BSO — 2025/11/29

 This evening the BSO gives us standard 19th Century music, namely Dvořák's Cello Concerto followed, after intermission, by his Symphony № 8. Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/an-all-dvorak-program-with-rachid-ferrandez-and-the-bso

Saturday, November 29, 2025
8:00 PM

Samy Rachid leads the Boston Symphony in an all-Dvořák program, featuring the Czech composer’s folk-inspired Eighth Symphony and his beloved Cello Concerto, with award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

All-Dvořák program 
Antonín DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Pablo Ferrandez appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

The interviews available on the page should be interesting.

Here's the blurb on the BSO performance detail page, which also has the usual links to performer bios and program notes: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-28-29-dvorak?performance=2025-11-29-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Samy Rachid, conductor Pablo Ferrández, Cello DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8  

Award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández returns to Symphony Hall to perform one of the most beloved works in the cello repertoire. Written while the composer was living and teaching in the U.S., Dvořák’s Cello Concerto weaves a virtuosic solo line into a rich orchestral tapestry that both pays tribute to and draws inspiration from his Bohemian homeland. The Eighth Symphony is a similarly folk-inspired work, warm and full of charm. Filled with folk dance rhythms and unexpected harmonic shifts, it captures the composer’s deep connection to his home.

If you can't access the bios and program notes via my quote, you'll have to go the the actual BSO page and click on the arrow after the item you want.

I was at the performance in Friday and thought it was very good. The conductor wore a nicely tailored suit, narrow at the waist, and conducted with clear but not excessive gestures to which the orchestra responded well. The enthusiastic review in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/29/free-range/ expresses it more completely and with pictures so you cab see the suit.

I caught much of Robert Kirzinger's pre-concert talk and he called attention to the prominence of the flute in these pieces, which gives a special interest to Brian McCreath's interview with Lorna McGhee in which they discuss the flute part in the s8th Symphony.

If you can't listen this evening, by all means try to catch the rebroadcast at 8 p.m., Boston Time, on December 8.

BSO — 2025/11/22

 Unfamiliar music forms the first part of this evening's concert, a recent composition followed by a largely unknown concerto from mid 20th Century. Neither is too tough to take (at least for me). After intermission we get something much more familiar. Here's what WCRB has on their website: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/joshua-bell-the-bso-and-de-hartmanns-violin-concerto

Saturday, November 22, 2025
8:00 PM

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler leads the rarely heard Violin Concerto by Thomas de Hartmann, with soloist Joshua Bell. The program also spotlights two works of vivid storytelling: Grace-Evangeline Mason’s 2021 work The Imagined Forest and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Anna Handler, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Grace-Evangeline MASON The Imagined Forest
Thomas DE HARTMANN Violin Concerto
Modest MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition

In an interview with CRB's Brian McCreath, Anna Handler describes the experience of being called to step in to conduct this program on short notice, her trust in colleagues both within the BSO and from the wider musical world, and her fascination with Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Anna Handler, who is our conductor for the Boston Symphony this week, which wasn't the case a week ago or so, but Anna, thank you for your time today. I appreciate it.

Anna Handler Thank you for having me. It's a very, very interesting and exciting moment in my development and my life right now.

Brian McCreath And the reason for that is that the originally scheduled conductor couldn't be here because of an injury apparently. But here you are

The interview is quite interesting as it goes on to tell of the circumstances of the confuctor's learning that she would have to confuct rehearsals as well as the concert performances, and how she scrambled to be reaady.

The BSO performance detail page gives us the following, with links to performer bios and program notes: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-20-22-mason-hartm-mussor?performance=2025-11-22-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Anna Handler, conductor Joshua Bell, violin Grace-Evangeline MASON The Imagined Forest  DE HARTMANN Violin Concerto       intermissionMUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition  

Violin superstar Joshua Bell performs Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto, a rediscovered gem full of drama, technical virtuosity, and beautiful motifs. Grace-Evangeline Mason’s The Imagined Forest takes the audience on a journey through the fantasy, folklore, and danger of the woodlands. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with its distinct storytelling, hilarious characters, and epic finale, unfolds like a vivid musical gallery, each movement painting a scene. BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler leads this program in her Symphony Hall debut. 

I was at the Friday afternoon concert and found the music of the first half quite tolerable, even if I wouldn't have imagined a forest listening to the first piece. Joshua Bell was outstanding in the concerto, at times playing so softly I could just barely hear him in the back of the auditorium.

The Globe reviewer https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/22/arts/bso-anna-handler-joshua-bell/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results was very pleased. There is no review yet in the Intelligencer.

In some ways, this is a major event. In other ways, it is second tier, but still very good, music exceptionally well performed. I definitely think it's worth a listen.

