BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/25

This weekend there was to have been a tribute to Isaac Stern, whose centenary was this week, but the pandemic cancelled that. WCRB will present the concert of Friday August2, 2019, about which I posted as follows:

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.

There don't seem to have been any reviews of the concert last summer. Unfortunately, I don't recall the Martinů piece, but Dvořák is good, as is Bell, so it should be worth listening to, beginning at 8:00 this evening, Boston Time, on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/18

WCRB reaches back two years to July 22, 2018, for this week's "encore broadcast." Here, somewhat edited, is how I previewed it at the time:

…Thomas Adès conducts his own music and that of Sibelius. This synopsis appears in the orchestra's performance detail page:

Thomas Adès conducts Adès and Sibelius with Christian Tetzlaff

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès makes his first Tanglewood appearance of 2018, taking the podium to lead the BSO in his own Suite from Powder Her Face, the composer's 1995 chamber opera, which helped cement an already impressive reputation. Mr. Adès will also lead the orchestra in Sibelius's Symphony No. 5, and renowned German violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins the orchestra for Sibelius's Violin Concerto.

(Some emphasis added.)

I make no guarantees about "Powder Her Face," but I like Sibelius. His music is among the most tonal and least dissonant of works by prominent composers of the early 20th Century.

There isn't much of my own that I can add now. The Boston Mysical Intelligencer published a highly favorable review. The Globe also has a review which says nothing about "Powder Her Face," but is very complimentary toward the interpretations of the Sibelius.

To conclude, then, it seems that the two Sibelius works are must listening, and the Adès should be at least okay. Tune your radio, computer, or other device to WCRB at 8:00 p.m. to enjoy it.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/11

Today we get last summer's Tanglewood concert of July 21. At the time neither I nor the performance detail page had much to say — "just the facts."

[This evening] we'll have a chance to hear some more or less familiar music. I quote the performance detail page: www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/100263/

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the featured soloist for two works by Gershwin—Piano Concerto in F and Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” for piano and orchestra; Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in a performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushkato complete the program.

(Some emphasis added.)

Neither the Globe nor the Intelligencer has a review I can find. So we are left with the links on the performance detail page. Well, Gershwin is familiar enough, and "Petrushka" is the least jarring (to me, anyway) of Stravinsky's three most famous ballets. So it should be a pretty good evening, beginning at 8:00 on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/05

This evening, at 7:00, WCRB gives us an encore broadcast of a BSO concert. It's the opening concert of last summer's Tanglewood season. I previewed itvery briefly about it back then, as follows:

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.

You can check the orchestra's performance detail page via the link in my post. Subsequently, a very favorable review appeared in the Boston Musical Intelligencer. The Boston Globe was similarly favorable.

So this should be worth listening to. I'm looking forward to it, especially the Mozart.

Don't forget, it starts at 7:00 p.m., not 8:00, on WCRB.

WCRB — Classical New England — 2020/07/04

For the first time I can remember since WCRB started giving us Boston Symphony concerts on Saturday evenings — usually live, occasionally recorded, and once in a while Boston Pops — they are not giving us a concert this evening. Instead, they are presenting "A Festival of American Orchestras for July 4th." (already in progress) The page I linked lists the orchestras whose recordings will be included and gives links to each.

Then tomorrow, Sunday evening, they begin "Summer at Tanglewood, from WCRB." As you see on their page, this includes full recorded concerts every Saturday evening at 8:00 except this weekend and the final weekend, when the concerts are Sunday at 7:00. But wait, there's more. As you see, there are recorded concerts five nights a week, Monday through Friday at 8:00, through the season.

Enjoy.