BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/29

 There seems to be a typo in WCRB's synopsis of this evening's rebroadcast. They begin by saying that it is from 2017, but at the end they identify two concerts from 2016 as the originals. Consulting my posts, I see that the music in question was indeed performed in 2016 on the dates mentioned.

Saturday, May 29, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from 2017, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Brahms's boldly dramatic Symphony No. 1 and ruminative Symphony No. 3.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
BRAHMS Symphony No. 3

Encore broadcast from November 10 and 17, 2016

I'll also note that November 10 and 17, 2016, were Thursdays. The Brahms First Symphony concluded the concert on the 10th, and the Third was given on the 17th. In both cases, other works preceded them, but neither had been scheduled for the following Saturday. So I don't see much point in reproducing what I wrote for each of the Saturdays. Instead, I'll give you links to the available reviews.

The Globe reviewed the first concert, as did the Intelligencer.

Here's the Globe on the concert of November 15, which was reprised on the 17th. The Intelligencer review concentrates on the first two pieces and says only this about the Third Symphony: "Nelsons then led the orchestra in a thrilling and a tuneful reading of Brahms’s  Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 (1883). For all the music’s inherent excitement, I missed the careful attention to inner voices, the contrapuntal building blocks of Brahms’s compositional rhetoric. Leaping from peak to peak obscures value when the valleys disappear. While many in Symphony Hall reveled, I  left craving more."

You may recall that recently WCRB  gave us two complete concerts from the Brahms mini-festival. Those were an April 10 and 17, so if you really want to see my posts from 2016, you can take a look at what I posted last month.

Anyway, The Brahms symphonies qualify as "warhorses," so if you're listening to WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time this evenings, you'll probably enjoy the show.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/22

 It's Mozart symphonies this evening for the WCRB Boston Symphony rebroadcast.

Saturday, May 22, 2021
8:00 PM

In a 2018 all-Mozart concert, Herbert Blomstedt leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in three of the Austrian composer's greatest symphonies: No. 34, the "Linz," and the "Jupiter."

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
Symphony No. 34
Symphony No. 36, Linz
Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Encore broadcast from February, 24, 2018

If you go to the page I've linked, you'll find an interview woth Maestro Blomstedt, which you can listen to by clicking the Play button at the top or read in the transcript which follows the text I've quoted. Worth checking out IMO.

My write-up from back then follows:

This evening's program is all Mozart: three of his symphonies. The [performance] detail page gives further detail, appropriately enough, along with the usual links to background material on the music and the conductor:

Renowned Massachusetts-born Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedtreturns to the Symphony Hall stage with a trio of Mozart symphonies. Composed in 1780 for an unknown occasion, the three-movement No. 34 in C major was the last symphony Mozart completed in Salzburg before relocating permanently to Vienna. The story of his Linz[ ]Symphony, No. 36, is one of those illustrating his surpassing genius. Passing through Linz in late 1783 on his way back to Vienna from a Salzburg visit, he was honored with a request for a concert of his music, but had no symphony with him-so he wrote this delightful piece in a mere four days. Composed five years later, the Jupiter Symphony was Mozart's last. Its elegance, mastery of counterpoint, and expressive power have secured its place as an epitome of the genre.

(Some emphasis added.)

What's not to like about Mozart? I was there on Thursday and enjoyed the show. The word "comfortable" occurs to describe the performance. Nothing seemed forced. Even in the fast and (relatively) loud parts, there was an underlying calmness. The performance so captivated the audience that there was virtually none of the usual coughing from them during the slower and quieter parts. Strangely, though, there were a couple of points during longer movements when I felt they had gone on long enough, that they were becoming redundant, that there was no noticeable development going on. This is a feeling I've had with some late romantic pieces, but the first time I've felt that way about Mozart.

There was an amusing moment during the curtain call after the "Linz" symphony. In one of the movements there was a section where the first oboe delivered a brief solo line, then repeated it with the first bassoon following a couple of beats behind. This happened again three or four times. When Maestro Blomstedt returned to the stage during the applause, he invited them to stand for solo bows. As he headed offstage, Richard Sebring, first horn, took a handkerchief and reached across the aisle to Richard Svoboda, the bassoonist, and mopped his forehead (as if the solo had been a strenuous workout).

