BSO/Classical New England — 2021/12/18

 This evening WCRB is giving us the Juky 25 concert from Tanglewood. Here's what they've posted about it:

Saturday, December 18, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from the 2021 Tanglewood season, Yefim Bronfman returns to the Berkshires as the soloist in Beethoven’s impassioned Piano Concerto No. 3, and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rhapsodic work by Iman Habibi, tonight at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Iman HABIBI Jeder Baum spricht
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

Hear an interview with Yefim Bronfman and CRB's Brian McCreath in the audio player above.

The link to the interview is here: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2021-06-11/bronfman-harnessing-the-power-of-beethoven

Here's what I said about it in advance:

Sunday, July 25, 2021.  There will be two "warhorses" of the repertoire on Sunday after we sit through a new piece. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Sunday, July 25, 2021
7:00 PM

Yefim Bronfman returns to the Berkshires as the soloist in Beethoven’s impassioned Piano Concerto No. 3, and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rhapsodic work by Iman Habibi, Sunday at 7pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Iman HABIBI Jeder Baum spricht
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

(Some emphasis added.)

You can't go wrong with Beethoven piano concertos and Schumann symphonies. The program note for "Jeder Baum spricht" — which you can find via the link on the performance detail page — doesn't give me great hope. When a contemporary composer is inspired by one of the classical masters, it's never as good as the original. Sometimes it turns out to be something I'd like to hear one more time or even become familiar with, but more often once is enough or too much (which is also true of new pieces in general). The thing is, you never know until you've listened to it that first time. So I'll have WCRB on at [8:00].

As I noted last week, the BSO has decided to make their performance detail pages fram last summer at Tanglewood inaccessible, so I'm afraid you won't be able to see the program note for "Jeder Baum spricht" or anything else on the program. The brief review in the Musical Intelligencer tells us a bit about "Jeder Baum spricht" and has good words for the performance of the Beetoven and the Schumann. I haven't found a review of the conert in the Globe, but here is an interview with the composer. I heard the piece when it was broadcast last July, but I have no clear memory of it. I don't think I was very favorably impressed. But it's short, and the reast of the show should be good. So I'll give it a listen until my brother calls from Japan.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/12/11

 This evening we can hear a rebroadcast of the Tanglewood concert of Sunday, August 8, 2021, which saw the conductor's debut with the BSO and a new piece (not a world premiere, though). IT also included two pieces by Tchaikovsky, with Yo-Yo Ma soloing in one. WCRB gives specifics:

Saturday, December 11, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from the 2021 Tanglewood season, the American conductor makes her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in a program featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, plus a work by Missy Mazzoli, Saturday at 8pm.

Karina Canellakis, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Missy MAZZOLI Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

I posted about it at the time. In my post, I referenced the BSO's program note on their performance detail page. Try as I might, I can't get to the note via the link in my post. It seems the BSO as decided to make material from last summer's Tanglewood season inaccessible to the public.

At the time, I thought the Mazzoli piece was okay — decent background music for the dinner hour. The Boston Musical Intelligencer has a favorable review of the concert, as does the Boston Globe.

So this should be an enjoyable evening.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/12/04

 The BSO is off for December, and Holiday Pops has taken over Symphony Hall. WCRB will treat us to a performance of Holiday Pops on Sunday, December 19. On Saturdays we will, as usual, have rebroadcasts of earlier concerts. This week it will be the August 14, 2021 concert from Tanglewood, with a piece from August 2 added. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, December 4, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from the 2021 Tanglewood season, the BSO Assistant Conductor leads Elgar’s "Enigma" Variations, Elena Langer’s "Figaro Gets a Divorce," and Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in G, with soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Saturday night at 8pm.

Recorded on Aug. 14, 2021, at the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood

Anna Rakitina, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Elena LANGER Suite from Figaro Gets a Divorce
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G
William Grant STILL Darker America (Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Adam Hickox, conductor; Aug. 2, 2021)
ELGAR Enigma Variations

Learn more about this concert and listen to interviews at the Tanglewood Learning Institute online.

I wrote about the August 14 concert back then. WCRB wasn't broadcasting the Friday concerts last summer because the BSO wasn't doing the playing. So I have nothing specific about the Still piece they're interpolating. My general impression, though, is that Still is pretty good, so it'll probably be worth hearing.

