Tanglewood — 2022/08/06-07

 A couple of concerts from Tanglewood round out the weekend.

Saturday, August 6, 2022. WCRB says:

Saturday, August 6, 2022
8:00 PM

Saturday at 8pm, in a much-anticipated annual tradition, violinist Joshua Bell returns to Tanglewood as the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, and JoAnn Falletta conducts the Boston Symphony in timeless works by Respighi celebrating Roman scenery and nature.

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Roberto SIERRA Fandangos 
Peter TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
Ottorino RESPIGHI Fountains of Rome 
RESPIGHI Pines of Rome 

Joshua Bell. Need I say more? Respighi is not in the first rank of composers, but his music is good.

For a bit more information, we can go to the BSO's performance detail page, where we read:

In her BSO debut, Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta is joined by violinist Joshua Bell, a Tanglewood mainstay since 1989, performing Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto. In the symphonic poems Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome, Ottorino Respighi sought to capture the beauty of his country’s culture and landscape with colorful orchestral cityscapes evoking some of Rome’s most prominent features at different times of day. Opening the concert is the Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra’s Fandangos, an engaging, exploratory riff on one of the most characteristic Spanish dance forms. Sierra blends a classical approach with elements of Afro-Caribbean, South American, Central American, and Spanish musical traditions.

With the link to the program notes, you can read about "Fandangos." I'd be pleasantly surprised if it's really good, but it's only 11 minutes long, and then we get to the good stuff. You can also read up on the Respighi pieces.

Sunday, August 7, 2022. Sunday at 7:00 p.m., as we learn from WCRB, we get the following:

Sunday, August 7, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)

Thomas Adès conducts his own “Shanty – Over the Sea,” Holst’s spectacular “The Planets,” and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, with violinist Leonidas Kavakos and violist Antoine Tamestit, Sunday at 7pm.

Thomas Adès, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Antoine Tamestit, viola
Lorelei Ensemble

Thomas ADÈS Shanty – Over the Sea
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, K.364
Gustav HOLST The Planets 

Of course, the Mozart is excellent, and the Holst is a "warhorse." As for the Adès piece, see the program notes from the orchestra's performance detail page. Their synopsis is as follows:

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès is joined by Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and French violist Antoine Tamestit in Wolfgang Mozart’s abundantly tuneful Sinfonia concertante. English composer Gustav Holst’s The Planets covers a vast range of musical territory, from the fleet energy of Mercury through the pounding aggression of Mars to the ethereal mysticism of Neptune, which here features the versatile women’s vocal group Lorelei Ensemble for the wordless choral part. Opening the concert is Adès’ own Shanty – Over the Sea. In this atmospheric string orchestra piece, many lines interweave to “create a widening seascape.”

Check out the link to the program notes you find there.

All in all, it should be worth listening to, even though "Shanty," which I don't know, isn't to everybody's taste.

Tanglewood — 2022/07/30-31

 My apologies for not posting yesterday. For me this was going to be the highlight weekend of the summer: all five Beethoven piano concertod performed over the course of the three concerts. But then I was so distracted by serving on the Race Committee yeaterday, the Red Sox game in the evening and preparations for a trip that I never thought of Tanglewood until after the game was over, and I said to myself, "Darn! I forgot to lidten to the Tanglewood concert." In addition to the Beethoven, they are giving performances of works by women composers to open each program. On Friday, the Beethoven was Concertos Nos. 2 and 3. I'm sorry to have missed them and sorry not to have called your attention to them.

Saturday, July 30, 2022. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Saturday, July 30, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, Paul Lewis is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4, and Andris Nelsons leads the world premiere of the orchestral version of Caroline Shaw’s “Punctum.”

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano

Caroline SHAW Punctum (world premiere of orchestral version; BSO commission)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4

For further information, including links to the program notes, see the BSO performance detail page. They summarize it with the following blurb:

Andris Nelsons and English pianist Paul Lewis collaborate on the second of three concerts encompassing all five of Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano concertos in one weekend. Each of these concerts opens with a BSO co-commissioned piece by an American woman. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s Punctum, originally for string quartet, is a meditation on a brief moment in J.S. Bach’s St. MatthewPassion. Beethoven’s First Concerto (actually composed later than No. 2) is strongly anchored in the Viennese Classicism of Wolfgang Mozart and Joseph Haydn. The Fourth Concerto, written at the same time as Beethoven’s opera Leonore, is in the composer’s warm, lyrical style, but also makes room for brilliant virtuosity.

I can't tell you anything about "punctum," but the program notes will. Of course, the piano concertos are well worth hearing.

