BSO/Classical New England — 2021/01/09

 This week's "encore broadcast" is from February 6, 2016. It's getting late, so I'll just copy what WCRB says about it now and then edit and past my pst from 2016. Overall, my recollection is that it's okay, interesting maybe, but not a "must hear" program.

Saturday at 8pm, soprano Barbara Hannigan sings Hans Abrahamsen's "let me tell you," and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in suites from Shostakovich's "Hamlet" and Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet."

Saturday, January 9, 2021
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from February 6, 2016  

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Barbara Hannigan, soprano

SHOSTAKOVICH Excerpts from the incidental music to Hamlet, Op. 32a
ABRAHAMSEN let me tell you
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64
 

Watch a conversation about let me tell you with composer Hans Abrahamsen, librettist Paul Griffiths, soprano Barbara Hannigan, and others, from the WGBH Forum Network:

Below, in an interview with WCRB's Brian McCreath, Barbara Hannigan describes the origins of let me tell you, why she knew before even seeing the score that it would be a significant work, and what essential items she travels with to maintain her sense of normalcy as a touring musician:

Listen 

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TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath (BMcC) [00:00:00] I'm Brian McCreath from

The Shakespeare festival continues with "Hamlet" before intermission and "Romeo and Juliet" after. The BSO performance detail page offers the following description:

Continuing the BSO's survey of Shostakovich's Stalin-era symphonic works, as well as a three-week focus on works influenced by Shakespeare, Andris Nelsons leads the composer's rarely heard, emotionally charged and evocative incidental music for Shakespeare's Hamlet. His countryman Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet ballet score was one of that composer's most popular works. In between comes a recent work by the Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen, whose wide-ranging, imaginative, and beautifully poignant let me tell you (2014) is based on Paul Griffith's atmospheric novel told from the perspective of Hamlet's Ophelia. Here making her BSO debut, soprano Barbara Hannigan premiered the piece under Andris Nelsons' direction with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2013.

(Some emphasis added.)

[…]

I was there on Thursday evening. It was surprising to read in the program notes that the "Hamlet" for which Shostakovich composed the music being played took the play as a satire on contemporary people and events. The music makes sense when you realize the play was performed for laughs, and it's pretty enjoyable. My reaction to "let me tell you" as it was being performed was largely negative: vocal line without melody or clear relation to the text, other than at a point in Part 2 where the music appropriately evoked an operatic "mad scene." After it was finished, I realized that it had been brilliantly sung and played (especially impressive quiet playing from the brass). One nice touch was the sliding of a piece of paper over the surface of the bass drum in the third part, suggesting the sound of shuffling through snow. On further reflection, I can concede that the musical style may be what is possible at this point: baroque or romantic melody may not be possible. I'm not sure that's true, but this is music of its time. Unlike the first two pieces, the Prokofiev is fairly familiar, and it was enjoyable to hear, if nothing about it was spectacular. There was a nice bit of solo playing from the first chair strings.

The Globe review was definitely favorable. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives much detail about the music, especially the Abrahamsen, not so much about how it was performed. Both are worth reading for their insights into the music.

WCRB will [rebroadcast the concert at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 9, 2016.]

Despite my initial misgivings about "let me tell you," I think it could be interesting to hear if you can tolerate any contemporary classical music. But be sure to have the text from the program notes.[*] I think it works best, perhaps only, when the words are associated with the music — unlike much 19th Century opera where the music is gorgeous even if you don't know what they're saying.

* Regrettably, the program notes are no longer available, but maybe you can find the text by searching for "let me tell you' on the internet.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/01/02

 Tonight it's the concert from January 30, 2016. WCRB says:

Saturday at 8pm, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream set to Mendelssohn's music, as well as other works inspired by the same play by Weber and ].

Saturday, January 2, 2021
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from January 30, 2016

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Amanda Forsythe, soprano
Abigail Fischer, mezzo-soprano
Karen McDonald (Titania)
Carson Elrod (Puck; Mendelssohn)
Antonio Weissinger (Boy; Young Mendelssohn)
Will Lyman (Oberon)
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

WEBER Overture to Oberon
HENZE Symphony No. 8
MENDELSSOHN Incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream

At the time of the original broadcast I wrote:

The Shakespeare Festival begins this week. We have three Midsummer-Night's-Dream-y pieces on the program. First up is Weber's "Oberon" Overture. Strictly speaking, this is only tangentially Shakespearian, since — although he is a character in the play — the opera has him involved in different action. But the music is worth bringing into the festival. Next comes Symphony № 8 by Hans Werner Henze, a BSO commission first performed in 1993. After the intermission we get Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream"with actors and singers dramatizing bits of the music and performing bits of the play.

