumental sections. Two Poulenc works of diverse character frame the program: his exciting, neo-Baroque Concerto in D minor for two pianos—here featuring the Dutch duo-pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen in their BSO debuts—and one of the most significant works first premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the French composer’s optimistic and lyrical Gloria, here with soprano Nicole Cabell and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. In addition, the TFC, six recent Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, and piano soloist Arthur Jussen join the BSO for Beethoven’s majestic Choral Fantasy.

(Some emphasis added.)

I couldn't find a review in the Boston Globe. The one in the Boston Musical Intelligencer is detailed and generally quite favorable.

I was there live on Thursday evening. The Poulenc concerto was enjoyable to listen to. Unfortunately over the radio you probably won't be able to tell which one is playing — which was a good part of the enjoyment — but it should be okay as a strictly aural experience. The Beethoven Choral Fantasy is basically a cheerful work, and I really looked forward to being able to hear it in the hall. The best part is at the end when the singing takes place, and I wish Beethoven found a way to extend that and maybe not spend quite so long building up to it. But all is well at the end. After intermission, the Nathan concerto seemed to be musical at points, and rarely just plain cacophonous — not nearly so bad as a quick glance at the program notes had led me to believe. That was a pleasant surprise. Finally, the Poulenc "Gloria" had some very nice singing from the soprano.

So I think it'll be mostly good listening over WCRB beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time. I can't get their home page to come up on my computer so I can link their url, but you can find it in previous posts.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/09/14

Today's "encore performance" comes from March 9 of this year. WCRB gives the basics on their website:

Saturday, September 14, 2019
8:00 PM

Recorded on March 9, 2019

Thomas Adès, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano

LISZT Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Thomas ADÈS Piano Concerto
   (world premiere; BSO commission)
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

(Emphasis added);

and the BSO program detail page provides further information:

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès returns for a concert featuring the world premiere of his Concerto for piano and orchestra , commissioned by the BSO and composed for Kirill Gerstein, a frequent collaborator. Mr. Adès also leads the orchestra in two Romantic-era scores. Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltz depicts a scene from Nicolaus Lenau's 1836 poem Faust in which Mephistopheles plays demonically on a fiddle during a wedding. Tchaikovsky's emotionally intense and magnificently orchestrated Fourth Symphony, completed in 1878, represents the culmination of a traumatic period in the composer's life.

The WCRB page also has a link to a conversation with the soloist, and the BSO page has the usual links to background information.

My review at the time gives you my reaction to the performance two days earlier as well as links to the published reviews. It should be worth hearing (again) this evening at 8:00 via WCRB on air or on line. The WCRB home page also has a link to an article about Malcolm Lowe, the long-time concertmaster of the BSO, who will retire before the season opener next week. It includes the audio of an interview with him, and it should be interesting and informative.

Enjoy!

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/09/07

Here's the scoop on this evening's concert from WCRB:

Saturday, September 7, 2019
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt conducts Brahms's majestic Symphony No. 1, and guest soloist Truls Mørk showcases the lightheartedness of Haydn in his Cello Concerto No. 1.

Recorded on January 19, 2019

Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Truls Mørk, cello

HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 1 in C
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

(Emphasis added.)

The WCRB web page for the concert has a link to an interview with the cellist about the Haydn concerto. Their home page has links to a lot more about what they're presenting, as well as the "Listen Live" button for listening over the web. There is a bit more about it (including a link to the Globe review) in my preview posted in January.

It's good standard repertory, and most listeners should find it worth hearing. The show begins at 8:00 p.m.,  Boston Time.

Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/08/31

We're between BSO seasons again. The first Saturday concert of the 2019-2020 Symphony Hall Season is scheduled for September 21, so today and for the following two Saturdays, WCRB will be giving us "encore broadcasts" of concerts from last season. The website tells us what they'll present on September 7 and 14, but I can't find anything about this evening. I wonder if somebody at the station failed to notice that they also had a Saturday left in August after the Tanglewood season finale.

I guess we just have to tune in at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and find out. I hope it will be good.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/23-25

This weekend is the end of the BSO's season at Tanglewood. It has become the tradition to close on Sunday with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. They could certainly do worse.


Friday, August 23, 2019.  The program presents more or less familiar music with two musicians who are new to me and, I suppose, most audiences. The BSO performance detail page explains:

BSO Assistant Conductor Yu-An Chang makes his BSO debut on Friday, August 23, leading Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schubert’s Symphony No. 2, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, featuring Conrad Tao. 

