BSO — 2024/01/27

 Oops! Tonight's show begins an hour early at 7:00. Here's what you need to know:

Saturday, January 27, 2024
7:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 5

Andris Nelsons's conducts the BSO in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the most ambitious endeavor in their multi-year survey of works by Shostakovich. Based on Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novella by the same name, the opera weaves the lurid story of Katarina Ismailova, an oppressed, ambitious, and ultimately murderous wife of a provincial merchant.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Kristine Opolais, soprano (Katerina Izmailova)
Brenden Gunnell, tenor (Sergei)
Peter Hoare, tenor (Zinovy Izmailov)
Günther Groissböck, bass (Boris Izmailov and Ghost of Boris)
Michelle Trainor, soprano (Aksinya)
Alexandra LoBianco, soprano (Female Convict)
Maria Barakova, mezzo-soprano (Sonyetka)
Matthew DiBattista, tenor (Teacher)
Neal Ferreira, tenor (Foreman)
Charles Blandy, tenor (Foreman & Drunken Guest)
Yeghishe Manucharyan, tenor (Foreman & Coachman)
Alexander Kravets, tenor (Shabby Peasant)
David Kravitz, baritone (Millhand)
Brandon Cedel, bass (Porter & Policeman)
Joo Won Kang, baritone (Steward)
Patrick Guetti, bass (Officer and Sentry)
Goran Juric, bass (Priest)
Anatoli Sivko, bass (Chief of Police)
Paata Burchuladze, bass (Old Convict)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
James Burton, conductor

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

To read artist biographies and program notes, visit the BSO.

To hear a preview with Music Director Andris Nelsons, BSO Vice President for Artistic Planning Anthony Fogg, and GBH's Jared Bowen on The Culture Show, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about The Culture Show on GBH, Monday-Friday at 2pm.

TRANSCRIPT:

Jared Bowen Andris Nelsons, Tony Fogg, thank you so much for sitting down with us.

Andris Nelsons Great pleasure, thank you.

Anthony Fogg Pleasure.

Jared Bowen So, Andris, I am so eager to to talk to you about your connection to this piece. But, Tony, let me start with you for a second. For the Boston Symphony Orchestra to take on this opera, this is a very 

I'll add more as we go along.

BSO performance detail page, which includes link to program notes.

Review in the Intelligencer.

Review in the Globe.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/01/20

 The BSO isn't performing this weekend, so WCRB is giving us an encore broadcast of a concert from last April. Here's the scoop:

Saturday, January 20, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, French cellist Gautier Capuçon takes center stage with the Boston Symphony for the American premiere of Thierry Escaich’s new work for cello and orchestra, and Andris Nelsons conducts Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso and Rachmaninoff’s romantic Symphony No. 2.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Gautier Capuçon, cello

Maurice RAVEL Alborada del gracioso
Thierry ESCAICH Les Chants de l’Aube, for cello and orchestra
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

This concert was originally broadcasted on April 15, 2023, and is no longer available on demand.

Hear a preview of Thierry Escaich's Les Chants de l’Aube with cellist Gautier Capuçon using the audio player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Gautier Capuçon, who is back in Boston after some really memor

I posted about it (with many typos) at the time of the actual performance and said it was all "very okay." If you can find that post, the links to the favorable reviews still work. It looks as if I neglected to give the link for the performance detail page. Here it is.

So, while I thought it wasn't "must listen" music, I still recommend giving it a hearing.

BSO — 2024/01/13

 The BSO is back live with a concert I don't especially care about. WCRB gives us the essentials: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2023-09-25/leons-stride-and-ravel-with-seong-jin-cho-and-the-bso

Saturday, January 13, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 22

Recent Pulitzer Prize winner and 2022 Kennedy Center honoree Tania León brings Strideto Symphony Hall, a piece inspired by Susan B. Anthony and the steps women continue to take towards equality. Award-winning pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost an arm in World War I. The concert closes with one of the most influential pieces in history: Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Seong-Jin Cho, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride 
Maurice RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand
Igor STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

Watch Tania León describe the creative process behind Stride.

From NPR: Tania León Wins Music Pulitzer ForStride, Celebrating Women's Resilience.

To hear Seong-Jin Cho preview Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Seong-Jin Cho

I'll listen to the first piece out of curiosity. As far as I'm concerned, the Concerto for the Left Hand is innocuous but nothing special, so I'll leave the radio on; but I don't like Rite of Spring, so I may well turn the radio off after intermission.

The BSO's performance detail page tells us:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Seong-Jin Cho, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride
RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand
Intermission
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

This week’s performances of Tania León Stride are supported in part by income from the Morton Margolis fund in the BSO’s endowment.
Thursday evening's performance by Seong-Jin Cho is supported by the Nathan R. Miller Family Guest Artist Fund.

Tania León’s Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Stride draws on her Cuban heritage and her long association with dance to create music rich with rhythmic vitality and scintillating instrumental colors. Superstar Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho plays Maurice Ravel’s dramatic Piano Concerto for the left hand, originally composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his arm during World War I. Closing the concert is and one of the most influential pieces in history: Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score The Rite of Spring, a work of primal power.

Program notes are there for each of the pieces.

So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer, but the Globe is very favorable, especially for the Ravel concerto.

Enjoy, if you listen.