The August 14 concert was favorably reviewed in the Intelligencer and in the Globe.

So it seems we're in for a good evening of pre-recorded music from the BSO. Enjoy.

BSO — 2021/11/27

 It's all Brahms this evening. First we get what may be my favorite piece by Brahms. You may be thinking, after all I've said about Brahms, that that's not saying much, but I really like it. It's his Serenade No. 2, which I first heard in a concert conducted by James Levine 10 or more years ago and loved at first hearing. Then after intermission they'll play the First Symphony. Here's what we find on WCRB's page:

Saturday, November 27, 2021
8:00 PM

The Boston Symphony's Music Director leads the orchestra through the rustic serenity of the German composer's Serenade No. 2, as well as his roiling and triumphant First Symphony.

Andris Nelsons, conductor

BRAHMS Serenade No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

To hear Andris Nelsons preview the concert and describe his experiences of Thanksgiving in America, click on the player above.

Transcript: 

Brian McCreath Let's talk about Brahms and the program for Thanksgiving weekend, here in the U.S., and tell me

As always the link to the audio of the interview and the full transcript are available on the page I've linked and quoted.

The BSO's own program page says

Andris Nelsons leads an all-Brahms program pairing early and mid-career orchestral works. Concerned with living up to Beethoven’s precedent in the genre, Brahms labored on his First Symphony for twenty years before finally allowing it to see the light of day in 1876. With references to Beethoven, Brahms clearly places himself in the great German symphonic tradition. The warm and idyllic Serenade No. 2, written in 1859, is a five-movement work that omits violins, creating strong contrasts between strings and woodwinds. This lovely piece was dedicated to Brahms’s lifelong friend Clara Schumann.

The usual links are also available there.

I didn't hear this concert in the earlier performances, so we have only the reviews to tell us how well they did. The reviwer in the Intelligencer considers the Serenade itself insufficiently weighty, although he has no complaint about how it was performed. As for the Symphony, he found fault with Maestro Nelsons' handling of the first movement, but all was well thereafter. The Globe review is happy with everything.

It seems we are in for an wnjoyable concert at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time this evening with a rebroadcast at the same time on December 6. Enjoy.

BSO — 2021/11/20

 This week brings the American premiere performances of a piece for trumpet and orchestra. I'm looking forward to hearing it. The Mahler symphony which concludes the concert is pleasant enough, but I'll be on the phone with my brother in Tokyo while they're playing it, so I'll have to wait until the rebroadcast on the 29th to hear it.

Here's the synopsis from the WCRB page:

Saturday, November 20, 2021
8:00 PM

The Swedish trumpeter is the soloist in Jörg Widmann's Towards Paradise, a BSO co-commission, and Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler’s vision of nature, life, and transformation, the First Symphony, Saturday evening at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Håkan Hardenberger, trumpet

Jörg WIDMANN Towards Paradise (Labyrinth VI), for trumpet and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
MAHLER Symphony No. 1

To hear Håkan Hardenberger describe the genesis and challenges of Jörg Widmann's Toward's Paradise, click on the player above (transcript below).

Andris Nelsons describes the connections between Mahler and Widmann (transcript below):

Andris Nelsons on Widmann and Mahler

Transcript of interview with Håkan Hardenberger:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall in Boston and very pleased that Håkan Hardenberger is back here with us

For its part, the BSO offers the following description:

Adventurous Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger has collaborated frequently with Andris Nelsons and the BSO in a range of exciting works. This season he plays the American premiere of a BSO co-commissioned work by Jörg Widmann—the second BSO commission from the prominent German composer. Widmann, himself a noted clarinetist, creates imaginatively dramatic works with deep roots in music history.
The first of Mahler’s nine symphonies employs folk-music references and a conventional four-movement form that have their foundations in Haydn’s time. Its expanded scope and instrumentation are evidence of the genre’s 19th-century transformation as well as Mahler’s own stretching of the form.

The performance page I just quoted also has the usual links, including to the program notes, which you may want to check out. The notes on "Towards Paradise" make it sound more "adventurous" than the interview on the WCRB page.