 

Pianist Ingrid Fliter had been scheduled to perform Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Friday, August 23 at the Koussevitzky Music Shed. Replacing Ms. Fliter in the Ravel concerto will be Conrad Tao who will make his Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood debuts. There are no other changes to the program.

(Some emphasis added.) 
Ravel isn't my favorite composer, but not too tough to take, so this concert should be a good one. It should be a comfortable debut for the new conductor.


Saturday, August 24, 2019.  The BSO takes the evening off, but many of its members (other than section principals) are also members of the Boston Pops and will be performing as such. The performance detail page tells us:

Long established as one of Tanglewood’s most anticipated and beloved evenings, John Williams’ Film Night returns on Saturday, August 24, with George and Roberta Berry Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams introducing the festive evening, which features the Boston Pops and conductor David Newman performing a program celebrating the music of Hollywood and more.

(Some emphasis added.)

Film buffs and Williams fans will especially enjoy this one.


Sunday, August 24, 2019.  Not only is the Beethoven Ninth the season closer, in recent years, it has also been the custom to preceded it with another, much briefer, piece. This year the opener is a choral work by Schoenberg. The performance detail page gives a link to the program notes, which make the connection to the "Ode for Joy" clear. We also have this overall synopsis:

With vocal soloists Nicole Cabell, J’Nai Bridges, Nicholas Phan, and Morris Robinson and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, returning guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the BSO in the orchestra’s traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Sunday, August 25. The concert opens with Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth) for unaccompanied chorus, also featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden will be conducted by James Burton.

(Some emphasis added.)


Listen to it all over the facilities of WCRB* at 8:00 p.m. EDST on Friday and Saturday and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. It should be a good series of concerts.

* I can't get the WCRB website to open for me to provide the link, but you can find it in any of my earlier posts about BSO concerts.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/16-18

Friday evening's concert will not be broadcast. It's "Star Wars: A New Hope" with the Boston Pops playing the score while the movie is being shown. Whether for copyright reasons or because they think it just wouldn't work without the visual, WCRB will give us instead an "encore broadcast" from the 2018 Tanglewood season.


Friday, August 16, 2019.   We can listen to the concert of Friday , July 27, 2018. As the performance detail page told us back then:

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena leads the BSO in a program that begins with the Four Sea Interludes from Britten's opera Peter Grimes, a work of particular significance to Bernstein, who conducted the first American performances of the opera at Tanglewood in 1946 and also led the Four Sea Interludes to open the last concert he ever conducted, on August 19, 1990 in the Shed. Following the Britten, Garrick Ohlsson joins the orchestra as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271, and the concert concludes with Brahms's marvelously energetic and compact Symphony No. 3.

(Some emphasis added.)
As you'll recall, in 2018 they were celebrating the centennial of Bernstein's birth.


Saturday, August 17, 2019.  See the performhttps://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0ance detail page for the usual links. Here's the rushed synopsis:

François-Xavier Roth makes his Tanglewood debut conducting joining pianist Kirill Gerstein for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on a program with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2.

(Emphasis added.)

Maestro Roth has conducted the BSO enough that it came as a surprise to read that this is his Tanglewood debut.

Unfortunately for me, the Schumann comes during my brother's call from Japan.


Sunday, August 18, 2019.  We get to enjoy more Schumann and Brahms under the baton of Maestro Roth on Sunday. See the performance detail page, which provides this tidbit:

François-Xavier Roth is joined by Yo-Yo Ma for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, on a program with Brahms’s Serenade No. 1 and Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra, featuring members of the BSO horn section.

(Emphasis added.)

I'm especially looking forward to this one. The horn piece should be fun, and I actually like Brahm's serenades, which I wasn't aware of until James Levine led a performance of the delightful Serenade No. 2 in Symphony Hall a number of years back.


Don't forget, WCRB transmits the Friday and Saturday concerts at 8:00 p.m. EDST, and the Sunday at 7:00. See their website for the link to listen over the internet and for other material.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/09-11

I got distracted and missed posting about Friday until just when the concert was about to begin. I hope you heard it. It seemed to me that in a couple of spots, Kavakos was interpolating some of his own material, especially at the transition from the second to the third movements of the Beethoven, but at a couple of other points in the concerto as well. So far no reviews have appeared in the usual places to confirm or contradict my impression.


