This is one you won't want to miss. Here's how WCRB describes it:
Saturday, October 21, 2023
8:00pmEncore broadcast on Monday, October 30
Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with soloist Paul Lewis. This heroic piece is paired with Hannah Kendall’s The Spark Catchers, a new work inspired by imagery from Lemn Sissay’s poem by the same name, and James Lee III’s Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, a BSO co-commission with texts by the 19th-century African-American orator and activist Frederick Douglass read by narrator Thomas Warfield.
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano
Thomas Warfield, narratorHannah KENDALL The Spark Catchers
James LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, for narrator and orchestra (BSO co-commission)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, EmperorRead Lemn Sissay's 2017 poem "The Spark Catchers" here.
Read the entire text of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" from PBS and learn more about the speech from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Using the tabs below, you can hear composer James Lee III describe the genesis of Freedom's Genuine Dawn as well as Paul Lewis describe the journey of performing all five of Beethoven's Piano Concertos. Transcripts included below.
Of course, the major attraction comes after the intermission, Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerty, nicknamed "Emperor." It ranks amount my faavorite pieces ever. But the first part of the concert is also intriguing. I want to hear "Freedom's Genuine Dawn. From the description in the program notes, it should be worth heariing. I heard "The Spark Catchers" on Friday afternoon along with Beethoven's No. 2 and 4 on Friday afternoon. It's ho-hum — definitely tolerable but, on first hearing, not memorable. On balance, I'd say it's worth sitting through to get to the rest of the show.
The program notes, for more information about the pieces, are linked on the BSO's own performance detail page, which begins with this description of the concert:
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano
Thomas Warfield, narratorHannah KENDALL The Spark Catchers
James LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, for narrator and orchestra (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.)
Intermission
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, EmperorEnglish pianist Paul Lewis takes us on a musical and stylistic adventure through all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos over three concerts. These performances are paired with two poetic journeys: Hannah Kendall’s The Spark Catchers, inspired by imagery from Lemn Sissay’s poem by the same name; and James Lee III’s Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, a BSO co-commission set with texts by the seminal 19th-century African American orator and activist Frederick Douglass.
The review in the Intelligencer gives some idea of what to expect in "The Spark Catchers." Since it is of the Thursday concert, it has nothing about the rest of the program. So far, there is no review in the Globe.
I'll be going out to my club for dinner. I want to try the veal chop which is a special this week. But I definitely plan to hear the rebroadcast on Monday October 30. I recommend listening this evening if you're free, and again or for the first time on the 30th.
No comments:
Post a Comment