In addition to the usual links to performer bios, program notes, audio previews, and podcast, the orchestra's performance detail page offers the following take on the program:

Three weeks of BSO concerts-January 28 through February 13-led by Andris Nelsons focus on music inspired by the work of William Shakespeare, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death. This program's focus is the great comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Although Weber's German magical-romantic opera Oberon wasn't based specifically on Shakespeare, it shares its subject matter and sense of mystery. More explicit is Henze's Symphony No. 8, a BSO centennial commission premiered here in 1993. The symphony aims to illustrate certain moments of the play. Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream includes his youthful Overture-the play in a nutshell-as well as the familiar Wedding March, the most famous music Mendelssohn ever wrote.

(Some emphasis added.)

The show played to mixed reviews. The Globe was enthusiastic with minor unspecified reservation. The Boston Musical Intelligencer was dissatisfied with how the Weber was played, brought some astonishing associations to the music of the Henze symphony — completely disregarding the associations provided by the composer and presented in the program notes — and found the presentation of the Mendelssohn well done by some participants but flawed in concept.

I tend to agree with BMInt on the Mendelssohn. It makes sense to put music intended to accompany a play into context, but as constructed the whole seemed less than the sum of its parts. I wonder how it will all come across over radio or webstream without the action being visible. On Thursday, I was very satisfied with the Weber. James Sommerville nailed the horn solos. But I think I know what the BMInt reviewer meant. The Henze seemed to "sorta" fit the elements of the play that it was supposed to illustrate. For a modern piece, it wasn't too tough to take, but it isn't something I'd consider "must hear" music. It's unmelodic.

Listen and decide for yourself over WCRB […] at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time this evening.[…]

Regrettably, the performance detail page is no longer accessible. so we can't review the program notes to see what Henze had in mind for his symphony, although there are a few hints in the Globe review.

Overall, my recommendation is to tune in for the Weber at the beginning and stick around for whatever else interests you.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/26

 Once again, with no effort on my part, it's Saturday; and once again WCRB is taking us back five seasons, to hear an all-Czech concert. Their BSO page informs us:

Saturday, December 26, 2020
8:00 PM

In a 2016 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, Johannes Moser is the soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto, and Ludovic Morlot conducts Smetana's "The Moldau" and Martinu's Sixth Symphony, Fantaisies symphoniques.

Encore broadcast from Jan. 23, 2016

Ludovic Morlot, conductor
Johannes Moser, cello

SMETANA “The Moldau” from Ma Vlast
MARTINŮ Fantaisies symphoniques (Symphony No. 6)
DVORÁK Cello Concerto

WCRB's Brian McCreath talks with Johannes Moser about the Dvorák Cello Concerto and his life as a concert soloist:

Listen 

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Conductor Ludovic Morlot describes the experience of stepping in on short notice to lead this BSO concert and what he learned about Czech music by performing it in Prague:

Listen 

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(Most emphasis added.)

Here, edited to remove content no longer valid, is what I wrote at that point in time:

This week it's an all-Czech program under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, who has stepped in to replace Czech conductor Jiři Bělohlávek, who had been scheduled to conduct these concerts. First on the program is Vltava (The Moldau), by Smetana. That is followed by Martinů'sFantaisies symphoniques (Symphony № 6). After intermission, Johannes Moser is soloist in Dvořák's Cello Concerto. The orchestra's performance detail page has […] the following note about two of the pieces on the program (no idea why they don't mention the Dvořák):

Seattle Symphony Orchestra Music Director and former BSO Assistant Conductor Ludovic Morlot  leads an all-Czech program featuring three different generations of composers. Smetana was the first and most important Czech nationalist composer, and the tone poem The Moldau, from his large orchestral suite My Country, is by far his most familiar piece. Bohuslav Martinů studied in Paris and adopted a more cosmopolitan style, but a Czech flavor infuses much of his work. The rich and colorful, thirty-minute Fantaisies symphoniques was commissioned for the orchestra's 75th anniversary and was premiered in 1955.

