BSO/Classical New England — 2024/02/24

 This eveningwe reeturn with WCRB to that thrilling evening of yesteryear — February 4, 2023, to be exact — for an enocre broadcast of the BSO in excerpts from "Tannhäuser." Further detail is here from WCRB:

Saturday, February 24th, 2024
8:00 PM

In this encore broadcast, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and a stellar lineup of soloists in highlights from Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Amber Wagner, soprano (Elisabeth)
Marina Prudenskaya, mezzo-soprano (Venus)
Klaus Florian Vogt, tenor (Tannhäuser)
Christian Gerhaher, baritone (Wolfram)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

ALL-WAGNER
Overture and “Venusberg Music” from Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser, Act III

Hear a preview with Andris Nelsons in the audio player above, and read the transcript below:

This concert was originally broadcasted on Feb 4th, 2023 and is no longer available on demand.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Andris Nelsons, who's back in Boston to lead a concert of excerpts from Tannhäuser, Wagner's opera. Andris, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it.

I posted about it at the time, and I assume the links there are still working.

It's good music, I think, and worth listening to. As I commented then about the story: "The thing is, the opera is fiction using the historical characters of the great medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia (also known as Elizabeth of Hungary), and the poet/minstrel Tannhäuser. There was also a jubilee year in which pilgrims flocked to Rome. But basically, the opera is a pretty good story of sin, love, and redemption." There probably won't be a further rebroadcast on Monday, March 4, since they don't customarily do that with the "encore broadcasts." So listen this evening if you can.

BSO — 2024/02/17

 As usual, we can get the basics about this evening's Boston Symphony concert from WCRB's webpage:

Saturday, February 17, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 26

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim won the gold medal in the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the youngest person ever to do so. His final round performance featured Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece he performs with the BSO at Symphony Hall with returning guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev. Sokhiev also leads a rarity: French composer Ernest Chausson’s only symphony and the composer’s masterpiece, the passionate Symphony in B-flat. 

Tugan Sokhiev, conductor
Yunchan Lim, piano

Sergei RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Ernest CHAUSSON Symphony in B-flat

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

See Chausson's brother-in-law Henry Lerolle's painting "The Organ Rehearsal," depicting Chausson at the organ console, a the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Tugan Sokhiev, who has returned to the Boston Symphony for the first time in a few years, I think Tugan

Further information is available at the BSO performance detail page, which tells us:

Tugan Sokhiev, conductor 
Yunchan Lim, piano

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Intermission
CHAUSSON Symphony in B-flat

Friday afternoon’s concert is in memory of Jerome H. Grossman, MD, supported by the Grossman Family

Saturday evening's performance by Yunchan Lim is supported by Elizabeth W. and John M. Loder.

Saturday evening’s concert is in memory of Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn.

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim — the youngest person ever to win the gold medal in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition — joins returning guest conductor Tugan Sokhiev to perform one of the greatest, most popular, and most virtuosic works in the repertoire: Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3, which the composer himself played with the BSO in 1919 and 1935. Sokhiev also leads a rare gem of a piece: French composer Ernest Chausson’s passionate one and only symphony. The Symphony in B-flat (1890) was a favorite of former BSO Music Director Charles Munch, and the BSO last performed it in 1993.

See the page for links to performer bios and program notes.

The review in the Globe was enthusiastic, that in the Intelligencer a bit less so, but together they give me the impression that this is a concert not to be missed. Sotune in or connect on the web if you can (and don't forget the repeat on the 26th) and enjoy. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

BSO — 2024/02/10

 This evening's BSO program has only two works. I'll let WCRB tell you about them:

Saturday, February 10, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 19

Karina Canellakis leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Bartók’s chilling and thrilling two-character opera Bluebeard’s Castle, based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill returns to Symphony Hall and German bass-baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle makes his BSO debut. Also returning to the BSO stage is cellist Alisa Weilerstein, performing Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone 

Joseph HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Béla BARTÓK Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 

For a libretto and translation of Duke Bluebeard's Castle, visit Colorado MahlerFest.

To hear a preview of Bluebeard's Castle and Haydn's Cello Concerto with conductor Karina Canellakis, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Karina Canellakis, so good to have you back

The Haydn piece is very pleasant. I hear it on the radio from time to time. As for the Bartók, I was at a BSO performance a nnumber of years ago and my recollection is that I found it dull. I guess it's supposed to be allegorical.

