Tanglewood — 2021/07/24-25

This weekend the BSO is giving us a lot of new music. I recommend reading the program notes if you want an idea of what to expect — or you can just let it be unexpected as it is performed.

Saturday, July 24, 2021.  We get two new pieces, one from 80 years ago that is not often heard, and one from 100 years ago that can still be jarring. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, July 24, 2021
8:00 PM

Saturday at 8pm, the superstar violinist [Anne-Sophie Mutter] is the soloist in the world premiere of John Williams’s Violin concerto No. 2, led by the composer, and Andris Nelsons conducts the BSO in 20^th- and 21^st-century pieces by Copland, Stravinsky, and Jessie Montgomery.

Andris Nelsons and John Williams, conductors
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Robert Sheena, English horn
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet

Jessie MONTGOMERY Starburst
John WILLIAMS Violin Concerto No. 2 (world premiere)
COPLAND Quiet City
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

(Some emphasis added.)

Yes, that John Williams. You will be able to hear the world premiere of his concerto. Before that comes another piece that the BSO is giving for the first time in a live concert. I can't vouch for either of them, but after reading the program notes via the links on the orchestra's performance detail page, I think the Williams concerto should be okay, and I'm hoping the Montgomery will be tolerable.

Copland's "Quiet City" is quiet and pleasant. I don't think I had heard it until a couple of years ago. Then WCRB began playing it fairly frequently just before midnight. I like it, and I'm looking forward to hearing it live. As for "The Firebird," it's not as wild as "The Rite of Spring." I may switch stations and listen to the Red Sox. But I'll definitely be listening to WCRB at 8:00, Lenox/Stockbridge Time.

Sunday, July 25, 2021.  There will be two "warhorses" of the repertoire on Sunday after we sit through a new piece. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Sunday, July 25, 2021
7:00 PM

Yefim Bronfman returns to the Berkshires as the soloist in Beethoven’s impassioned Piano Concerto No. 3, and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rhapsodic work by Iman Habibi, Sunday at 7pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Iman HABIBI Jeder Baum spricht
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

(Some emphasis added.)

You can't go wrong with Beethoven piano concertos and Schumann symphonies. The program note for "Jeder Baum spricht" — which you can find via the link on the performance detail page — doesn't give me great hope. When a contemporary composer is inspired by one of the classical masters, it's never as good as the original. Sometimes it turns out to be something I'd like to hear one more time or even become familiar with, but more often once is enough or too much (which is also true of new pieces in general). The thing is, you never know until you've listened to it that first time. So I'll have WCRB on at 7:00.

Tanglewood — 2021/07/17-18

It seems that we won't be getting much preview material from the BSO or WCRB for these Tanglewood concerts, and of course there are no reviews of concerts if the program hasn't been given earlier in the week. At Symphony Hall, the Saturday evening concert has already been played on Thursday and often on Friday afternoon, but each Tanglewood concert is only given once. The BSO performance detail pages aren't giving us a short introduction, and sometimes even the program notes aren't available. Similarly, WCRB just gives a bare-bones note. 

So I'll give you what those two supply and throw in any ideas I have, if I have something to say.

Saturday, July 17, 2021.  WCRB tells us:

Saturday, July 17, 2021
8:00 PM

[A] Russian pianist takes center stage for Brahms’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Andris Nelsons conducts Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, Saturday night at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Daniil Trifonov, piano

PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical
BRAHMS

(Some emphasis added.) 

I'm glad the Prokofiev comes first, since I like it better than Brahms, so it'll be okay if my brother's call interrupts the concerto. But lots of people like Brahms, so don't let me scare you off.

The BSO performance detail page has links to the program notes and performer bios (click the thumbnail photos).You can listen in at 8:00 this evening via WCRB.

Sunday, July 18, 2021.   Again we get a bit from WCRB:

Sunday, July 18, 2021
7:00 PM

Gil Shaham returns to the Berkshires as the soloist in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in pieces by a musical sibling pair: Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Sunday night at 7pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin

MENDELSSOHN-HENSEL Overture in C
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 3
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5, Reformation

(Some emphasis added.) 

The BSO performance detail page doesn't have much more detail, except in the program notes (not all of which are there via the links). Strangely, the annotator for the Mendelssohn symphony doesn't seem to have noticed that the second movement uses the tune for "Away in a Manger" but with a different rhythm (if I remember correctly).

I don't recall the Overture, but I'm confident people will like this concert, to be broadcast and streamed on Sunday at 7:00.

Tanglewood — 2021/07/10-11

 The Boston Symphony is back, giving live concerts at Tanglewood. WCRB is broadcasting the Saturday concerts live at 8:00 p.m. and the Sunday matinees at 7:00 p.m. Of course, there are no reviews to link for the Tanglewood concerts, since the same programs aren't already performed earlier in the week, as happens at Symphony Hall.

Saturday, July 10, 2021.  For Opening Night we get to enjoy an all-Beethoven concert. The BSO's performance detail page gives some links and summarizes:

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano

ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM
Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus
Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor
Symphony No. 5

(Some emphasis added.)
It's surprising that they don't have the sort of overview we got in pre-Covid days. Maybe there have been staff reductions, and nobody has time to produce the write up. As always, you can click on the link to progrsm notes for a description of each piece. But what's not to like in this program? I'm especially looking forward to the "Emperor" Concerto. Listen on line or on the air at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time to enjoy.

Sunday, July 11, 2021.   The performance detail page   lists the works being given only toward the end.

Carlos SIMON - Fate Now Conquers (2020)
SIBELIUS - Violin Concerto (32 min)
DVOŘÁK - Symphony No. 6

Andris Nelsons conducts and Baiba Skride is the violin soloist. I have no idea what the first piece will be like, but the program note promises that it will be short. The others should be pretty good. Don't forget, the Sunday broadcast is an hour earlier than the one on Saturday — 7:00 p.m.

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.