BSO — 2023/01/28

 WCRB tells us:

Saturday, January 28, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 6

Latvian violinist Baiba Skride returns to the Boston Symphony for Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons conducts in the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s Concerto for Curved Space as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin

Steven MACKEY Concerto for Curved Space, for orchestra (world premiere)
SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4

To hear a preview of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Baiba Skride, use the player above, and read the transcript below:

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Baiba Skride, who's back with the Boston Symphony. Shostakovich, once again, just like last year, but the Second Concerto. Baiba, thank you for a little bit of your time today. I appreciate it.

Baiba Skride Oh, thank you so much for having me here. I'm so excited to be back with this orchestra, which I know quite well by now.

This concert wasn't part of my subscription, and I had a meeting to attend on Thursday evening anyway, so I can't tell you anything about the world premiere. What's more, I'll miss it this evening because I'll be attending a play at our local community theater. (The Sunday matinee was sold out when I wanted to buy a ticket. Here's what others have to say.

First we go to the BSO performance detail page. There we read:

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the world premiere of a BSO-commissioned Concerto for Curved Space, for orchestra by Grammy-winning American composer/guitarist Steven Mackey, whose vibrant music embraces a range of influences, from Ludwig van Beethoven to modern rock. Latvian violinist Baiba Skride returns to Symphony Hall for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2, written for the great Ukrainian violinist David Oistrakh in 1967. Johannes Brahms’ profound and majestic Fourth Symphony closes the program.

Of course, there are links to the program notes from the booklet audience members receive.

The reviews are in. Jeffrey Gantz, in the Intelligencer, gives a lot about the music itself as well as how it was performed. He does his best to avoid complaining, but he still observes that tempos tended to be slow, resulting in a long evening in the hall. Over at the Globe, Jeremy Eichler has no complaints about the Mackey piece, but thinks that other two weren't performed up to BSO standards, and wonders why Baiba Skride is here so often.

So there you have it: a long evening beginning with an hour of unfamiliar music and ending with a beloved warhorse. I'll have to catch the rebroadcast on February 6. You can listen and decide what you think of it all this evening at 8:)0, Boston Time.

BSO — 2023/01/21

Tonight's BSO concert is all unfamiliar, but not really bad. Here's WCRB's description (with links):

Saturday January 21, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 30

Karina Canellakis takes up her baton at Symphony Hall for the very first time in a folk-inspired Boston Symphony program that features Dvořák’s The Wood Dove and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Nicola Benedetti makes her BSO debut with Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

Karina Canellakis, conductor
Nicola Benedetti, violin

DVOŘÁK The Wood Dove
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2
LUTOSŁAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra

To hear a preview of the program with Karina Canellakis, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Karina Canellakis, who is here to conduct the Boston Symphony for the first time in this space, though, Karina, you have conducted the BSO a couple of t

Further information is available, as always, at the BSO performance detail page:

Making her BSO debut, violinist Nicola Benedetti joins conductor Karina Canellakis in her Symphony Hall debut for Karel Szymanowski’s scintillating Violin Concerto No. 2 from 1933, his last major work. His compatriot Witold Lutosławski’s folk-music influenced Concerto for Orchestra (1954) helped establish his international reputation. Antonín Dvořák’s nature-inspired tone poem Wood Dove has not been played by the BSO since 1905.

Check out the program notes for fuller descriptions of the pieces.

I was there on Thursday, and didn't find anythin too terrible. Dvořák is always pretty good, and "The Wood Dove" is no exception, despite the lurid program note. I'm always apprehensive about Szymanowski and Lutosławski, This time, the Szymanowski wasn't as dissonant as other things of his that I've heard. The piece by Lutosławski was bombastic  at one point I thought of Shostakovich  but it was a notch or so above tolerable.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a very favorable and wordy review. The Globe review is enthusiastic and more descriptive.

SO the reviewers give two thumbs up, and I don't disagree, so I suggest listening in. If you miss it this evening or want to rehear it, the concert will be rebroadcast/streamed om Janiary 30 at 8:00 p.m.