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano 
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
Jeremiah Kissel, narrator

HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Intermission
BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle*

*Concert performance; sung in Hungarian with English supertitles

Thursday evening's concert is supported by Alex Healy. Friday afternoon's performance by the vocal soloists is supported by a generous gift from the Ethan Ayer Vocal Soloist Fund.
Friday afternoon's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by the May and Dan Pierce Guest Artist Fund.
Saturday evening's concert is supported by Mr. C. Thomas Brown.
Saturday evening's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by Professor Paul L. Joskow and Dr. Barbara Chasen Joskow.

American conductor Karina Canellakis returns to lead a concert performance of Béla Bartók’s chilling and evocative opera Bluebeard's Castle. Based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past, the opera features some of Bartók’s most riveting orchestral writing. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill sings the role of Judith, Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg is Bluebeard, and speaker Jeremiah Kissel performs the opera’s Prologue in these performances. To begin these concerts, the innovative American cellist Alisa Weilerstein is soloist in Joseph Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Scholar and writer Lucy Caplan will give the Friday Preview on February 9 at 12:15pm. Admission included with ticket.

Thursday's performance will end around 9:30pm, Friday's performance will end around 3:30pm, and Saturday's performance will end around 10pm.

Regretfully, baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle has had to withdraw from his performances this week in the role of Bluebeard in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle due to illness. We are fortunate that bass-baritone Nathan Berg is able to sing the role in his place at very short notice.

See that page for program notes.

The Globe liked the performances but felt that there was no connection between the pieces. The review in the Intelligencer is quite complete and favorable.

So maybe enjoy the Haydn and give the Bartók a try.

BSO — 2024/02/03

 This is definitely a "must listen" concert. WCRB tells us the basics on their website:

Saturday, February 3, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 12

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra welcome American violinist Randall Goosby, the youngest-ever winner of the Sphinx Concerto Competition, to Symphony Hall! Nelsons conducts Max Bruch’s spirited Violin Concerto No. 1 with Goosby as the soloist, as well as Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, the ReformationSymphony. The concert opens with the overture to the opera The Wreckers by celebrated early 20th century suffragette and composer Dame Ethel Smyth.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin

Dame Ethel SMYTH Overture to The Wreckers
Max BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5, Reformation

To hear Randall Goosby describe his history with Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, what he learned while studying with Itzhak Perlman, and why he's passionate about music by Florence Price, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

To learn more about Ethel Smyth and Isabella Stewart Gardner, visit the Gardner Museum.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: 

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Randall Goosby, here with the Boston Symphony for the very first time. Randall, is it also your first time playing in Symphony Hall at all?

Randall Goosby It is. It's actually my first time stepping foot in Symphony Hall.

I was there for the Friday matinee performance, and it was all good listening. The Bruch and Mendelssohn are familiar pieces and pleasant to hear.(Of course the Reformation itself isn't my favorite thing, but Mendelssohn's symphony is good music.)  The Smyth. on the other hand is something I've never heard  before (and the BSO has never played). It's fascinating and quite musical, although in a style suitable for the story of the opera.

By all means check out the BSO performance detail page for the informative program note about the Overture to The Wreckers (as well as for the other information available). Here's their summary for the concert as a whole:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Randall Goosby, violin

SMYTH Overture to The Wreckers 
BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
Intermission
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5, Reformation

Saturday evening’s concert is in memory of Jane O’Keefe, supported by Cecilia O’Keefe.

Music Director Andris Nelsons opens the program with the overture to the 1906 opera The Wreckers by Dame Ethel Smyth, a composer and suffragist who was one of England’s leading musicians of her time. American violinist Randall Goosby, the youngest-ever winner of the Sphinx Concerto Competition, makes his BSO debut with Max Bruch’s spirited Violin Concerto No. 1. The program closes with Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, composed in 1830 as part of celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The music quotes the familiar hymn “Ein feste Burg,” a link to Reformation leader Martin Luther. 

On February 2 the Friday Preview will be given by Marc Mandel, former BSO Director of Program Publications, at 12:15pm. Admission included with ticket.

Friday's concert will end around 3:15pm, and Saturday's concert will end around 9:45pm.

I can't find a review in the Globe, but there's a favorable one in the Intelligencer, concentrating on the violinist, who was quite good.

Even the familiar music seemed fresh. I also noticed several fresh faces. The contrabassonist looked to be in his twenties, and his low notes were clearly audible . There looked like a couple of new players in the second row of the double basses, and I don't remember seeing the female trombonist. There were also a couple of unfamiliar horn players. Sometime I should look at the orcheedstra's online personnel page to find out a bit about them, but at any rate there's always some change going on as the older members retire and new ones are brought in.

This is a concert well worth hearing. Don't forget the rebroadcast on February 12.