The Thursday performance was part of my subscription, but I didn't go because I had a meeting to attend, so I can't give you any impressions of my own. I'll be hearing it for the first time this evening. But the reviews are in. The Globe's is tepid, while the Intelligencer is quite pleased. Having read the description of the Widmann piece in the Imtelligencer, I'll be pleasantly surprised if I like it. But I'll give it a chance.

You can give both parts a chance at 8:00 this evening and/or Monday, November 29 over the facilities of WCRB on air or on line.

BSO — 2021/11/13

 This evening's BSO concert is well worth hearing. I was there on Thursday and really enjoyed it. Here's the synopsis from WCRB:

Saturday, November 13, 2021
8:00 PM

BSO Principal Clarinetist William R. Hudgins is the soloist in Mozart’s timeless Clarinet Concerto, and Roderick Cox leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony, tonight at 8pm.

Roderick Cox, conductor
William R. Hudgins, clarinet

MOZART Clarinet Concerto
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, Scottish

To hear a preview with Roderick Cox, including his approach to Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony and the career trajectory that led to his BSO debut, click on the player above, and read the transcript below.

Hear BSO Principal Clarinetist William R. Hudgins describe what makes Mozart's Clarinet Concerto timeless, as well as his earliest experiences of playing in the Boston Symphony: 

bso211113-hudgins-edit.mp3

Transcript of Roderick Cox interview:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Roderick Cox, who's here with the Boston Symphony for the very first time

Don't miss the interview with Roderick Cox. You don't expect Otis Redding, much less college drinking games, to come up in something like this. I read the transcript, but I'm sure the audio would be good to hear as well.

The BSO gives a bit more background on their page (not sure what to call it now):

American conductor Roderick Cox, makes his BSO debut leading BSO Principal Clarinet William Hudgins in Mozart’s beloved Clarinet Concerto. One of the composer’s last major works, it was written for his clarinetist friend Anton Stadler, perhaps the greatest master of the instrument of his time. Felix Mendelssohn’s always fresh Symphony No. 3, Scottish, was inspired by a long trip to the British Isles in his early twenties, but it wasn’t until more than a decade later that he finally completed this dramatic but classically balanced symphony.

That page also has links to performer bios and the program notes. As noted there, Ton Koopman was originally scheduled to conduct, but travel restrictions forced him to cancel, and they were able to get Roderick Cox to step in and make his debut with the BSO.

At Thursday's performance it was clear that he knew what he wanted from the orchestra, especially in the Mendelssohn: he wasn't just setting the tempo. He was communicating the dynamics (often seeming to remind them not to get too loud) as well. To me, it seemed to be an auspicious debut.

The review in the Globe was favorable. The one in the Intelligencer also says that Maestro Cox should be brought back for more appearances.

What more do I need to say? I enjoyed it, and I think you will too, if you listen tonight at 8:00 (and/or Monday, Nov. 22, or "on demand" when available).

BSO — 2021/11/06

Two "warhorses" make up this evening's concert. Before intermission we have Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. The reviewer in the Globe says the soloist, Beatrice Rana, takes a somewhat different approach to it than most performers. In the interview on the WCRB she says she likes to look at the score without assuming the way other people have performed it — she wants to fet as close to Tchaikovsky as possible without the filter of others' interpretations. After the intermission, they give us the Seventh Symphony by Dvořák. Here are the basics, along with the interview, from WCRB:

Saturday, November 6, 2021
8:00 PM

The Italian pianist is the soloist in the sweeping epic of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, Saturday night at 8pm.

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
Beatrice Rana, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

To hear Beatrice Rana describe her experiences with Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, as well as what Chopin's music has meant to her during the pandemic, click on the player above.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB at Symphony Hall with Beatrice Rana, 

The BSO's performance detail page has been completely reworked. It;s going to take me a while to get used to it. But it seems that the usual links are still there if you look for them.   It gives us the following:

Exciting Italian pianist Beatrice Rana plays the towering Piano Concerto No. 1 in her BSO debut in concerts led by Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk. One of the most popular and evergreen concertos in the repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s piece never fails to please with its combination of virtuoso fireworks and soaring melody. The concert concludes with Dvořák’s darkly majestic Symphony No. 7, which reveals both his love for his native Bohemia and the influence of his mentor, Johannes Brahms.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so you'll have to take the word of the reviewers in the Globe and the Musical Intelligencer. They think it's worth hearing: a fresh take on the familiar works.