I'm not familiar with the Martinů symphony, but the others are staples of the repertory and pleasant enough to listen to. The Globe's reviewerwas pleased with the performances and even more pleased that the orchestra was playing the symphony they had commissioned over 60 years ago. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a very favorable review, including a very imaginative description if the Martinů. I had to miss the concert in order to attend a meeting I needed to be at, so I  can't add anything to the published reviews. Based on them, I'm looking forward to the broadcast on WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Saturday […]. It is also streamed over the web at [that time].

[…]

So I think this'll be worth hearing, although the Martinů may be a bit "advanced." Enjoy!

And here's the link for the review in the Intelligencer, which I neglected to include in my original post.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/19

WCRB does not identify this week's BSO presentation as a concert from a specific date. The conductor, Seiji Ozawa, was Music Director of the Boston Symphony from 1973 through 2002, so we will likely be hearing music from that era. I'm guessing it's from "studio" recordings rather than live concerts. Here's how WCRB describes it:

Saturday at 8pm, in a timeless holiday season tradition, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra bring to life Tchaikovsky's magical tale of Christmas, Sugar Plum Fairies, and one very handsome prince.

Saturday, December 19, 2020
8:00 PM

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor

BACH/STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel hoch
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's Farewell" from Part 2 of L'enfance du Christ

So it seems that there are none of the usual performance detail pages, program notes, or reviews available, and it's nothing I wrote about. I'm sure you know enough about "The Nutcracker." If not, I'm leaving you to your own devices to research it. But, for those for whom "Vom Himmel Hoch" and "L'enfance du Christ" aren't familiar here are some links and comments.

This wiki article includes the text and standard 19th Century English translation. Here is a performance.

"L'enfance du Christ" is agood piece about Jesus' birth and the flight into Egypt to escape King Herod's attempt to murder him as a rival for the throne. The shepherds' Farewell is definitely a highlight of the work. Here's a program note from the Los Angeles Philharmonic whic gives an idea of the entire work and of the place of the excerpts we'll get.

Here's the text of the Shepherds' Chorus in French:

CHŒUR DES BERGERS

Il s’en va loin de la terre
Où dans l’étable il vit le jour.
De son père et de sa mère
Qu’il reste le constant amour,
Qu’il grandisse, qu’il prospère
Et qu’il soit bon père à son tour. 

Oncques si, chez l’idolâtre,
Il vient à sentir le malheur,
Fuyant la terre marâtre,
Chez nous qu’il revienne au bonheur.
Que la pauvreté du pâtre
Reste toujours chère à son cœur. 

Cher enfant, Dieu te bénisse!
Dieu vous bénisse, heureux époux!
Que jamais de l’injustice
Vous ne puissiez sentir les coups.
Qu’un bon ange vous avertisse
Des dangers planant sur vous.

And an English setting (noy exactly a translation, more a loose paraphrase, but it gives the general idea):

Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling,
the humble crib, the stable bare.
Babe, all mortal babes excelling,
content our earthly lot to share.
Loving father, loving mother,
shelter thee with tender care!

Blessed Jesus, we implore thee,
with humble love and holy fear.
In the land that lies before thee,
forget not us who linger here!
May the shepherd’s lowly calling,
ever to thy heart be dear!

Blest are ye beyond all measure,
thou happy father, mother mild!
Guard ye well your heavenly treasure,
the Prince of Peace, the Holy Child!
God go with you, God protect you,
guide you safely through the wild!

All in all, it should be an enjoyable program at 8:00 p.m. over WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/12

 This week, the encore broadcast is the second of the two programs François-Xavier Roth led to begin January 2016.

Here's what WCRB says about it now:

Saturday at 8pm, the American soprano joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall in works by Dutilleux and Canteloube, and François-Xavier Roth leads the BSO in music by Debussy and Stravinsky.