I'm looking forward to hearing it again. This evening's concert will be transmitted […] over WCRB on air and on line at 8:00, EST.[…]

The reviews are in. The Globe is favorable, and the Intelligencer is enthusiastic. The photo in the Intelligencer review reminds me that Maestro Blomstedt conducted throughout without a baton, using his hands more to shape the music than to beat time strictly. He didn't even give a cut-off sign at the end of movements. He just stopped moving his hands, and the small orchestra stopped in unison. The photo also shows the unopened score on the podium during the first half of the concert. After intermission, he had an electronic device which he never opened.

Enjoy the concert!

So you can treat yourself to some fine music this evening. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/15

 WCRB gives us another rebroadcast of a concert without a soloist:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast of opening night 2017, Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony and the colossal Symphony No. 1 by Mahler.

Saturday, May 15, 2021
8:00 PM

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

HAYDN Symphony No. 103, Drumroll
MAHLER Symphony No. 1, Titan

Encore broadcast from Saturday, September 23, 2017

Here's what I wrote back then:

We read in the BSO [performance] detail page:

Franz Joseph Haydn and Gustav Mahler defined the genre of the symphony during their respective eras- Haydn as one of its originators in the late 18th-century Classical era, and Mahler as revitalizer and innovator at the end of the Romantic era. Haydn's Drumroll Symphony-not performed by the BSO since 1995-was the next-to-last symphony he wrote, in the first half of the 1790s. Written nearly 100 years later, 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.

(Some emphasis added.)

As in prior seasons, the [performance] detail page also has links to performer bios (Click on the thumbnail photo.), program notes, audio previews, and a video podcast.

Also as in prior seasons, WCRB will stream and broadcast the concert, beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time (EDT). Their homepage has links to information about many other offerings on the station. […]
Both symphonies are staples of the orchestral repertoire, so the program should be enjoyable listening (withe the Haydn somewhat more to my taste).

Enjoy.

Since the original broadcast was opening night of the season, there were no reviews when I previewed the show. Subsequently, this one was published in the Boston Musical Intelligencer — noting several aspects of the performance which the reviewer found unsatisfying. The Globe reviewer, on the other hand, was pleased.

It should be enjoyable.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/08

 WCRB "fast forwards" from January, 2017, to March. Maybe they're expecting live concerts to resume this fall, so they don't have to go week by week. Anyway, here's the synopsis:

Saturday at 8pm, in a 2017 concert at Symphony Hall, Bernard Haitink leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's Symphony No. 60, Debussy's transportive "Three Nocturnes," and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Saturday, May 8, 2021
8:00 PM

Bernard Haitink, conductor
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

HAYDN Symphony No. 60, Il Distratto
DEBUSSY Three Nocturnes
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

Encore broadcast from March 18, 2017

In a 2016 conversation at Tanglewood, WCRB's Ron Della Chiesa talks with Lawrence Wolfe, Assistant Principal Bass of the BSO and Principal Bass of the Boston Pops, about joining the orchestra as the youngest member at the time, how he chose double bass as his instrument, and the excitement Andris Nelsons brought to the BSO:

Listen 

Listening...

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As you see, there is also an interview you can listen to, or, if you prefer, you can read the transcript.

Here's what I wrote back then (edited):

This week we enjoy a concert of music from before the 20th Century. I'll let the orchestra's performance detail page describe it:

BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink leads the first BSO performances in thirty years of Joseph Haydn's 1774 Symphony No. 60, The Distracted, which was fashioned in six movements from music Haydn wrote for a play by that name. The women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are a provocative, wordless presence in the "Sirens" movement of Debussy's three-movement orchestral suite Nocturnes. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, premiered at the end of 1813, has been an audience favorite ever since. Wagner called it "the apotheosis of the dance"; its entrancing second-movement Allegretto, one of the most familiar movements in Beethoven's symphonies, was encored in its first performances.

(Some emphasis added.)

As usual, that page also has links to various informational material.

The reviews are favorable. The Globe's reviewer saw some room for improvement in the Haydn, but was otherwise pleased. The review by the musicologist at the Boston Musical Intelligencer nitpicks over a couple of details in the Debussy and suggests that the finale of the Beethoven was too fast, but in general is approving.