BSO — 2025/11/15

 Tomight's BSO concert hives us a couple of new pieces (one a world premiere this week) before intermission, and a "warhorse" of the repertory after. WCRB says: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/slobodeniouk-conducts-brahms-sierra-and-a-world-premiere

Saturday, November 15, 2025
8:00 PM

Dima Slobodeniouk conducts the Boston Symphony in the highly anticipated world premiere of Tania León’s Time to Time. Afterwards, James Carter is the soloist in Roberto Sierra’s Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra, and the BSO performs Brahms’s lyrically pastoral Second Symphony.

This performance is part of the E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One celebration, honoring the diverse voices that shape our nation’s musical heritage. Inspired by the spirit of America’s motto, E Pluribus Unum: From Many One is a multi-year celebration that embraces the plurality and singularity of American music. The 2025–26 season’s repertoire includes about three dozen works by composers who have woven the rich tapestry of American music, from Copland, Barber, and Bernstein to modern trailblazers like John Williams, John Adams, Tania León, and Carlos Simon.

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
James Carter, saxophones

Tania LEÓN Time to Time (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Roberto SIERRA Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra
Johannes BRAHMS Symphony No. 2

In a preview of this program, Dima Slobodeniouk describes the signature sound of music by Tania León, the excitement of Sierra's Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra, and what it means to perform Brahms with the BSO. Listen in the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Dima Slobodeniouk, back with the Boston Symphony after some exciting stuff over the summer, but here you are now at Symphony Hall. So Dima, thanks for your time today, I appreciate it.

Dima Slobodeniouk Hi Brian, great to be back

The BSO's performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/nov-13-15-leon-sierra?performance=2025-11-15-20:00 has links to performers bios and program notes (which may give some idea of what to expect, especially before the intermission). There is also the following overview:

Frequent guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk leads this celebration of Caribbean composers, beginning with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban American Tania León’s BSO-commissioned Time to Time, whose title reveals the composer’s characteristic preoccupation with duration and rhythm. Puerto Rico-born Roberto Sierra wrote his effervescent, jazz- and Latin-tinged concerto especially for James Carter’s lyricism and technical prowess on both soprano and tenor sax. Johannes Brahms’ Second Symphony is considered among his warmest, most pastoral works.

There is a favorable review https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/15/arts/bso-tania-leon-brahms/?event=event12 in the Globe. The review in the Intelligencer is also favorable https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/15/leon-ierra-brahms-backseated/ and very descriptive.

I'm interested to actually hear the new pieces.

BSO — 2025/11/08

 Tonight the BSO gives us a tribute to long time maestro Seiji Ozawa with Japanese conductor and violin soloist and a piece by a Japanese composer — all with connections to Ozawa. We find the following at WCRB's website: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/okisawas-bso-debut-and-tribute-to-seiji-ozawassical Music on WCRB

                Saturday, November 8, 2025

                8:00 PM

Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa, a protégée of former BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa, makes her BSO debut with Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Takemitsu’s Requiem for strings, a work Stravinsky hailed as a masterpiece. The Ozawa tribute continues with Midori, a longtime Ozawa collaborator, as soloist in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto.

Nodoka Okisawa, conductor
Midori, violin

Tōru TAKEMITSU Requiem for strings
Antonín DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

Learn about Seiji Ozawa's history and incredible legacy with the BSO.

See the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Nodoka Okisawa, who's here with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the very first time. Ms. Okisawa, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it.

Nodoka Okisawa Thank you so much

Here's how the BSO introduces the concert on their performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-6-8-takemitsu-dvorak?performance=2025-11-08-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Nodoka Okisawa, conductor Midori, violin TAKEMITSU Requiem for strings  DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7  

Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa was mentored by longtime BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa, who appointed her the first principal guest conductor of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto (formerly Saito Kinen) Festival. She makes her BSO debut, leading a program that is the first in our series of concerts examining the last three symphonies of Antonín Dvořák, whose work Ozawa especially loved. She is joined by beloved violinist Midori, a longtime Ozawa collaborator. The great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, whose work Ozawa and the BSO promoted, was one of the first composers to gain a reputation in the West with his Requiem for strings — a work deemed a masterpiece by Igor Stravinsky.

As is often the case, there are links to performer bios and program notes. Click on the arrows.

I don't see a review in the lGlobe. The one in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/08/okisawa-midori/ is largely favorable but complains at several points that the orchestra was playing too loudly.

It seems this will be worth hearing.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/11/01

 This evening the Boston Pops is performing a "Day of the Deasd" show in Symphony Hall so WCRB is giving us an encore performance of the BSO concert of October 26 last year, which they describe as follows: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2024-08-16/pappano-thibaudet-and-the-bso

Saturday, November 1, 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, 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

This concert was originally broadcast on October 26, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

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

I heard the Friday afternoon performance last year and posted about it then. Although the BSO performance detail page is still available, I can't find links to the program notes for each piece. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did. https://www.bso.org/events/kendall-liszt-strauss?performance=2024-10-26-20:00#overview1678804

Anyway, it seems that you nay well like it.