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.