Both reviews note the immediate standing ovation for the Beethoven, but it's normal. Beethoven wrote a real crowd-pleaser with a guaranteed applause-catching finale. It would have been remarkable if the audience members hadn't given that ovation. I was quite happy with the whole thing. The Haydn was fun. Although I generally don't care for the French Impressionists, the "Nocturnes" were serene and the typical dissonances of the style were not annoying. The Beethoven 7th was performed just last spring, and normally that would be enough to set me off on my "don't keep playing the warhorses at the expense of other deserving rarely heard compositions" rant. But for Haitink I'll make an exception. It was definitely worth hearing, especially since fourth chair horn player Jason Snider did the "bullfrog" low notes in the 3rd movement perfectly every time.

So by all means listen in the the broadcast or webstream over WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time this evening […]. This concert's a keeper.[…]

There you have it. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/01

 This week WCRB gives us the first BSO Saturday concert of 2017. Here's how they summarize it:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast from 2017, virtuoso musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra take center stage at Symphony Hall in works by Vivaldi, Krommer, Jolivet, Rota, and Schumann.

Saturday, May 1, 2021
8:00 PM

Ken-David Masur, conductor
Cynthia Meyers, piccolo
William R. Hudgins and Michael Wayne, clarinets
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet
Toby Oft, trombone
James Sommerville, Michael Winter, Rachel Childers, and Jason Snider, horns 

Vivaldi - Piccolo Concerto in C, RV 433
Krommer - Concerto No. 2 for two clarinets and orchestra, Op. 91
Jolivet - Concertino for trumpet, piano, and strings
Rota - Trombone Concerto
Schumann - Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra

This concert is no longer available on demand.

In a conversation at Tanglewood, BSO piccolo player Cynthia Meyers describes her musical path to the BSO to Ron Della Chiesa in an interview recorded at Tanglewood:

As you see, there is an interview with the piccolo player. If you don't want to listen, a transcript follows what I've copied here.

At the time, I wrote about it as follows (edited to remove material no longer relevant):

The orchestra returns to Symphony Hall this week with an unusual program, featuring wind players of the orchestra as soloists in generally unfamiliar works. The BSO performance detail page describes it as follows:

Soloists from the ranks of the Boston Symphony Orchestra take center stage in this highly unusual, far-ranging program led by BSO Assistant Conductor Ken-David Masur. BSO piccoloist Cynthia Meyers performs Vivaldi's delightful Piccolo Concerto in C. BSO principal clarinet William Hudgins and clarinetist Michael Wayne are soloists in Mozart-contemporary Franz Krommer's Concerto No. 2 for two clarinets. BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs is soloist in French composer André Jolivet's Concertino for trumpet, piano, and strings, a dynamic, three-movement work from 1948. BSO principal trombone Toby Oft plays the Trombone Concerto of Italian composer Nino Rota-best known for scoring Coppola's The Godfather but a versatile and prolific composer of concert and stage works as well. Finally, Robert Schumann's Konzertstück ("Concert-piece") for four horns provides an exhilarating showcase for principal horn James Sommerville and his virtuoso colleagues Rachel Childers, Jason Snider, and Michael Winter.

(Most emphasis added.)

I was there for the performance on Thursday, and I found it all pleasant enough — except for the Jolivet, which I'd call "not unpleasant." As originally programmed, the Jolivet concerto was to finish the first half, but I guess they decided it would be better not to have the Vivaldi and Krommer adjacent. I thought everybody played very well, except for a couple of wobbles in the horns. The Jolivet trumpet concert was "modern." The others, including the Rota, were normal music. But none of them were particularly memorable. In the Krommer clarinet concerto, I imagined the Hudgin's tone was a bit brighter, and Wayne's a bit mellower. The BMInt reviewer suggests something similar. So it was a great night for the wind players to have some time in the spotlight. I'm glad I was there for it, and I think you be glad to have listened, if you do.

The reviews are favorable. The Globe noted the occasional problems with the horns. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a fairly good synopsis of the music (and likes the Jolivet much more than I did).

The horn soloists in the Intelligencer photo are, l.-r., Snider, Winter, Childers, and Sommerville. Clint Hutchinson, flute player, is in the center, just slightly behind Ms. Childers. In the back, behind Mr. Hutchinson, is assistant tympanist Daniel Bauch. The conductor, Ken-David Masur, is standing on the right, and in the back row behind him are two trumpeters, but I'm never sure which is which.

Anyway, you can listen, beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, over WCRB.[…]

So there's an interesting concert available here, competing with the Warhorse Orgy on WHRB and the Red Sox-Rangers game on WEEI. You can hardly go wrong.