Saturday, August 10, 2019.  Tonight it's late romantic music, with a conductor I've never heard of making his BSO debut and a respected but not quite famous pianist. The program detail page gives us "Just the facts:"

The 2019 Tanglewood season will also see the BSO and Tanglewood debut of Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, who leads the orchestra on Saturday, August 10, in Carreño’s Margaritena, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Nikolai Lugansky, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.

(Some emphasis added.)

I'm not sure what the "also" refers to, but this has the appearance of a cut and paste job by an overworked staff which hasn't had the customary time to prepare the page. But the links can give you information about the conductor — click on the thumbnail photo — and the "Margariteña," which is not about the drink — check the full program notes link. IT sounds as if the piece should be quite listenable. I'm looking forward to hearing it. Fortunately, the Brahms should come during my brother's phone call from Japan.

Sunday, August 11, 2019. This time, the program detail page doesn't even have a "just the facts" synopsis. Still, the links give you what you need to know. Thomas Adès conducts Three Places in New England, by Charles Ives, followed by Beethoven's Piano Concerto № 4, with one Inon Barnatan as soloist. (See the performer bio.) After intermission, Adès and the orchestra will play Symphony № 6, "Pastoral," also by Beethoven himself.

I no longer find Ives as cacophonous as I used to, so I'm actually looking forward to hearing "Three Pieces in New England," perhaps with program notes at hand to help me follow the music. Of course, the Beethoven pieces are not to be missed.


Remember, WCRB broadcasts and streams the Saturday concert at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and the Sunday concert by tape delay at 7:00 p.m. Check out their website for the other material they have.

Enjoy the concerts!

August 9, 2019

Yikes! I just remembered there's a concert tonight. And it's a must listen. https://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/100176/

Leonidas Kavakos joins the BSO as conductor and violinist on Friday, August 9, for a program including Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Danny Kim.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/02-04

Most of this week's music from Tanglewood is squarely within the standard repertory of the 19th and early 20th Centuries some of it familiar, some not so much so. It seems that Maestro Nelsons has completed his work there for the summer, and the orchestra will have guest conductors for the remainder of the season. Now for the particulars.


Friday, August 2, 2019. Says the orchestra's program detail page: 

Violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martinů’sMemorial to Lidice and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Martinů piece is one of the two non-standard items this weekend, and unfortunately the program detail page, as of this writing, has no link to the program note for it, so I'll be as surprised as you. According to wiki, Lidice was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 as a retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, and Martinů composed his Memorial in 1943. The composer's style is described as neoclassical.

The BSO performed the Dvořák symphony last January in Symphony Hall. My post at the time has links to favorable reviews.


Saturday, August 3, 2019. The performance detail page tells us:

Conductor Asher Fisch returns to Tanglewood, and is joined by violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth for the American premiere Avner Dorman’s BSO-commissioned Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, written in celebration of Mr. Zukerman’s 70th birthday; the program also includes the overture to Schumann’s Genoveva, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish, and Beethoven’s Romance No. 1 in G for violin and orchestra, featuring Mr. Zukerman.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, no links to the program notes for the new music, only the piece we're most likely to know: the Mendelssohn symphony. I always enjoy the Beethoven Romance, and the Schumann should be good.


Sunday, August 4, 2019. The performance detail page is the epitome of concision: 

Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk and the BSO for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a program with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.

(Emphasis added.)

These are works from 1909 and 1899. The BSO gave the Rach 3 on April 25-30 with Nelsons conducting and Daniil Trifonov as soloist.


Broadcasts/ webstreams on WCRB are, as usual, at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7:00 on Sunday. Enjoy!

Tanglewood — 2019/07/05-07 — Correction

Egad! I thought WCRB would give us all the major weekend concerts from Tanglewood. But no! This evening we're not getting today's concert, but one from last summer.

Sunday night at 7, Gil Shaham is the soloist in Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, and Juanjo Mena leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mozart's emotionally riveting Symphony No. 40.

Sunday, July 7, 2019
7:00 PM

Recorded July 29, 2018

Juanjo Mena, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 88
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
MOZART Symphony No. 40

Sorry for misleading you.

Tanglewood — 2019/07/05-07

The Boston Symphony begins its Tanglewood Season this weekend. WCRB will broadcast and stream the Friday and Saturday concerts live at 8:00 p.m. each day and the Sunday concert by tape delay at 7:00 p.m. I don't know about the Tower piece, but the rest looks pretty mainstream. Enjoy!