Saturday, December 12, 2020
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from January 16, 2016

Boston Symphony Orchestra
François-Xavier Roth, conductor
Renée Fleming, soprano

DEBUSSY Jeux
DUTILLEUX Le Temps l'Horloge
CANTELOUBE Selections from Songs of the Auvergne
STRAVINSKY Petrouchka

Here, edited, is what I said nearly five years ago:

In a desperate — but not really necessary, IMO — attempt to attract new audiences, the BSO will be giving a different program on Friday from that on Thursday and Saturday — an amalgam of last week and this week's regular programs. They'll be giving last week's Mozart and this week's Stravinsky at 8:00 p.m. They call it a "Casual Friday," which is laughable, because every concert is casual as far as acceptable dress is concerned: shirts and shoes are required for "gentlemen" but t shirts will do, and hats are permitted indoors. What is different from normal breaches of etiquette is that the use of electronic devices will be permitted, nay, encouraged, during the show. As they put it on their [performance detail] page for Friday:

This evening's concert is the first of three in our "Casual Fridays" Series. There are two more concerts this season- one in February and one in March. Tickets range between $25 to $45, include a complimentary pre-concert reception and patrons are invited to wear their favorite casual attire. This series also includes the use of tablets in a designated area in the rear of the orchestra floor where you can view customized content, designed to enhance the concert experience, to include an in-depth look at the conductors and soloists, and informative notes on the program. Then, immediately after the performance, head to Higginson Hall in Symphony Hall's adjacent Cohen Wing, where, besides enjoying live music, snacks, and a cash bar, you are invited to mingle and share what you've just experienced at the BSO concert.

For the more stodgy among the audience, the program on Thursday and Saturday, includes music by Debussy, songs by Dutilleux and Canteloube sung by Renée Fleming, and Petrushka by Stravinsky in the 1911 version — all with François-Xavier Roth on the podium. The [performance] detail page for this concert provides […]the following (out of order) description of what they'll perform:

François-Xavier Roth returns for a second week of concerts at Symphony Hall with a French-leaning program. These BSO performances of Henri Dutilleux's song cycle Le Temps l'Horloge ("Time and the Clock") mark the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth. An important figure in BSO history, Dutilleux wrote these songs for Renée Fleming as a BSO co-commission for the orchestra's 125th anniversary. Fleming gave their American premiere with the BSO in 2007. She also sings selections from Canteloube's ravishing, folk-song-based Songs of the Auvergne. Opening and closing the program are ballet scores composed for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes-Debussy's luminously orchestrated Jeux ("Games"), an abstract ballet about a game of tennis, and Stravinsky's Petrushka, which follows the travails of a hapless living puppet at a Shrovetide Fair in Russia.

(Emphasis added.)

The reviewer in the Boston Musical Intelligencer, being a musicologist, observed a lot in all four pieces that escaped my notice, and found it all quite satisfying. The Globe review was less detailed on musical fine points, but generally laudatory.

I was there on Thursday. I thought Ms. Fleming sang beautifully, but the songs themselves were nothing to write home about. The Canteloube, after the intermission, at least had the benefit of music that fit the text, so if you listen, it would be a good idea to read the program notes and the texts. I didn't notice any real connection between the words of the Dutilleux songs and the successions of notes to which they were sung. Petrushka is not so brutal as Rite of Spring, and it has a couple of nice tunes that keep coming back, so it's listenable. As for the Debussy ballet which opens the program, although I didn't catch all the stuff the BMInt reviewer did, it wasn't too bad, especially for Debussy.

As always, you can hear it […] at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time (EST) over WCRB's broadcast and streaming facilities. […]

In summary, I found the program listenable enough. As I said to someone who hadn't been there, "I'm glad I heard the pieces, but I don't need to hear any of them again." You might like some or all of it better. So, while I wouldn't call it a "must hear," I think it's worth a listen. […].

Since the performance detail pages from "way back then" are, regrettably, no longer on line, you'll have to do an online search for "Songs of the Auvergne," if you want to follow along with the lyrics.

At this moment, I think I may listen to the Beethoven Orgy on WHRB, 95.3 FM, instead of this. As I said, I don't need to hear any of those pieces again.

Winter Orgy® Period 2020

I've already missed the Warhorse Orgy this time around, and by the I've written and posted this, the Hilliard Ensemble Orgy will be over. But that's all the classical music orgies that are scheduled until Friday. Then we get the main event, The Beethoven Orgy®, in honor of his 250th birthday. It begins on December 11 at 8:00 a.m., EST, and continues through December 18, concluding each day at 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., with occasional interruptions such as the Memorial Church Service on Sunday morning. They promise every piece of music Beethoven wrote, with some special presentations interrupting the chronological flow.

