BBSO/Classical New England — 2021/07/03

 Once more we get an encore broadcast of the BSO from WCRB. NextSaturday live concert broadcasts resume from Tanglewood. This evening's "encore broadcast" features some infrequently heard music that could be interesting. Here's what WCRB says on their website:

In an encore broadcast, Lisa Batiashvili is the soloist in Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Copland's majestic Third Symphony.

Saturday, July 3, 2021
8:00 PM

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Lisa Batiashvili, violin

Olly WILSON Lumina
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 1
COPLAND Symphony No. 3

Encore broadcast from Saturday, February 9, 2019

Hear a preview of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Lisa Batiashvili in the player above.

Interview transcript:

Brian McCreath [00:00:00] I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Lisa Batiashvili, and Lisa, it's so good to see you here back in Boston. It's been quite a while. I do remember your Tanglewood performance from a few years ago, which was fantastic. But thanks for taking a few minutes with me right now to talk about Szymanowski.

As you can see from what I wrote at the time, I didn't like the Wilson piece, but found the remainder okay.

It's all 20th Century music this week, but it could be worse. Some of it is very good and some of the rest isn't tough to take (at least for me). I'll let the BSO's [performance] detail page give the introduction:

The Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili joins Andris Nelsons and the BSO as soloist in the important Polish composer Karol Szymanowski'sViolin Concerto No. 1, a brilliant piece colored by both French Impressionism and German late Romanticism. American orchestral works open and close the concert. The St. Louis-born Olly Wilson, who died in March 2018 (and whose Sinfonia was commissioned by the BSO for its centennial), was a longtime faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. His well-traveled orchestral work Lumina is a scintillating, single-movement orchestral landscape. Aaron Copland'sSymphony No. 3, premiered by the BSO under Serge Koussevitzky in 1946, is a substantial, expressively rich work incorporating the composer's familiar Fanfare for the Common Man as the theme of its final movement.

(Some emphasis added.)
Don't forget the links to performer bios and other info on the performance detail page.

I attended the performance on Thursday. The opening piece struck me as unmelodious and disjointed. I thought of Elliot Carter and Milton Babbitt, but this wasn't quite as cacophonous as their stuff. Anyway, I wouldn't blame anybody for skipping it. (The problem is knowing when to come back for the next piece. You should be safe if you're tuned in by 8:17.) Or, you might want to listen and see if it's better than I think it is. In the past Szymanowski's music has also struck me as unpleasant, but this is better than the things of his I had previously heard, so it was a pleasant surprise — lush is a word that comes to mind for the overall impression. After intermission Copland did not disappoint.

The reviews are in, and while both the Globe and the more extensive Intelligencer found minor details to criticize, both were generally satisfied. An interesting sidelight: when the reviewer in the Intelligencer, Mark DeVoto, was a college student, Aaron Copland autographed DeVoto's copy of the score of this evening's symphony.

As always, you can go to the WCRB website for information about their programs as well as the link to their live stream, where you can listen this evening at 8:00, EST if you're outside their broadcast range.[…]

I wonder if they chose this concert for this weekend because it includes Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Anyway, there it is.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/06/26

 WCRB posts the following:

Saturday, June 26, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from 2017, Leonidas Kavakos is the soloist in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons and the BSO traverse the mountainous panorama of Richard Strauss's An Alpine Symphony.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Derek BERMEL Elixir
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

When I posted about it, I hadn't heard it, and I can't recall it now. So here, FWIW, ia what I said on December 12, 2017:

After this evening, the Boston Symphony gives way to Holiday Pops until January. In December, WCRB will give rebroadcasts of three concerts from last summer at Tanglewood and, on December 23, Christmas-themed music conducted by Seiji Ozawa. For now, I'll let the BSO's performance detail page tell us about this evening's concert, which will be under the baton of Music Director Andris Nelsons.