Enjoy.

BSO — 2021/10/23

 WCRB says:

Saturday, October 23, 2021
8:00 PM

Celebrating the composer's 90th birthday, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Sofia Gubaidulina's The Light of the End, as well as Rachmaninoff’s powerfully dramatic Third Symphony, Saturday at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor

Sofia GUBAIDULINA The Light of the End
RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3

Hear and read Bernard Haitink's recollection of his first experiences with the BSO.

To hear a preview of Gubaidulina's The Light of the End with Andris Nelsons, click on the player above.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath [00:00:00] I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB, at Symphony Hall with Andris Nelsons. And this really amazing program of two pieces, Sofia Gubaidulina's The Light of the End and Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony. Andris, you're doing a lot of Gubaidulina in the coming year, and you've even recorded this piece, that'll be released this week with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Tell me about what the qualities are that draw you to her music?

The rest of the transcript and the link to the audio of the interview are on the page.

The BSO says, on the performance detail page:

This all-Russian program led by Andris Nelsons opens with a BSO-commissioned piece by Sofia Gubaidulina, premiered by the orchestra under Kurt Masur’s direction in 2003. The work’s uniquely colorful harmonies and instrumental colors create its expressive drama. The title refers to the bright sound of antique cymbals at its conclusion. These performances celebrate Sofia Gubaidulina’s 90th birthday on October 24, 2021.
Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 dates from 1936, falling between the Paganini Rhapsody for piano and orchestra and Symphonic Dances. Like those works, the symphony is characterized by scintillating orchestration and Rachmaninoff’s noted gift for long-spun melody and compelling musical narrative.

There is a favorable review, with lots of description of the music — much more than of the playing — in the Intelligencer. The review in the Globe is mildly favorable as well.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so I have no specific impressions. I will say, based on what I read in the reviews, that I don't consider this "must listen" material. I'm a little bit curious to hear how the first piece goes. I'll probably miss the Rachmaninoff during the phone call from my brother in Tokyo, and I don't consider it a tragedy.

If you want to hear it but can't listen tonight, there are the opportunities to listen to it later which I mentioned last week.

BSO — 2021/10/16

 WCRB gives the basics about this evening's concert (plus an interview with the soloist):

Lisa Batiashvili is the soloist in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in William Grant Still's tribute to the Finnish composer, as well as a Symphonic Fantasy on Richard Strauss's opera "The Woman Without a Shadow," Saturday night at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Lisa Batiashvili, violin

STILL Threnody: In Memory of Jan Sibelius
STRAUSS Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto

To hear Lisa Batiashvili describe her deep history with Sibelius's concerto and much more, click on the player above.

Interview transcript:

The BSO performance detail page has links to program notes, performer bios (click on the thumbnails), and this description:

Acclaimed Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili returns to Symphony Hall for performances of Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. A violinist himself, Sibelius employed his distinctive, Finnish folk music-influenced style in this fiery and lyrical concerto, the final version of which was premiered under Richard Strauss’s direction in 1905. Strauss’s own Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten (“Woman Without a Shadow”) is a 1946 distillation of his fabulist 1919 opera; the BSO hasn’t played music from the opera since the 1960s under Erich Leinsdorf. The concert opens with the great American composer William Grant Still’s Threnody: In Memoriam Jan Sibelius, composed in 1965. Though from very different traditions, Still and Sibelius were known to admire one another’s music.

It might be useful to read the notes about the Still and Strauss pieces. The review in the Globe is enthusiastic, that in the Intelligencer more curmudgeonly, though informative about the music.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't comment. I can say that I'm curious to hear the unfamiliar music before the intermission, and I generally find Sibelius worth hearing.

So, I'd say it's worth listening to this one on WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time.