Friday, July 5, 2019.  Opening night features Mozart and Mahler. Here's the synopsis from the orchestra's own program detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its Opening Night concert of the season with Tanglewood favorite Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, on a program with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

(Emphasis added.)

As regular readers of these blogposts know, the performance detail page has links to further information including program notes, audio previews, performer bios (click the thumbnail photos), and related media. There are also links to additional material on the WCRB homepage, as well as the button to listen "live" over the internet.

The Mahler Symphony was performed in Symphony Hall on November 17, 2018. My post at the time was highly abbreviated, so if you want reviews, you'll need to do your own digging in the Globe and the Musical Intelligencer. The piano concerto was given, with a different soloist and conductor, on January 26 of this year. My blogpost about the concert doesn't have anything to say about the Mozart, but it does have links to reviews.


Saturday, July 6, 2019.  On Saturday there are three pieces which were not performed in Symphony Hall during the past season. Again, the performance detail page gives some links and summarizes:

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program opening with Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, followed by the BSO’s first Tanglewood performance of André Previn’s Violin Concerto, Anne-Sophie, featuring the dedicatee of the work, Anne-Sophie Mutter, as soloist; this program ends with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.

(Some emphasis added.)


Sunday, July 7, 2019.  Sunday brings a "guest appearance" by the Boston Pops. The performance detail page gives some details about the performance, although the Pops performs so many pieces that they don't list them all.

Join the Boston Pops for the first of three programs this summer, celebrating the art of John Williams. Drawing from her recent recording “Across the Stars,” the great violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performs selections from Mr. Williams’ iconic scores, in brilliant new arrangements created especially for her. The program includes music from Star Wars, Dracula and Harry Potter, as well as the haunting melodies of Memoirs of a Geisha.

(Some emphasis added.)

What the synopsis doesn't mention is that David Newman shares podium duties with Maestro Williams.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/29

No concert, live or prerecorded, this week. WCRB invites us:

Saturday night at 8, join WCRB's Brian McCreath for a look forward to this year's program at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
8:00 PM

Next week, the Tanglewood Season begins. Friday and Saturday concerts will be broadcast and streamed live, and the Sunday afternoon concerts will be transmitted by "tape delay" on Sunday evenings.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/22

A bit earlier than usual, but Saturday looks busy, so here's the preview.

This week's encore broadcast/stream is the concert of January 12. It's Harbison, Mozart, and Vaughan Williams, in that order. The program detail page (which see for links to the usual background information) puts it thus:

English conductor Sir Andrew Davis and the BSO are joined by Italian pianist Alessio Bax in his BSO debut for one of Mozart's stormiest works, his C minor piano concerto, No. 24, one of the unsurpassed series of concertos from the height of his Vienna popularity. Opening the concert is Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's 1986 Symphony No. 2, the four movements of which are called "Dawn," "Daylight," "Dusk," and "Darkness"-keys to its evolving expressive and musical character. This is one of several Harbison works being performed this year to mark the 80th birthday year of a composer closely associated with the BSO. Steeped in the musical tradition of England, Vaughan Williams's Fifth Symphony was composed at the beginning of World War II but maintains an optimistic and affirmative outlook.

(Emphasis added.)

I posted at the time, with links to reviews and a comment that the Harbison may be "challenging."

You can hear it over WCRB Saturday, June 22, and Monday, July 1, at 8:00 p.m.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/15

This week the encore broadcast is the concert of January 5, 2019. I posted about it at the time. Here's the description from the program detail page:

Returning to Symphony Hall for the first time since her tenure as BSO assistant conductor, Korean-born Shiyeon Sung leads a program juxtaposing music of Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel and her brother Felix, surely one of the most brilliant sibling pairs in music history. Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's Overture in C, her only extant work for orchestra alone (though she wrote several works for chorus with orchestra), is an elegant, ten-minute piece dating from 1830. Begun in the same year, her brother's Piano Concerto No. 1 has a turbulent, Romantic energy; Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter is soloist, making her subscription series debut. One of the great 19th-century symphonies, Dvořák's by turns bucolic and thrilling Eighth was composed in 1889 and is arguably his most individual symphony, a departure from the Brahms-influenced Germanic style of his Symphony No. 7

(Some emphasis added.)