Greek-born violinist Leonidas Kavakos returns to Symphony Hall as soloist in Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Composed in the mid-1930s, the concerto is by turns beautifully lyrical and scintillatingly virtuosic, with a Spanish-flavored finale as a nod to Madrid, where the work was premiered in 1935. Opening these concerts is American composer Derek Bermel's "spectral love potion" Elixir, which combines colorfully tranquil music for strings with exuberant, Messiaen-like exclamations from wind instruments deployed throughout the auditorium. Completing the program is Richard Strauss's cinematic tone poem An Alpine Symphony, illustrating an excursion up, then down (at a faster pace!) a mountain, with a huge range of instrumental and compositional effects.

(Some emphasis added.)

You can get the usual descriptive material, including program notes, via the usual links on that page.

I wasn't there on Thursday so we have to rely on the reviews in the Globe (brief, satisfied), and Boston Musical Intelligencer (extensive, metaphor laden, grandiloquent, approving) for insights into the performances, while the orchestra's program notes tell about the music as composed.

It'll be interesting to hear what the Bermel piece actually sounds like, although the program notes suggest you really need to be in the auditorium to get the full effect. But I'm looking forward to hearing it over WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Since I'm not a great fan of Strauss, I won't mind missing the Alpine Symphony when my brother calls from Tokyo. […]

The links still work.

This isn't exactly "must listen" in my book, but it should be okay if you decide to tune in. I'll probably listen to the first part to refresh my memory, and If my brother weren't going to call I'd listen to the Strauss as well despite my lack of enthusiasm. It does have its striking elements.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/06/19

 Mahler's Third this evening. WCRB says:

Saturday, June 19, 2021
8:00 PM

In a 2018 concert from Symphony Hall, the American mezzo-soprano joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Mahler's Symphony No. 3, a musical microcosm of the natural world.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

MAHLER Symphony No. 3

WCRB's Brian McCreath previews the concert with Andris Nelsons in the player above.

TRANSCRIPT:

After a day helping to run sailboat races, I don't have time even for more cut and paste. I find the early Mahler symphonies not too toough to take. You can listen if you want.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/06/12

 This week we get the concert from February 17, 2018. WCRB says:

Saturday, June 12, 2021
8:00 PM

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and Jacques Lacombe leads the Boston Symphony in the composer's Daphnis and Chloe, in an encore broadcast from 2018.

Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

DEBUSSY (orch. RAVEL) Sarabande et Danse
RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé (complete)

See the original program Ravel conducted in 1928 (courtesy of the BSO Archives).

Hear a preview with Jacques Lacombe in the player above.

TRANSCRIPT:

As you can see on the WCRB page, there is an interview with the conductor which is available on audio or a transcript.

At the time I wrote:

It's French Impressionists this week. (Are there Impressionists from any other country?) Here's the synopsis from the BSO's [performance] detail page (where you can also find the usual links to background information):

This all-French program features pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Ravel's serious, single-movement Piano Concerto for the left hand.Closing the program is a work that's long been a staple of the BSO repertoire, Ravel's ballet score Daphnis et Chloé, a tourde-[sic] force of orchestral coloration and dramatic atmosphere the composer felt was one of his best works. Opening the program are Ravel's orchestrations of two contrasting Debussy piano pieces. These concerts mark the 90th anniversary of Ravel's conducting the BSO at Symphony Hall while visiting America in 1928.

(Some emphasis added.)

This concert wasn't part of my subscription, so I have no impressions of my own to offer. The reviews are favorable. The Globe finds no fault. The Boston Musical Intelligencer finds a few bits that were less than perfect, but overall is very satisfied. That review also gives extensive information about the pieces, almost like program notes.

You can hear it all this evening […] over WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Eastern time […].  Impressionists aren't my favorite figurative cup of metaphorical tea, but most people like them, so enjoy.

Need I say more?

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/06/05

 Here's WCRB's page about this evening's BSO rebroadcast.

