BSO — 2024/10/26

 Last week I was a bit busy and didn't get around to making a regular post, but you can hear the concert on Monday evening at 8:00. It's worth hearing. Here's what's in store for this evening, as told to us by WCRB:

Saturday, October 26, 2024
8:00 PM

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet brings dazzling elegance to Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Antonio Pappano conducts two works that ask deep questions of humanity. Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, with its immediately recognizable opening “sunrise,” is a musical response to Friedrich Nietzsche’s metaphysical novel of the same name. Hannah Kendall uses unusual orchestral techniques and music boxes in her recent O flower of fire, inspired by the work of Guyanese-British poet Martin Carter.

Sir Antonio Pappano, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Hannah KENDALL O flower of fire (American premiere)
Franz LISZT Piano Concerto No. 2
Richard STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra

Sir Antonio Pappano describes the unique qualities of Hannah Kendall's music, and previews the works by Liszt and Strauss on this program, in an interview you can hear using the player above, with the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Sir Antonio Pappano, back here with the Boston Symphony for a really amazing program

WCRB's description is lifted from the BSO performance detail page, where you can also find links to performer bios and program notes, which may be of some interest.

I can't find a review in the Globe but the Intelligencer has one that is generally favorable.

I was there on Friday afternoon and found the Kendall piece quite tolerable, alternating loud and soft passages. I could hear the harmonicas when I saw musicians playing them, and I think I even heard a music box in some very soft passages. But if I never hear it again after this evening and maybe in the rebroadcast on November 4, it will be no great loss. I wish the BSO gave us more of the old curtain raisers such as 19th Century overtures and fewer of these new pieces that they'll probably never want to play again.

The Liszt concerto was fun to listen to, and the Strauss was good as well. Of course, I think the philosophy of Nietzsche which inspired Strauss is balderdash, but the music doesn't depend on it and makes for interesting listening. Until I read thee program note I hadn't realized that the piece had sections corresponding to sections of the book. It may be a bit more interesting to try to follow that program. OTOH it may not be easy to hear the trnsitions from one section to another.

Anyway, this should be a pretty good evening.

BSO — 2024/10/12

 This week we get to hear a great concert. Here's the description from WCRB:

Saturday, October 12, 2024
8:00 PM

Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid makes his BSO subscription debut in a program featuring the glorious Symphony Hall organ: Olivier Latry, organist at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, performs Michael Gandolfi’s Ascending Light, a BSO-commissioned work composed as tribute to Armenian culture on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Camille Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony features the organ prominently in both its serene slow movement and in its majestic Finale. Hector Berlioz’s Waverley Overture evokes the romance and intrigue of Sir Walter Scott’s historical novels.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Olivier Latry, organ

BERLIOZ Waverley Overture
Michael GANDOLFI Ascending Light, for organ and orchestra
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ Symphony

In a conversation with WCRB's Brian McCreath, conductor Samy Rachid describes the foundational role the BSO played in his life as a musician, what led him to be a conductor, and how this concert was programmed. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Samy Rachid, Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony. Samy, 

I haven't read the interview yet, but it should be interesting.

Now here's what the BSO says on their performance detail page:

Samy Rachid, conductor
Olivier Latry, organ

BERLIOZ Waverley Overture
Michael GANDOLFI Ascending Light, for organ and orchestra
-Intermission-
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ Symphony

BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid makes his BSO subscription debut in a program featuring the glorious Symphony Hall organ. Olivier Latry, organist at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, premiered Michael Gandolfi’s Ascending Light here in 2015. The BSO-commissioned work was composed as tribute to Armenian culture on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Camille Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony features the organ prominently in its majestic finale. Hector Berlioz’s Waverley Overture evokes the romance and intrigue of Sir Walter Scott’s historical novels.

The Intelligencer has a rather noncommittal review, although the reviewer did like the conductor's take on the Saint-Saëns. The Globe review is somewhat more enthusiastic.Neither matches my delight in what I saw and heard on Friday afternoon. If you read the Intelligencer, check out the first comment from Mogulmeister. I like what he says.

I greatly enjoyed what I heard and saw, especailly before the intermission. The slender conductor, with a jacket that was closely fitted at the waist, conducted with highly energetic gestures and the music we heard corresponded to his conducting. Il was all rewarding to hear, and I recommend listening as closely as you can tp the "Waverly" Overture and "Light Ascending" Both unfold beautifully. The organ console was placed where I could have a clear view of the keyboards, which was interesting to watch. But again, you'll be able to tell when the organ is playing, especially during "Light Ascending."

So by all means, listen if you possible can, as closely as you can. The program notes on the BSO site can also be helpful for your understanding and enjoyment. I think you'll like this as much a Mogulmeister and I did.