BSO — 2019/02/23

I'll let the program detail page tell about this evening's concert.

Andris Nelsons and the BSO continue their recent tradition of performing opera in concert with Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica ("Sister Angelica"), one of the three short operas composed in the 1910s and known collectively as Il trittico ("Triptych"). The story centers on the title character, who is living in a convent to repent a past sin, having a son out of wedlock. Acclaimed soprano Kristine Opolais sings the role of Sister Angelica in this concert performance. Opening the program is a work almost contemporary with Puccini's, Lili Boulanger's short tone poem D'un Soir triste("A somber evening"), one of few purely orchestral works completed by this young genius before her untimely death in 1918 at age 24. Also on the program is Debussy's immensely colorful Nocturnes, an 1899 masterpiece of musical Impressionism.

(Some emphasis added.)
See also the links to background information.

This concert wasn't part of my subscription (and it wasn't "must hear" for me, so I didn't pick up a ticket or exchange for it) so we'll have to depend on the reviews to hear how it went. The Globe reviewer was pleased in general with the opera, with a couple of cautions. She also found the pieces in the first half of the concert okay but nothing to rave about. The Musical Intelligencer's reviewer gives more detail about the works and the performance, but seems to have much the same take as the Globe: decent performances, but not "for the ages."

I'm planning to listen to the broadcast over WCRB at 8:00. Even if they aren't things I feel I must hear, I'd like to hear these pieces, given the opportunity. I don't think I've ever heard "D'un Soir triste" or "Suor Angelica," and if I've heard "Nocturnes," I'm certainly not familiar with it. So this concert can "expand my horizons." And maybe Kristine Opolais will dial back the intensity in the early going of the opera. See what you think.

Also, note the other programming mentioned on the WCRB website; and remember you have another chance to listen to last week's Schumann and Bruckner at 8:00 p.m. on February 25 and this evening's concert in the encore broadcast of March 4.

BSO — 2019/02/16

The BSO's program detail page has all the usual links to background information for this evening's concert, which it describes as follows:

Andris Nelsons and the BSO are joined by the firebrand Chinese pianist Yuja Wang for Schumann's Piano Concerto, a work blending the composer's unique Romantic lyricism and brilliance. The concerto began as a single-movement Fantasia written for his wife Clara, who was considered one of the great virtuosos of the age. Bruckner's magisterial Symphony No. 9, a work left just short of completion at the composer's death in 1896, shows the continuing influence of Wagner in its harmonic language and scope, with the particular Austrian grace and gift for counterpoint for which Bruckner was known.

(Emphasis added.)

I was there on Thursday and found it all worth  hearing. I had been afraid I'd get tired of the Bruckner because of its length, but it held my interest. The Schumann was very pleasant.

The reviewers had different reactions, especially to the Bruckner. The Globe reviewer liked the Schumann concerto's backstory, the music, and, in general, the performance — just the thing for St. Valentine's Day. She clearly is not fond of the Bruckner symphony, but thought that Nelsons and the orchestra performed it very well. On the other had, in the Musical Intelligencer the reviewer finds that Nelsons conducted the Bruckner very poorly., while the Schumann was satisfactory. I think you'd have to be more familiar than I am with the symphony to be aware of the things the reviewer is complaining about in Nelsons' approach.

So my recommendation is to just enjoy the music for what it is: a lovely concerto followed by a great big soundfest with lots of brass. WCRB, 8:00 p.m. EST repeated on February 25. (Last week's Wilson, Szymanowski, and Copland will be rebroadcast this coming Monday, the 18th.)

Enjoy!

BSO — 2019/02/09

It's all 20th Century music this week, but it could be worse. Some of it is very good and some of the rest isn't tough to take (at least for me). I'll let the BSO's program detail page give the introduction:

The Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili joins Andris Nelsons and the BSO as soloist in the important Polish composer Karol Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, a brilliant piece colored by both French Impressionism and German late Romanticism. American orchestral works open and close the concert. The St. Louis-born Olly Wilson, who died in March 2018 (and whose Sinfonia was commissioned by the BSO for its centennial), was a longtime faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. His well-traveled orchestral work Lumina is a scintillating, single-movement orchestral landscape. Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, premiered by the BSO under Serge Koussevitzky in 1946, is a substantial, expressively rich work incorporating the composer's familiar Fanfare for the Common Man as the theme of its final movement.

(Some emphasis added.)
Don't forget the links to performer bios and other info on the performance detail page.

I attended the performance on Thursday. The opening piece struck me as unmelodious and disjointed. I thought of Elliot Carter and Milton Babbitt, but this wasn't quite as cacophonous as their stuff. Anyway, I wouldn't blame anybody for skipping it. (The problem is knowing when to come back for the next piece. You should be safe if you're tuned in by 8:17.) Or, you might want to listen and see if it's better than I think it is. In the past Szymanowski's music has also struck me as unpleasant, but this is better than the things of his I had previously heard, so it was a pleasant surprise — lush is a word that comes to mind for the overall impression. After intermission Copland did not disappoint.

The reviews are in, and while both the Globe and the more extensive Intelligencer found minor details to criticize, both were generally satisfied. An interesting sidelight: when the reviewer in the Intelligencer, Mark DeVoto, was a college student, Aaron Copland autographed DeVoto's copy of the score of this evening's symphony.

As always, you can go to the WCRB website for information about their programs as well as the link to their live stream, where you can listen this evening at 8:00, EST if you're outside their broadcast range. The encore broadcast will be on the 18th, also at 8:00 p.m.


I'm sorry I never got around to posting anything last week. I had been present for the Thursday performance and enjoyed it all. The Haydn symphony and Mendelssohn violin concerto didn't disappoint. The Janáček pieces after intermission were quite accessible. Here are the links:
BSO performance detail page;
Globe review;
Intelligencer review.
WCRB will give the usual rebroadcast/stream on Monday, February 11, at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, so there is still a chance to hear it. Enjoy.