BSO — 2021/10/09

 Strauss and Mozart are on this evening's program. WCRB gives us the basics and some extras (video and a chance to hear or read an interview) on their BSO page:

Saturday, October 9, 2021
8:00 PM

The twin sisters take center stage in Mozart’s elegant Concerto for Two Pianos, and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Richard Strauss’s "Death and Transfiguration," Saturday night at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Christina and Michelle Naughton, pianos

STRAUSS Love Scene from Feuersnot
STRAUSS Death and Transfiguration
MOZART Concerto in E-flat for two pianos, K. 365

To hear a preview of the concert with the Naughton sisters and CRB's Brian McCreath, click on the player above (transcript below).

Watch a performance of the Naughton sisters at CRB's Fraser Performance Studio:

Transcript of Christina and Michelle Naughton's interview with CRB's Brian McCreath:

And this from the BSO performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons is joined by Philadelphia-based sisters Christina and Michelle Naughton for Mozart’s Concerto in E-flat for two pianos. Mozart probably wrote this elegant and brilliant concerto for himself and his sister Nännerl to play in about 1779; they had been performing together as siblings since early childhood. Maestro Nelsons continues his multi-season exploration of Richard Strauss’s music with both the BSO and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. A rarely heard scene from the composer’s legend-based 1901 opera Feuersnot— music not performed by the BSO since 1911—opens the program, followed by the composer’s beautiful and profound symphonic poem Death and Transfiguration.

I wish I had read the program note about "Death and Transfiguration" before I heard it on Thursday. It starts quietly and soon there comes a loud blast. I thought, "That must be death, transfiguration to follow." Instead it went on and on. It turns out the loud blast wasn't actually the man's death but something that starts him reflecting on his life of striving for the ideal through childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. Only after that long recapitulation* does death actually come followed by the transfiguration in which the ideal is finally grasped.

*Strauss suggests that the one who has stiven for the ideal may be an artist. This has me thinking that he later wrote a tone poem called "Ein Heldenleben," a hero's life (imagining himself to be the hero). This piece could be subtitled "Ein Kunstlerleben," an artist's life (with Strauss as the artist, perhaps).

Neither of the publications I go to has published a review. I found no fault with anything in the performance. Where I sat I had a reasonably good view of one of the keyboards, and the only way to tell who was playing was by sight. At times they even switched in mid-phrase. All in all an impressive BSO debut for the Naughton sisters. They were very well received by the small audience, and they gave an encore after being called back to the stage for the third time. They did it seated at one piano. It was loud and boisterous, apparently from after 1950, but nothing I recognized.

It wasn't a "must listen" concert, but there was nothing unpleasant about it. I'm glad I was there, and I think you'll like it if you listen at 8:00 this evening via WCRB.

BTW, pre-Covid, they used to rebroadcast the concert on the second Monday following the performance. There is no mention now of that happening, so I suppose that's no longer standard operation procedure. There is a section on the right side of the home page for "Past BSO Broadcasts." It lists the three most recent broadcasts. So if you miss something live, or want to hear it again, you can go there.

BSO — 2021/10/02

 Live, from Symphony Hall, it's the Boston Symphony Orchestra!

That's right, folks: the BSO 2021-22 subscription season has begun with concerts in front of live audiences. Oprning night was Thursday, and we get to hear the program performed again this evening.

Here's the synopsis from WCRB, who will transmit it via radio and internet:

Saturday, October 2, 2021
8:00 PM

In a return to concerts at Symphony Hall after 19 months, Anne-Sophie Mutter is the soloist in John Williams’s Violin Concerto No. 2, led by the composer, and Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven and Bartók, live on Saturday night at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons and John Williams, conductors
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin

BEETHOVEN Overture, The Consecration of the House
John WILLIAMS Violin Concerto No. 2
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

More is available through various links at the BSO's performance detail page, which describes the proceedings thus:

Led by both Music Director Andris Nelsons and Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams, the BSO presents a special pair of concerts to welcome back live audiences to Symphony Hall after a nearly 20-month absence. Opening the concert, Mr. Nelsons leads Beethoven’s Consecration of the House Overture, the first work ever performed by the BSO in 1881. Mr. Williams then takes the podium for the first Boston performances of his own Violin Concerto No. 2, written for superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, which she premiered at Tanglewood in 2021. Completing the program is Bartók’s uniquely dramatic Concerto for Orchestra, one of the BSO’s most famous commissions, originally premiered by Serge Koussevitzky in 1944.