Encore broadcast from October 14, 2017

Saturday night at 8 in an encore broadcast of the BSO, Hilary Hahn is the guest soloist in Dvorák’s jovial Violin Concerto, and Gustavo Gimeno leads Schumann’s verdant “Spring” Symphony.

Gustavo Gimeno, conductor

Hilary Hahn, violin

LIGETI Concert Românesc
DVORÁK Violin Concerto
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1, Spring

Hilary Hahn talks with CRB's Brian McCreath about Dvorák's concerto, the wide range of creative projects she undertakes, and, specifically, her encore commissions, "In 27 Pieces." For audio, use the player above. Transcript:

Brian McCreath [00:00:00] I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB with Hilary Hahn, who is […]

You can read the transcript of the Hahn-McCreath interview by going to the WCRB page I've linked.

At the time of the concert, I wrote the following:

The Boston Symphony Orchestra's [performance] detail page synopsizes this week's program as follows:

Spanish conductor Gustavo Gimeno and American violinist Hilary Hahnjoin forces for Dvořák's Violin Concerto, composed in 1879 for the great Joseph Joachim. At times lyrical, Dvořák's concerto also contains passages of great energy based on music from his Czech heritage, especially in the delightful, dance-like finale. Also based on music from Central Europe, György Ligeti's early "Romanian Concerto" is a Bartók influenced orchestral work from early in the great Hungarian composer's career. Robert Schumann's First Symphony is bursting with energy, power, and optimism.

(Emphasis added.)

The reviews in both the Boston Globe and the Boston Musical Intelligencer were quite favorable, both overall, and particularly with regard to Hilary Hahn (with the Intelligencer gushing). I was there on Thursday and found it all enjoyable to listen to, although there was nothing that I'd consider spectacular, just good playing. The third horn in the Ligeti was played offstage through a door that was ajar. Mike Winter seemed slightly embarrassed to come onstage for a bow when other soloists were asked to stand, and he stayed to the side, just inside the door.

You can hear it all this evening over WCRB radio or internet at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time. Their homepage has links to additional information about their programs, including future BSO concerts and other special programs. […]

Enjoy!

The link to the performance detail page still works as of now.

You can hear two pieces from the standard repertory preceded by an unfamiliar piece if you listen. Again, I recommend listening.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/29

 There seems to be a typo in WCRB's synopsis of this evening's rebroadcast. They begin by saying that it is from 2017, but at the end they identify two concerts from 2016 as the originals. Consulting my posts, I see that the music in question was indeed performed in 2016 on the dates mentioned.

Saturday, May 29, 2021
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast from 2017, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Brahms's boldly dramatic Symphony No. 1 and ruminative Symphony No. 3.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
BRAHMS Symphony No. 3

Encore broadcast from November 10 and 17, 2016

I'll also note that November 10 and 17, 2016, were Thursdays. The Brahms First Symphony concluded the concert on the 10th, and the Third was given on the 17th. In both cases, other works preceded them, but neither had been scheduled for the following Saturday. So I don't see much point in reproducing what I wrote for each of the Saturdays. Instead, I'll give you links to the available reviews.

The Globe reviewed the first concert, as did the Intelligencer.

Here's the Globe on the concert of November 15, which was reprised on the 17th. The Intelligencer review concentrates on the first two pieces and says only this about the Third Symphony: "Nelsons then led the orchestra in a thrilling and a tuneful reading of Brahms’s  Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 (1883). For all the music’s inherent excitement, I missed the careful attention to inner voices, the contrapuntal building blocks of Brahms’s compositional rhetoric. Leaping from peak to peak obscures value when the valleys disappear. While many in Symphony Hall reveled, I  left craving more."

You may recall that recently WCRB  gave us two complete concerts from the Brahms mini-festival. Those were an April 10 and 17, so if you really want to see my posts from 2016, you can take a look at what I posted last month.