BSO — 2023/01/14

 Even the familiar piece in this week's concert isn't very familiar. Two are quite unfamiliar, and one is brand new. Here's the summary (with links to interviews) from WCRB:

Saturday, January 14, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 23

Alan Gilbert conducts the Boston Symphony in a brimming program that includes Dvořák’s glittering Carnival Overture and the world premiere of Justin Dello Joio’s Piano Concerto, Oceans Apart, with soloist Garrick Ohlsson.

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Lili BOULANGER D’un Matin de Printemps
STENHAMMAR Serenade
Justin DELLO JOIO Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Oceans Apart (world premiere)
DVOŘÁK Carnival Overture

To hear a preview of Justin Dello Joio's Oceans Apart, with pianist Garrick Ohlsson, use the player above and read the transcript in the tab below.

To hear a preview of the program with conductor Alan Gilbert, listen and read the transcript in the tab below.

(Surprisingly, the computer has converted the font of the original page to the one I''m using.) The BSO performance detail page tells a bit more and gives links to the program notes, which could be very useful.

American conductor Alan Gilbert and frequent BSO guest Garrick Ohlsson premiere Justin Dello Joio’s piano concerto Oceans Apart, written for Ohlsson. Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar’s wide-ranging 1911 Serenade has a satisfyingly symphonic scope. French composer Lili Boulanger’s impressionistic 1918 depiction of a spring morning and Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s celebratory Carnival Overture, from 1891, complete the program.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives good descriptions of the Stenhammar, Dello Joio, and Boulanger pieces, but not much about how well the orchestra did. The review in the Globe ignores the Dvořák, but is chatty about the others.

It wasn't part of my subscription, so I can't add anything. All in all, it doesn't strike me as a must listen concert, but it could be okay. It will be rebroadcast Monday week.

BSO — 2023/01/07

 The BSO is back live with an interestin concert. I was there on Thursday, but before I give my impressions, here's the official story. First let's hear from WCRB:

Saturday, January 7, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 16

Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber leads the Boston Symphony in an exploration of Beethoven, through the composer’s own works and a world premiere by Ella Milch-Sheriff, and Midori is the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto.

Omer Meir Wellber, conductor
Midori, violin
Eli Danker, narrator

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D
Ella MILCH-SHERIFF The Eternal Stranger (American premiere)
BEETHOVEN Funeral March from Symphony No. 3, Eroica
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3

Hear a preview of The Eternal Stranger with conductor Omer Meir Wellber and Arun Rath of GBH News.

The preview of "The Eternal Stranger" is linked in that line on WCRB's page.

The orchestra's own performance detail page gives this synopsis:

Performing with the BSO at Symphony Hall for the first time since 2003, renowned violinist Midori joins Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber in his BSO debut for Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto. Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff’s The Eternal Stranger for narrator and orchestra relates Ludwig van Beethoven’s difficulty in society due to his personality and deafness to the hostility and rejection experienced by refugees and other “strangers.” The funeral march from the Eroica Symphony and the overture from Beethoven’s opera about a political imprisonment remind us of the composer’s abiding universal humanity.

As usual, there are links to take you to the full program notes.

The review in the Globe talks about more than just the music, but finds it generally well performed. The Intelligencer presents a review which is all about the music, finding the Tchaikovsky excellent, the Beethoven good, and questioning the decision the program the Milch-Sheriff in connection with the Beethoven.

Like the Intelligencer, I thought there were points where the brass overpowered the strings. THe Milch-Sheriff music was okay, but not memorable. It worked to accompany the drama, which I thought was reasonably well performed. Unfortunately, you can't see the actor and his "stage business" on the radio. You also don't get to see the conductor,, which may be just as well, as his broad and energetic gestures were a little distraction.

You can't go wrong with the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, so I think this concert is definitely worth hearing. Not also that there will be a rebroadcast on January 16, so you can enjoy it again, or catch it if you have to miss this evening.