I was there on Thursday, and I found the Beethoven very enjoyable. It's a fine piece, and they played it well. The Williams violin concerto was unenjoyable. As the Boston Globe reviewer says, it's too long. Worse than that, I didn't detect any musicality in it. In a way, I suppose, it showcased Ms. Mutter's talent, but it seemed incoherent. Where were the themes? Where was the development? At least the sounds weren't unpleasant to hear. For an encore, they played an arrangement of something by Williams from "The Long Goodbye," which had a tune and was nice to hear.

The Bartók concerto is something I've heard a number of times. It's one of the BSO's signature pieces. Thanks to the program notes, (which I recommend reading, especially the actual description of the piece toward the end) I was able to follow it better than on previous occasions, and I found it interesting to listen to as the elements referred to in the program notes unfolded. Even though it's "modern music," it was pretty good — certainly way better than the Williams piece.

The reviewer in the Boston Musical Intelligencer really liked the Williams violin concerto — both the work and the performance — although even he at one point used the word "bewildering" to describe it. He seemed to think the other pieces were not performed vigorously enough, but didn't detect any actual mistakes.

The Globe reviewer didn't want to be crowded in with all those people, even though they were all vaccinated and masked. She spent a lot of time complaining about it. Apart from not liking the Williams, she was unenthusiastic about the performances given the other two pieces, although she had no specific criticisms. She just wished she weren't there.

But you don't have to be there to enjoy the return of the BSO to Symphony Hall. Just go to WCRB at 8:00 this evening, Boston Time (EDT) and enjoy (at least the first and last pieces flawlessly, if unspectacularly, performed). The BSO is back!

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/09/25

 Sibelius tonight (and others).WCRB gives the essentials, plus an interview with the conductor, on their BSO page:

In an encore broadcast from 2019, John Storgårds leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Finnish music past and present, including works by Saariaho and Sibelius, Saturday night at 8pm.

John Storgårds, conductor
Martin Helmchen, piano

Kaija SAARIAHO Ciel d'hiver
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 6
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7

Encore broadcast from January 26, 2019

Hear an interview with conductor John Storgårds and CRB's Alan McLellan about this program in the audio player above.

TRANSCRIPT:

Alan McLellan [00:00:00] I wanted to ask you about yourself. You've had a career as a violinist as well as a conductor. How did you get from violin to conducting?

John Storgårds [00:00:08] It was stepwise thing because I was, already as a student, I 

Here's what I wrote about it (minimally edited):

This week the BSO gives us three works by Finnish composers and one by Mozart. The orchestra's program detail page has the usual links to background information, including all the program notes. It also provides this synopsis of the concert:

Making his BSO subscription series debut, conductor John Storgårdsleads 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.)

Whether the Sibelius symphonies are "two of the greatest works in the symphonic literature" and "very different from one another" are matters of opinion, and mine differs from that of the writer of those words. To me, these symphonies were not nearly as engaging or interesting as his earlier symphonies. There was nothing very unpleasant in them, so they are certainly easier to listen to than a lot of 20th century music, but at one point I was reminded of what a critic said of a symphony of Bruckner: it's like a walk in the forest — you see nice things, but nothing happens. In other words, I found them dull. Perhaps I will feel differently if I can listen to them again during the rebroadcast on February 4. The Saariaho piece could have seemed dull too, but for whatever reason, it didn't. I thought it lived up to its name.

The reviewers don't agree with me about the Sibelius being dull, although the Globe doesn't seem to think they are very different from one another. Other than thinking that the Mozart concerto, while well performed, didn't belong with the other three works, the reviewer was very happy. The Intelligencer gives extensive analyses of the Finnish pieces (expressing more positively my Bruckner comparison). Overall, the review is positive, with some specific reservations.

