BSO — 2024/09/28

 The Boston Symphony Orchestra begins its subscription series in Symphony Hall this week, and WCRB will broadcast the Saturday concerts as usual. Here's how they describe this week's offering:

Saturday, September 28, 2024
8:00 PM

The Boston Symphony Orchestra launches its 2024-25 season with an all-American program led by Music Director Andris Nelsons, including works by critically-acclaimed composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and inaugural BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon. Also, BSO Principal Clarinet William R. Hudgins is the soloist in Aaron Copland’s delightful Clarinet Concerto, contrasted with Samuel Barber’s soulful Adagio for Strings.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
William R. Hudgins, clarinet

Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light
Aaron COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
Samuel BARBER Adagio for Strings
Carlos SIMON Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra

Meet BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon in an interview with WCRB's Brian McCreath.

Hear a preview of Copland's Clarinet Concerto with William R. Hudgins using the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Bill Hudgins, Principal Clarinetist of the Boston Symphony.

There was an opening night gala on September 19, but this week the regular season begins. Let's see what the orchestra's performance detail page says.

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
William R. Hudgins, clarinet 

Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light 
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto 
BARBER Adagio for Strings 
Carlos SIMON Wake Up: A Concerto for Orchestra 

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads this all-American program including works by inaugural BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon and recent music by Sarah Kirkland Snider, both of which explore social justice via a musical lens. Two mid-20th-century classics are also featured: BSO Principal Clarinet William R. Hudgins is soloist in Aaron Copland’s delightfully energetic Clarinet Concerto, contrasting with Samuel Barber’s soulful, evergreen Adagio for Strings.

The usual program notes describing the pieces to be performed are linked, as are the performer bios.

The reviews are in. The Intelligencer is blandly approving. The Globe thinks the Copland needed more rehearsal, but is otherwise favorable.

Other than the "Adagio for Strings," this is unfamiliar to me. although I heard the Snider piece when it was performed last spring. This concert hardly qualifies as "must listen," but it could be interesting.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/09/21

 This evening we get the last of the encore broadcasts before live BSO concerts resum at Symphony Hall.

WCRB informs us:

Saturday, September 21, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, Hilary Hahn returns to Symphony Hall and the Boston Symphony as the soloist in the Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms. The program, led by Andris Nelsons, also includes Mozart’s charming, lesser-known Symphony No. 33 and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s orchestrally imaginative Archora, inspired by the primordial energy of her Icelandic homeland.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin

Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Archora 
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Symphony No. 33
Johannes BRAHMS Violin Concerto

This concert was originally broadcast on April 20, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear a preview of Brahms's Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn, as well as her reflections of her #100daysofpractice Instagram series, use the player above and read the transcript below.

Hear more from Hilary Hahn, with Jeremy Siegel, on GBH's Morning Edition.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Hilary Hahn

And here is the synopsis from the BSO's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Hilary Hahn, violin

Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Archora
MOZART Symphony No. 33
Intermission
BRAHMS Violin Concerto

Thursday evening's performance by Hilary Hahn is supported by the Roberta M. Strang Memorial Fund.
Thursday evening’s concert is in memory of Eric N. Birch, supported by Sandra O. Moose.
Friday afternoon's concert is supported by the Plimpton Shattuck Fund.
Saturday evening’s performance by Hilary Hahn is supported by Jerry Nelson
Support for this program has been provided, in part, by the E. Nakamichi Foundation

Opening the program is Wolfgang Mozart’s charming Symphony No. 33, followed by Anna Thorvaldsdottir's monumental work Archora, a recording of which was named among the best of 2023 by the Boston Globe, New York Times, and NPR. Closing the program, international star Hilary Hahn is soloist in one of the greatest works in the repertoire: Brahms’s Violin Concerto. Brahms composed this rich, lyrical work in 1878 for, and with the advice of, his friend Joseph Joachim, a towering virtuoso of the age.

I posted about it at the time and concluded "The program wasn't part of my subscription, so I can't give you any personal impressions. The review in the Globe was favorable and gives an encouraging overview of the Thorvaldsdottir piece. The Intelligencer is also favorable, with a more detailed description of the Thorvaldsdottir.

"All in all, this semms like a concert worth hearing."

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/09/07

This week's encore broadcast is one I didn't post about because I was still getting home from my Rhine Cruise #MyVikingCruise. I'll try to find the BSO performance detail page and reviews for you. Here's what WCRB says: 

Saturday, September 7, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee leads Henri Tomasi’s sultry, atmospheric Saxophone Concerto with soloist Steven Banks in his BSO debut. The piece is bookended by César Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit, or "The Accursed Huntsman," and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, both exploring the power of fate.

Earl Lee, conductor
Steven Banks, saxophone

César FRANCK Le Chasseur maudit
Henri TOMASI Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

This concert was originally broadcast on November 25, 2023, and is no longer available on demand.

In a conversation with WCRB's Brian McCreath, Steven Banks describes the qualities that make Tomasi's Saxophone Concerto unique among concertos for the instrument, as well as what it takes to cover the full range of saxophone repertoire, and Earl Lee talks about his experiences conducting Franck's Le Chasseur maudit and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB, at Symphony Hall with BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee and saxophonist Steven Banks. It's so good

The interview is worth reading or listening to.

The BSO performance detail page, in addition to the links to performer bios and program notes on each piece, gives us the following synopsis:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Earl Lee, conductor 
Steven Banks, saxophone

FRANCK Le Chasseur maudit 
TOMASI Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Intermission
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

French composer César Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit — “The Cursed Hunter” — is based on a ballad about a man commits the grave sin of hunting on the Sabbath and is doomed to be eternally chased by demons. BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee leads the sultry, atmospheric 1949 Saxophone Concerto by French composer Henri Tomasi; making his BSO debut, American Steven Banks is one of today’s leading classical saxophone performers. The program closes with the emotional turmoil of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, which opens with the famous “fate” motif, and sweetened by the composer’s great gift for beautiful melody.

Neither the Globe nor the Musical Intelligencer carried a review, so all I can say is it should be worth listening to. The Franck piece gets played occasionally on the radio, and it's not bad. Of course the Tchaikovsky is a staple of the repertoire, and from the interview, it seems the Tomasi should be interesting. So enjoy.