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.