The reviews were mixed (see my post for links), but Mendelssohns' and Dvořák's music isn't hard to listen to. This should all be enjoyable.

As always, WCRB presents the concert beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, this evening and June 24. Enjoy!

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/08

This week's "encore broadcast" is the concert performed on November 17, 2018. I was busy that week and didn't say anything about it. Here's the blurb from the BSO's program detail page:

Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, a longtime collaborator of Andris Nelsons, returns to Symphony Hall as soloist in a concerto composed for him, the Viennese composer HK Gruber's Aerial. Featuring piccolo trumpet and cow's horn as well as standard trumpet, the concerto makes full use of Hardenberger's considerable virtuosity and expressive range. Mahler composed his Fifth Symphony in 1901-02. His first completely instrumental symphony since No. 1, it marked a new, highly individual, and influential approach to writing for orchestra that would carry through the remainder of Mahler's symphonies. The Fifth includes the famous and moving Adagietto movement for strings and harp.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, I'm pressed for time. but here's a link to the Globe's review from last November, and one to the Boston Musical Intelligencer.

Usual time, usual station. Enjoy!

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/05/25

The encore broadcast this week is from the third week of last season at Symphony Hall — October 27, 2018. My post at the time includes the synopsis from the orchestra's performance detail page

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler's all-embracing ninety-minute Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, along with Chinese soprano Ying Fang and Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink. The fourth movement is a setting of "Urlicht," a poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a source of texts for many of Mahler's songs, and the vast finale includes a setting for chorus and soprano of verses from Klopstock's poem "Resurrection." James Burton will conduct Maija's Einfelde's Lux aeterna, for mixed chorus, the first of two Latvian works performed this year to mark the centenary of the country's independence. 

Please note there will be no intermission for these performances.

as well as links to the usual reviews.
(Emphasis in original.)

Mahler's symphonies from this time are pretty easy to take, so I recommend listening to this one. I don't have a clear recollection of the Einfelde piece that opened the concert, but I vaguely recall it as not bad. As always, tune in to WCRB at 8:00 p.m. this evening and/or Monday, June 3.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/05/18

This week's encore broadcast is the second concert of last year's Symphony Hall season, originally broadcast October 20, 2018. I posted about it back then, and here's a link to the orchestra's program detail page. There is music of John Harbison, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.

It should be worth hearing, this evening at 8:00 and again on Monday, May 27, over WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/05/11

In the first of the "encore broadcasts" which will fill the 8:00 p.m. time slots between now and the BSO opening of the Tanglewood Season, this evening WCRB will retransmit the concert which opened the Symphony Hall season last October. I heard it on October 11 and posted about it at the time, with links to reviews and the BSO's performance detail page.

As you can see, neither the reviewers nor I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but the Red Sox played this afternoon, so I'll listen until my kid brother calls from Tokyo.

Here's the link to WCRB, where you can hear it, and also learn about lots of other programs they offer.

Let your conscience be your guide, and enjoy as much as you can.

BSO — 2019/05/03

The final concerts of the BSO Symphony Hall season include the world premiere performances of a violin concerto and two familiar works from over a century ago. The orchestra's program detail page has the usual links to background information. Here's how it synopsizes the program:

The Latvian violinist Baiba Skride joins her compatriot Andris Nelsons and the BSO for the world premiere of Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Sebastian Currier's Aether for violin and orchestra, a work co-commissioned by the BSO and the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. Two unpredictable musical rogues bookend the new work: Till Eulenspiegel, who in Strauss's tone poem thumbs his nose at the establishment, rides his horse through a market, and comes to no good end; and Stravinsky's puppet-come-to-life Petrushka, whose attempts to win the admiration of a ballerina come to naught. In his second full ballet score for the Ballets Russes, two years before The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky's astonishing musical depictions of a Russian Shrovetide fair further cemented the reputation of the young composer of The Firebird.

(Some emphasis added.)

I was there on Thursday and overall I'd say the concert was okay. The bombast of the Strauss and Stravinsky made the Currier concerto seem tame. Actually, I'd say it was tame, except during the second movement. I was very pleased to hear a brand new piece that was so pleasant, and I'm looking forward to hearing it on the radio. I've thought of "Petrushka" as more musical and easier to take than "Rite of Spring," and I still think so. But listening to it on Thursday, I realized that it definitely sounds like the work of the same man who composed "Rite of Spring" — jagged and cacophonous amid the melodies. "Till Eulenspiegel" also felt more gruff and harsh than merry. In summary, I'd rather hear "Aether" than "Till" or "Petrushka."