There's also a 1920's Orgy (not just classical) and a Shakespeare Orgy, and on December 24 the David Eliot Orgy, originally presented when he retired. David Eliot joined Harvard Radio as a student and, after his graduation in 1964, became the leader of the station until ALS forced his retirement in 2018. He died from the disease last month.

Here's a link to the program guide. There you'll find listings of the music to be played on each day of the orgies and listings of orgies in other genres — jazz, rock, folk, traditional — which you may also enjoy listening to. That page also gives a button for listening on line and the frequency to listen over the airwaves if you're within range.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/05

 Five years ago, it was HolidayPops season in Symphony Hall, so WCRB has fast-forwarded a month to January 9, 2016, for the following:

Saturday at 8pm, François-Xavier Roth leads the BSO in Gossec's Symphonie à 17 parties and Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, as well as Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp, featuring BSO Principal Flutist Elizabeth Rowe and BSO Principal Harpist Jessica Zhou.

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Encore broadcast from January 9, 2016

Boston Symphony Orchestra
François-Xavier Roth, conductor
Elizabeth Rowe, flute
Jessica Zhou, harp

GOSSEC Symphonie à 17 parties
MOZART Concerto in C for Flute and Harp, K.299
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"

The page also has interviews with the conductor and with the soloists in the Mozart.

Below, edited and revised to remove content no longer valid, is what I posted back at the time:

It should be a very enjoyable concert when the Boston Symphony Orchestra resumes its subscription series on January 7-12. Guest conductor François-Xavier Roth opens the concert with the Symphonie à 17 parties in F by François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829), whose music has never before been played by the BSO. Then Elizabeth Rowe,flute, and Jessica Zhou, harp, are soloists in Mozart's Concerto in C for Flute and Harp. After intermission we will hear Beethoven'sSymphony № 3, "Eroica." […]Here's what [the performance detail page says] about the program:

BSO principal flute Elizabeth Rowe and principal harp Jessica Zhou join French conductor François-Xavier Roth for Mozart's masterful Concerto in C for Flute and Harp. The Belgian-born François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829), whose music the BSO has never played, was a Haydn contemporary who outlived both Beethoven and Schubert. Active in Paris during the Revolution and the rise of Napoleon, he composed virtually nothing in the final thirty years of his life. One of two noted exceptions is the ebullient 1809 Symphony for Seventeen Parts. By contrast, Beethoven's towering Eroica Symphony, composed five years earlier, ushers in seismic changes in the form, scale, and impact of the symphonic genre.

Reviews are tepid. In the Globe,  the reviewer found the Mozart well played by the soloists, the Gossec given a perfunctory performance by the players, and the Beethoven lacking overall cohesion. The BMInt reviewer was much happier with the Beethoven and liked the Gossec. He was satisfied with the playing of the Mozart, but considers the music inferior Mozart.

I found the Gossec pleasant but not extremely inspired. Maybe hearing it again on Saturday will open it up more for me. Anyway, it should be enjoyable to listen to. The other two pieces are familiar, especially the Beethoven, and I found the performances satisfying. Personally, I was happy to see a couple of the new members of the orchestra take leading roles. Clint Foreman had the first chair in the flute section for the Gossec and the Beethoven, since Elizabeth Rowe had soloist duties in the Mozart, and he carried off his solos quite well, as far as I could tell, despite apparently being bothered by a cold. Wesley Collins was given first chair in the violas for the Gossec. At a couple of points, he seemed to smile approvingly at the second chair player after they played a passage, as if to say, "Yes! you/we nailed it!"

WCRB will [rebroadcast and stream the concert at 8:00 p.m. EST.]

Despite all the reservations expressed by the reviewers, I think it is a concert that everybody can enjoy hearing. I'd even call it a "must hear," so I cordially recommend that you listen.

My recommendation still holds: listen if you can.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/11/28

 Once more this week, WCRB rebroadcasts the concert performed five years ago today, described as follows on their webpage:

Saturday at 8pm, Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons leads teh Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Symphony No. 30, "Alleluia," by Haydn, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, "Winter Daydreams."

Saturday, November 28, 2020
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from November 28, 2015

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

HAYDN Symphony No. 30, "Alleluja"
BARTÓK Piano Concerto No. 2
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1, "Winter Daydreams"

Back in 2015, I wrote about it as follows (edited to remove content no longer valid):

That's right, instead of running from Thursday through Saturday (or the occasional following Tuesday) this week's program is being given, as shown by the dates in the title, [2015/11/24-28 on the original post] from Tuesday through Saturday, because there is no concert on Thanksgiving Day. (Unlike certain retail giants, the BSO gives its people the day off.)