Anyway, The Brahms symphonies qualify as "warhorses," so if you're listening to WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time this evenings, you'll probably enjoy the show.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/22

 It's Mozart symphonies this evening for the WCRB Boston Symphony rebroadcast.

Saturday, May 22, 2021
8:00 PM

In a 2018 all-Mozart concert, Herbert Blomstedt leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in three of the Austrian composer's greatest symphonies: No. 34, the "Linz," and the "Jupiter."

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
Symphony No. 34
Symphony No. 36, Linz
Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Encore broadcast from February, 24, 2018

If you go to the page I've linked, you'll find an interview woth Maestro Blomstedt, which you can listen to by clicking the Play button at the top or read in the transcript which follows the text I've quoted. Worth checking out IMO.

My write-up from back then follows:

This evening's program is all Mozart: three of his symphonies. The [performance] detail page gives further detail, appropriately enough, along with the usual links to background material on the music and the conductor:

Renowned Massachusetts-born Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedtreturns to the Symphony Hall stage with a trio of Mozart symphonies. Composed in 1780 for an unknown occasion, the three-movement No. 34 in C major was the last symphony Mozart completed in Salzburg before relocating permanently to Vienna. The story of his Linz[ ]Symphony, No. 36, is one of those illustrating his surpassing genius. Passing through Linz in late 1783 on his way back to Vienna from a Salzburg visit, he was honored with a request for a concert of his music, but had no symphony with him-so he wrote this delightful piece in a mere four days. Composed five years later, the Jupiter Symphony was Mozart's last. Its elegance, mastery of counterpoint, and expressive power have secured its place as an epitome of the genre.

(Some emphasis added.)

What's not to like about Mozart? I was there on Thursday and enjoyed the show. The word "comfortable" occurs to describe the performance. Nothing seemed forced. Even in the fast and (relatively) loud parts, there was an underlying calmness. The performance so captivated the audience that there was virtually none of the usual coughing from them during the slower and quieter parts. Strangely, though, there were a couple of points during longer movements when I felt they had gone on long enough, that they were becoming redundant, that there was no noticeable development going on. This is a feeling I've had with some late romantic pieces, but the first time I've felt that way about Mozart.

There was an amusing moment during the curtain call after the "Linz" symphony. In one of the movements there was a section where the first oboe delivered a brief solo line, then repeated it with the first bassoon following a couple of beats behind. This happened again three or four times. When Maestro Blomstedt returned to the stage during the applause, he invited them to stand for solo bows. As he headed offstage, Richard Sebring, first horn, took a handkerchief and reached across the aisle to Richard Svoboda, the bassoonist, and mopped his forehead (as if the solo had been a strenuous workout).

I'm looking forward to hearing it again. This evening's concert will be transmitted […] over WCRB on air and on line at 8:00, EST.[…]

The reviews are in. The Globe is favorable, and the Intelligencer is enthusiastic. The photo in the Intelligencer review reminds me that Maestro Blomstedt conducted throughout without a baton, using his hands more to shape the music than to beat time strictly. He didn't even give a cut-off sign at the end of movements. He just stopped moving his hands, and the small orchestra stopped in unison. The photo also shows the unopened score on the podium during the first half of the concert. After intermission, he had an electronic device which he never opened.

Enjoy the concert!

So you can treat yourself to some fine music this evening. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/15

 WCRB gives us another rebroadcast of a concert without a soloist:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast of opening night 2017, Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony and the colossal Symphony No. 1 by Mahler.

Saturday, May 15, 2021
8:00 PM

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

HAYDN Symphony No. 103, Drumroll
MAHLER Symphony No. 1, Titan

Encore broadcast from Saturday, September 23, 2017

Here's what I wrote back then:

We read in the BSO [performance] detail page:

Franz Joseph Haydn and Gustav Mahler defined the genre of the symphony during their respective eras- Haydn as one of its originators in the late 18th-century Classical era, and Mahler as revitalizer and innovator at the end of the Romantic era. Haydn's Drumroll Symphony-not performed by the BSO since 1995-was the next-to-last symphony he wrote, in the first half of the 1790s. Written nearly 100 years later, the first of Mahler's nine symphonies employs folk-music references and a conventional four-movement form that have their foundations in Haydn's time. Its expanded scope and instrumentation are evidence of the genre's 19th-century transformation as well as Mahler's own stretching of the form.

