BSO/Classical New England — 2021/02/27

This evening WCRB gives us the Boston Symphony concert of April 9, 2021. Here's what they say about it:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast from 2016, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Bruckner's Symphony No. 3, and now-former Concertmaster Malcolm Lowe and Principal Violist Steven Ansell are the soloists in Mozart's Sinfonia concertante.

Saturday, February 27, 2021
8:00 PM

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Malcolm Lowe, violin
Steven Ansell, viola

MOZART Sinfonia concertante in E-flat for violin
   and viola, K.364
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 3 (1889 version)

They don't add any interviews or links to other background material. There is some in what I wrote at the time, although I've had to edit out references to items that ar no longer accessible:

We get two very different works this week: Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, and Symphony №3 by Bruckner in the 1889 version. Boston Symphony principals Malcolm Lowe and Steven Ansell perform the violin and viola solos, while Music Director Andris Nelsons conducts the concert. The orchestra's performance detail page […] give[s] the following description:

BSO concertmaster Malcolm Lowe and principal viola Steven Ansell join Andris Nelsons and the BSO for one of Mozart's greatest concertos, the Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola. Mozart wrote this exemplar of Classical form and style during a lengthy trip to Paris. Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 was originally composed in 1872 but was subjected to a number of revisions by the composer (the present version being the "1889 version"). The symphony everywhere reveals its deep debt to Richard Wagner, to whom Bruckner dedicated the work "in deepest reverence.

(Emphasis in original.)

I was there for the Thursday concert and, to my surprise, found both pieces enjoyable. It was no surprise with the Mozart. Watching the performers did add to the enjoyment. But I was expecting the Bruckner to become tedious. A colleague once quoted a critic as saying that Bruckner's symphonies are like a walk in the woods: you see many nice things, but nothing happens. But somehow on Thursday evening it held my attention and did not seem too long. It was interesting music. As far as I could tell, both pieces were well played. I was especially impressed by the solos by James Somerville on horn and Elizabeth Rowe on flute.

The review in the Boston Globe is favorable — faintly so for the Bruckner. The reviewer spends more time describing the Mozart. So far, there is no review in the BMInt.

I definitely recommend listening on WCRB at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. […]

Need I say more?