It's a concert I would have liked to attend in person and one I'm looking forward to hearing. I'll listen to the Haydn and Bartók live, and the Tchaikovsky during the rebroadcast December 7.The Bartók may be a bit challenging, but the rest should be pleasant. The BSO's performance detail page gives this description (reversing the order of the first two pieces):

Andris Nelsons and Yefim Bronfman collaborate with the BSO in Bartók's dazzling Piano Concerto No. 2, a formidably difficult work the composer wrote for himself to perform. Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 30, Alleluja, dating from 1765, takes its nickname from the Gregorian chant melody in its first movement. Another relative rarity is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, Winter Daydreams. Begun in 1866 but not premiered until 1883, the symphony is the earliest major work by the composer, and is saturated with elements of Russian folk music style.

(Emphasis added.)

The Globe's review is favorable, as is that in the Boston Musical Intelligencer; although the latter is less than completely satisfied with the sound in the Haydn.

You can listen live on air or via the web on WCRB this evening (Nov. 28) at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time.

Since the BSO's performance detail page is no longer accessible, you can't get the sorts of material that is usually linked on it.

Unfortunately, I'll have to miss the Tchaikovsky, since it will be broadcast during my brother's phone call from Japan, It's a pleasant piece, and you'll probably like it.

So, this is one I definitely recommend for the Haydn and Tchaikovsky. I don't remember the Bartók concerto, so I express no opinion about it.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/11/21

WCRB describes this week's retrospective as follows:

Saturday at 8pm, Isabelle Faust is the soloist in Alban Berg's Violin Concerto, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus sings Bach's Komm, Jesu, komm! and Es ist genug, and the BSO performs the Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich, all conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Saturday, November 21, 2020
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from November 21, 2015
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

J.S. BACH Komm, Jesu, komm!, BWV 229
J.S. BACH Es ist genug, from Cantata No. 60
BERG Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

 This concert is no longer available on-demand.

Back then I wrote:

I don't know how to introduce this week's concert, so I'll simply quote the BSO's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads this intriguing program of seemingly disconnected works. Two of the most important works of the 20th century, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Alban Berg's Violin Concertowere composed within two years of one another. Shostakovich's symphony, which follows a trajectory from darkness to triumph, has long been considered his reaction to official condemnation of his music by the Soviet government, but the reality is far subtler than that.Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was composed as a memorial to eighteen-year-old Manon Gropius (daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler); the entire work is suffused with elegy. Its second movement quotes Bach'schorale Es ist genug, which has deep musical connections to Berg's piece. That brief Bach chorale from Cantata No. 60, as well as the short motet Komm, Jesu, komm!, open and set the tone for this program.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are recording these performances of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 for a release in May, 2016!

(Some emphasis added.)

What they don't tell you in the above blurb is that the violin soloist is Isabelle Faust and that the order of performance is Bach, Berg, Shostakovich. This concert is part of my subscription, but I'm really not interested in hearing either the Berg or the Shostakovich. If I'd been more alert, I'd have exchanged my ticket to this one for a ticket to either February 4th's concert of Shakespeare-related music, or to the one on March 29 which is in the series giving an American premiere; but after the attacks in Paris, I was content to be there because of the aspect of confronting tragedy and death which the program had.

The review in the Boston Globe isn't exactly glowing, but definitely favorable. The Boston Musical Intelligencer analyzes not only the music but also the performances, noting distinctive elements in Maestro Nelsons' approach.

As for me, I didn't catch most of the features that the program notes and interviews had pointed out, except when the winds repeated the "Es ist genug" theme toward the end of the Berg concerto. I'm beginning to think that I listen too hard at these concerts. Maybe I shouldn't bother to try to catch everything that's happening and just let it wash over me. Having some idea what to expect may be a good thing, but maybe I don't need to try to pick it all out as it happens.

You can hear it for yourself via WCRB's broadcast or webstream at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, on November 21.

(Edited for relevance.)

This is one I'd probably skip if it weren't customary for me to listen to these broadcasts. In fact I might even see if WHRB is playing anything good at 8:00. So I won't blame you if you find something else to do this evening — or maybe switch away after the Bach pieces.