(Some emphasis added.)

As in prior seasons, the [performance] detail page also has links to performer bios (Click on the thumbnail photo.), program notes, audio previews, and a video podcast.

Also as in prior seasons, WCRB will stream and broadcast the concert, beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time (EDT). Their homepage has links to information about many other offerings on the station. […]
Both symphonies are staples of the orchestral repertoire, so the program should be enjoyable listening (withe the Haydn somewhat more to my taste).

Enjoy.

Since the original broadcast was opening night of the season, there were no reviews when I previewed the show. Subsequently, this one was published in the Boston Musical Intelligencer — noting several aspects of the performance which the reviewer found unsatisfying. The Globe reviewer, on the other hand, was pleased.

It should be enjoyable.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/08

 WCRB "fast forwards" from January, 2017, to March. Maybe they're expecting live concerts to resume this fall, so they don't have to go week by week. Anyway, here's the synopsis:

Saturday at 8pm, in a 2017 concert at Symphony Hall, Bernard Haitink leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's Symphony No. 60, Debussy's transportive "Three Nocturnes," and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Saturday, May 8, 2021
8:00 PM

Bernard Haitink, conductor
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

HAYDN Symphony No. 60, Il Distratto
DEBUSSY Three Nocturnes
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

Encore broadcast from March 18, 2017

In a 2016 conversation at Tanglewood, WCRB's Ron Della Chiesa talks with Lawrence Wolfe, Assistant Principal Bass of the BSO and Principal Bass of the Boston Pops, about joining the orchestra as the youngest member at the time, how he chose double bass as his instrument, and the excitement Andris Nelsons brought to the BSO:

Listen 

Listening...

0:00

As you see, there is also an interview you can listen to, or, if you prefer, you can read the transcript.

Here's what I wrote back then (edited):

This week we enjoy a concert of music from before the 20th Century. I'll let the orchestra's performance detail page describe it:

BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink leads the first BSO performances in thirty years of Joseph Haydn's 1774 Symphony No. 60, The Distracted, which was fashioned in six movements from music Haydn wrote for a play by that name. The women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are a provocative, wordless presence in the "Sirens" movement of Debussy's three-movement orchestral suite Nocturnes. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, premiered at the end of 1813, has been an audience favorite ever since. Wagner called it "the apotheosis of the dance"; its entrancing second-movement Allegretto, one of the most familiar movements in Beethoven's symphonies, was encored in its first performances.

(Some emphasis added.)

As usual, that page also has links to various informational material.

The reviews are favorable. The Globe's reviewer saw some room for improvement in the Haydn, but was otherwise pleased. The review by the musicologist at the Boston Musical Intelligencer nitpicks over a couple of details in the Debussy and suggests that the finale of the Beethoven was too fast, but in general is approving.

Both reviews note the immediate standing ovation for the Beethoven, but it's normal. Beethoven wrote a real crowd-pleaser with a guaranteed applause-catching finale. It would have been remarkable if the audience members hadn't given that ovation. I was quite happy with the whole thing. The Haydn was fun. Although I generally don't care for the French Impressionists, the "Nocturnes" were serene and the typical dissonances of the style were not annoying. The Beethoven 7th was performed just last spring, and normally that would be enough to set me off on my "don't keep playing the warhorses at the expense of other deserving rarely heard compositions" rant. But for Haitink I'll make an exception. It was definitely worth hearing, especially since fourth chair horn player Jason Snider did the "bullfrog" low notes in the 3rd movement perfectly every time.

