BSO — 2023/04/22

 This evening it's Sibelius, Mozart, Adès, and Sibelius live from Symphony Hall. Here's what we read on WCRB's page about it:

Saturday, April 22, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, May 1

Anne-Sophie Mutter is the soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Thomas Adès’s Air, a work inspired by Sibelius, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Sibelius’s Luonnotar, with soprano Golda Schultz, and Symphony No. 5.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Golda Schultz, soprano
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin

SIBELIUS Luonnotar (translation)
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 1
Thomas ADÈS Air, for violin and orchestra
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

To hear a preview of Thomas Adès's Air with Anne-Sophie Mutter, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Anne-Sophie Mutter, who is back with the Boston Symphony with a couple of pieces. Anne-Sophie, thanks a lot for your time today. I appreciate it.

Anne-Sophie Mutter Great pleasure, Brian.

Brian McCreath We're going to talk about Thomas Adès's Air, this new piece. But first, I want to ask you about Mozart and whether this concerto number one, the Violin Concerto No. 1, is a specific choice to accompany Thomas's piece, or if there's any other particular reason you chose it for this concert.

Anne-Sophie Mutter Yeah. This is a very good question, actually. 

TO go a bit more in depth, here's what you get at the BSO performance detail page (with links to the program notes):

Andris Nelsons leads superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in the American premiere of English composer Thomas Adès’ new Sibelius-inspired Air for violin and orchestra, a BSO co-commission written for Mutter. In her BSO debut, the young South African soprano Golda Schultz sings Jean Sibelius’ Luonnotar, a dramatic tone poem with voice based on Finnish creation myth. Though his Fifth Symphony was an enormous success at its 1915 premiere, Sibelius extensively revised the original four-movement work, completing the final three-movement version in 1919.

Friday afternoon's performance by the vocal soloist is supported by a generous gift from the Ethan Ayer Vocal Soloist Fund.

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Andris Nelsons, conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Golda Schultz, soprano

SIBELIUS Luonnotar
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 1
Intermission
Thomas ADÈS Air, for violin and orchestra (American premiere; co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director, through the generous support of the New Works Fund established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency and the Arthur P. Contas Commissioning Fund.)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

There is a favorable review in the Globe and a very favorable and detailed one in the Intelligencer.

I enjoyed my evening in Symphony Hall on Thursday. Jeffrey Gantz in the Intelligencer put it very well when he wrote, "Air (think also “Aria” and perhaps Shakespeare’s Ariel) is 15 minutes of slow spirals and concentric circles." There was nothing offensive in any of it, and I thought the soprano did very well in Luonnotar.

So give it a listen, and don't forget the rebroadcast.