By the way, there were women freelancers playing second flute, third horn in the Saariaho, and second, third, and side horns in the Sibelius. There was also a freelance tympanist for the Saariaho and the Sibelius 7th. In the 6th, percussionist Kyle Brightwell did the honors on the kettledrums, and gave an interesting contrast to the stranger. Throughout the symphony, young Mr. Brightwell could be seen almost constantly checking the tuning of his instruments by putting his ear close to the surface of a drum and tapping it with a finger. Usually, it was okay, but occasionally, he adjusted the tuning with a mechanism at the top of the instrument. The interloper, OTOH, apparently didn't have perfect or absolute pitch, so he relied on a little electronic device to check the pitches of the drums, and he felt no need to keep checking. He checked them before the symphony began, and only once during the piece.

Anyway, I think the concert, even if it isn't quite at the "must hear" level, is worth listening to when WCRB provides it on air and over the internet at 8:00 p.m. EST [this evening].

There you have it — not the greatest concert ever, but worth hearing. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/09/18

 This evening's repeat is Brahms and Prokofiev from 2018. WCRB tells the essentials:

Saturday, September 18, 2021
8:00 PM

In a 2018 concert at Symphony Hall, Vadim Gluzman is the soloist in the Violin Concerto by Brahms, and Tugan Sokhiev conducts Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Saturday night at 8pm.

Tugan Sokhiev, conductor
Vadim Gluzman, violin

BRAHMS Violin Concerto
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5

Encore broadcast from Saturday, April 28, 2018

Hear Vadim Gluzman previewing Brahms's Violin Concerto in the audio player above.

Tugan Sokhiev previews Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5:

bso180428_sokhiev_edit.mp3

Transcript of Gluzman interview:

You can go to their web page for the links.

Here, lightly edited, is what I wrote back then:

This week the BSO gives us two works both of which received their American premieres from this orchestra: the Brahms Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 5 by Prokofiev. The orchestra's performance detail page  has the usual links to background information and the following synopsis:

For his second week of concerts this season, Tugan Sokhiev leads the BSO in Brahms's towering Violin Concerto, with the outstanding, Ukrainian-born, Israeli violin soloist Vadim Gluzman in his BSO winter season debut. Brahms wrote his concerto in 1878 for his lifelong friend Joseph Joachim. Closing the program is Prokofiev's wartime Symphony No. 5, a powerful, searching, and expansive work premiered in January 1945 with the composer conducting.

(Emphasis added.)

You can hear it this evening at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time (EDST) over WCRB, broadcast or streaming on line….

No review of the concert has appeared yet in the Musical Intelligencer. The Globe's review is favorable, but not a rave. I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't give you my own impressions, but I guess it should be worth hearing.

After I wrote my preview a review did appear in the Intelligencer, mixed about the Brahms, raving about the Prokofiev.

This music isn't my favorite, so I'll probably keep my Sox on as they play the Orioles, but you definitely could do worse than listen to this concert: Brahms is a staple and the Intelligencer review says the Prokofiev gets a superlative performance.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/09/11

 In observance of 9/11 WCRB is rebroadcasting a performance of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony.

Here's what they say:

In an encore broadcast from 2018, and in memory of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and soloists in Mahler's Symphony No. 2. Also, BSO Choral Director James Burton conducts the TFC in Einfelde's "Lux aeterna," Saturday evening at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons and James Burton, conductors
Ying Fang, soprano
Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Maija EINFELDE Lux aeterna, for unaccompanied chorus
MAHLER Symphony No. 2, Resurrection

Encore broadcast from Saturday, October 27, 2018

Here's what I wrote back then:

This week's concert begins with Lux Æterna, by Maija Einfelde,conducted by James Burton, the conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. That brief work is followed by Mahler's massive Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection," conducted by Music Director Andris Nelsons.The BSO's [performance] detail page has the usual links to further information. It also has this blurb about the concert:

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.

Reviews are in. The reviewer in the Globe gave a decidedly critical review of the performance of both works, but the reviewer for the Boston Musical Intelligencer was happy with the result. It wasn't part of my subscriptions, so I can't settle the disagreement.

You can hear the show beginning at 8:00 p.m., EDST, on air or on line via WCRB. …

If it were not being given this evening in connection with the anniversary, I'd say for me Mahler is okay but not must listen music. Perhaps you might want to listen because of the occasion even if Mahler isn't your favorite composer, but I wouldn't blame anyone who wants to do something else (9/11 related or not) at that time.