So by all means listen in the the broadcast or webstream over WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time this evening […]. This concert's a keeper.[…]

There you have it. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/01

 This week WCRB gives us the first BSO Saturday concert of 2017. Here's how they summarize it:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast from 2017, virtuoso musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra take center stage at Symphony Hall in works by Vivaldi, Krommer, Jolivet, Rota, and Schumann.

Saturday, May 1, 2021
8:00 PM

Ken-David Masur, conductor
Cynthia Meyers, piccolo
William R. Hudgins and Michael Wayne, clarinets
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet
Toby Oft, trombone
James Sommerville, Michael Winter, Rachel Childers, and Jason Snider, horns 

Vivaldi - Piccolo Concerto in C, RV 433
Krommer - Concerto No. 2 for two clarinets and orchestra, Op. 91
Jolivet - Concertino for trumpet, piano, and strings
Rota - Trombone Concerto
Schumann - Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra

This concert is no longer available on demand.

In a conversation at Tanglewood, BSO piccolo player Cynthia Meyers describes her musical path to the BSO to Ron Della Chiesa in an interview recorded at Tanglewood:

As you see, there is an interview with the piccolo player. If you don't want to listen, a transcript follows what I've copied here.

At the time, I wrote about it as follows (edited to remove material no longer relevant):

The orchestra returns to Symphony Hall this week with an unusual program, featuring wind players of the orchestra as soloists in generally unfamiliar works. The BSO performance detail page describes it as follows:

Soloists from the ranks of the Boston Symphony Orchestra take center stage in this highly unusual, far-ranging program led by BSO Assistant Conductor Ken-David Masur. BSO piccoloist Cynthia Meyers performs Vivaldi's delightful Piccolo Concerto in C. BSO principal clarinet William Hudgins and clarinetist Michael Wayne are soloists in Mozart-contemporary Franz Krommer's Concerto No. 2 for two clarinets. BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs is soloist in French composer André Jolivet's Concertino for trumpet, piano, and strings, a dynamic, three-movement work from 1948. BSO principal trombone Toby Oft plays the Trombone Concerto of Italian composer Nino Rota-best known for scoring Coppola's The Godfather but a versatile and prolific composer of concert and stage works as well. Finally, Robert Schumann's Konzertstück ("Concert-piece") for four horns provides an exhilarating showcase for principal horn James Sommerville and his virtuoso colleagues Rachel Childers, Jason Snider, and Michael Winter.

(Most emphasis added.)

I was there for the performance on Thursday, and I found it all pleasant enough — except for the Jolivet, which I'd call "not unpleasant." As originally programmed, the Jolivet concerto was to finish the first half, but I guess they decided it would be better not to have the Vivaldi and Krommer adjacent. I thought everybody played very well, except for a couple of wobbles in the horns. The Jolivet trumpet concert was "modern." The others, including the Rota, were normal music. But none of them were particularly memorable. In the Krommer clarinet concerto, I imagined the Hudgin's tone was a bit brighter, and Wayne's a bit mellower. The BMInt reviewer suggests something similar. So it was a great night for the wind players to have some time in the spotlight. I'm glad I was there for it, and I think you be glad to have listened, if you do.

The reviews are favorable. The Globe noted the occasional problems with the horns. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a fairly good synopsis of the music (and likes the Jolivet much more than I did).

The horn soloists in the Intelligencer photo are, l.-r., Snider, Winter, Childers, and Sommerville. Clint Hutchinson, flute player, is in the center, just slightly behind Ms. Childers. In the back, behind Mr. Hutchinson, is assistant tympanist Daniel Bauch. The conductor, Ken-David Masur, is standing on the right, and in the back row behind him are two trumpeters, but I'm never sure which is which.

Anyway, you can listen, beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, over WCRB.[…]

So there's an interesting concert available here, competing with the Warhorse Orgy on WHRB and the Red Sox-Rangers game on WEEI. You can hardly go wrong.