The reviews were favorable for all pieces. The one in the Globe hoped "Aether" would be programmed again, and the one in the Musical Intelligencer called for it to be recorded.

I recommend listening to the concert on WCRB at 8:00 p.m on Saturday, May 3, and a repeat broadcast/webstream Monday, May 13, also at 8:00. If you click on the headline about the world premiere, you can hear an interview with Sebastian Currier.

The BSO will open their Tanglewood season on Friday, July 5, and close it on Sunday, August 25. During that period, there will be three concerts broadcast and streamed every weekend, as in past years. On the remaining weekends of May and during June, WCRB will fill the Saturday evening time slot with "encore performances" from the season just ending (and possibly a Pops concert — I haven't found the complete schedule for these weekends).

Enjoy!

BSO — 2019/04/27

Time got away from me. Briefly, I went on Thursday and found this week's concert not unpleasant. Rachmaninov and Shostakovich will never be mistaken for Mozart and Beethoven, but it was tolerable. Reviews were mixed. I think it's worth hearing. If you don't fancy Shostakovich, at least check out the Rachmaninov before intermission.

BSO — 2019/04/20

Here's the scoop from the BSO performance detail page on this week's concert:

Each making his BSO debut, English conductor Andrew Manze and Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi join the orchestra for a somewhat rarely heard Mozart concerto, the vivacious No. 19 in F, which the BSO hasn't played in Symphony Hall since 1994. Graźyna Bacewicz was one of Poland's most important composers of the mid-20th century, and one of very few women with an international reputation in that era. Her dynamic and soulful Concerto for String Orchestra won the Polish State Prize in 1950. Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony, Reformation, is based in part on Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The symphony was written to coincide with the 300th anniversary of a major Reformation event, the Augsburg Confession.

(Some emphasis added.)

The page has links to background information, including conductor and soloist bios. (Click on the photos.)

I wasn't at the Thursday performance because I was at the Holy (Maundy) Thursday Mass at my church. The review in the Globe found flaws, but seemed noncommittal overall. The Boston Musical Intelligencer also finds flaws but also does not scathe.

Was it a "thumb in the eye" to Catholics to choose something so explicitly Protestant as the "Reformation" Symphony for Easter? (I wouldn't figuratively raise a metaphorical eyebrow on an ordinary weekend.) Anyway, it should be interesting and enjoyable, if not thrilling, listening on WCRB this evening and again on April 29, both shows starting at 8:00, Boston Time. I'll be in church for the Easter Vigil this evening, but I hope to catch the replay.

BSO — 2019/04/13

The Dude was supposed to conduct again this week but had to bow out because he aggravated an injury to his hand. For details about changes, we go to the program detail page:

Ken-David Masur, conductor (Berlioz, Ravel)
James Burton, conductor* (Estévez)
Sergio Tiempo, piano*
Aquiles Machado, tenor*
Gustavo Castillo, baritone*
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,        James Burton, conductor

* Indicates BSO debut

BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G
ESTÉVEZ Cantata Criolla

Gustavo Dudamel has regretfully withdrawn from this week’s performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra due to complications from a hand and arm injury sustained from a fall he took last December. Maestro Dudamel's doctor has recommended immediate rest in order to avoid further complications and fully recover from the injury. Dudamel had been scheduled to lead Tuesday’s program of Schumann’s Spring Symphony and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, as well as performances of works by Paul Desenne, Ginastera, and Estévez, Thursday, April 11 through Saturday, April 13.

(Some emphasis added and some omitted.)

Since Maestro Burton had prepared the chorus for the Estévez cantata, he was sufficiently familiar with the piece to take over rehearsing and the orchestra and conducting the work in concert. On the other hand, there was not enough time for Maestro Masur to learn and rehears the other pieces planned for the concert, so two more familiar pieces have been substituted.

Of course, the reviewers regret that substitutions were needed. Nevertheless, the review in the Globe is generally favorable. The reviewer for the Intelligencer wasn't happy with the Berlioz and less than fully satisfied with the Ravel but couldn't find fault with the Estévez.

As always, WCRB will present tonight's performance live on radio and the web at 8:00, and as usual they will play their recording in a week and two days, on April 22 at 8:00 p.m. Be sure to note the other features on their website.