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.