Sunday, July 31, 2022. Sunday at 7:00 p.m we get the following, as WCRB tells us:

Sunday, July 31, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)

Sunday at 7pm, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony in the world premiere of "Starling Variations," by Elizabeth Ogonek, as well as Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3 and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, with soloist Paul Lewis.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano

Elizabeth OGONEK Starling Variations (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Louise FARRENC Symphony No. 3
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor 

Further information, including links to the program notes, can be found at the orchestra's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons and English pianist Paul Lewis collaborate on the third of three concerts encompassing all five of Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano concertos in one weekend. Each of these concerts opens with a BSO co-commissioned piece by an American woman. Elizabeth Ogonek was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2012. She has been a composer in residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has also been commissioned by the BBC, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. The French composer Louise Farrenc was one of the most accomplished musicians of the early Romantic era—an outstanding pianist, composer, and teacher. She wrote her Third Symphony in 1847. Completed in 1811, Beethoven’s Emperor was his final concerto, a work perfectly balancing virtuosity with substance and depth and epitomizing the composer’s “heroic” period.

I'm sure I'm not alone in considering the "Emperor" (a name not given to it by Beethoven, but still fitting) the greatest piano concerto of all time. My freshman college roommate had a recording of it which he played every Sunday. I never got tired of it.

I won't be able to post next Friday, so here's WCRB's scoop on August 5, 2022.

Friday, August 5, 2022
8:00 PM

Friday at 8pm, Christina and Michelle Naughton are the soloists in Poulenc’s firecracker Concerto for Two Pianos, and Earl Lee leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony and “Pulse,” by Brian Raphael Nabors.

Earl Lee, conductor
Christina and Michelle Naughton, pianos

Brian Raphael NABORS Pulse
Francis POULENC Concerto in D minor for two pianos and orchestra
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, Scottish 

The BSO adds:

BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee makes his BSO debut, joined by the virtuosic piano duo of twins Christina and Michelle Naughton in their Tanglewood debuts performing Francis Poulenc’s impish neoclassical Concerto for Two Pianos. American composer Brian Raphael Nabors’ exciting and rhapsodic Pulse reflects on the varieties of experience that we might encounter every day. Felix Mendelssohn found inspiration for his intensely Romantic Symphony No. 3 on a trip to Scotland in 1829. Composed a decade later, it was his last completed symphony.

While it's not at the pinnacle of Beethoven, the Mendelsohn symphony is quite good, IMO. The BSO gave a performance of the Poulenc concerto with the Jussen brothers on piano in September 2019. At the time I wrote, "The Poulenc concerto was enjoyable to listen to. Unfortunately over the radio you probably won't be able to tell which one is playing — which was a good part of the enjoyment — but it should be okay as a strictly aural experience." For information about "Pulse," I refer you to the program notes via the link on the performance detail page for next Friday"

So I recommend it overall, even though I can't say more about "Pulse" than, "Why not give it a try?"

Tanglewood — 2022/07/22-24

 Friday, July 22, 2022.

Here's WCRB's "just the facts" announcement of what we'll hear via their station this evening from Tanglewood:

Friday, July 22, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, Karina Canellakis returns to the Berkshires to lead the Boston Symphony in Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” and Emanuel Ax is the soloist in Chopin’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 2.

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Emanuel Ax, piano

Richard WAGNER Prelude to Lohengrin, Act 1
Frédéric CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances

The Wagner is kind of thrilling. We had (I still have somewhere) recordings of the Chopin piano concertos Dad liked them. I don't remember this one specifically, but both have some good music in them. The Rachmaninoff is okay, not on my top 100 list, but definitely tolerable. As you'd expect with dances, it's got a strong beat.

For further information, including program notes and performer information, check out the BSO's own performance detail page. 

Saturday, July 23, 2022.

On Saturday, we get the following:

Saturday, July 23, 2022
8:00 PM

Saturday night at 8pm, in a concert by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Andris Nelsons leads Gustav Mahler’s meditation on grief and triumph, and soprano Christine Goerke sings a rarely heard work by Berlioz.

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra 
Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Christine Goerke, soprano 

Hector BERLIOZ The Death of Cleopatra 
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 5

You can usually count on Berlioz for good stuff. Mahler can be long winded, but the music is pretty good.

Here's the link to the BSO performance detail page, where you can find what they think about it.

 Sunday, July 24, 2022.

The BSO rounds out the weekend with this concert on Sunday:

Sunday, July 24, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)

Sunday night at 7pm, soprano Latonia Moore sings George Walker’s BSO-commissioned “Lilacs,” and Seong-Jin Cho is the soloist in Brahms’s mighty Piano Concerto No. 2, all led by Andris Nelsons.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Latonia Moore, soprano
Seong-Jin Cho, piano

William Grant STILL In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy 
George WALKER Lilacs
Johannes BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2

"Everybody" like Brahms better than I do, so don't let me dissuade you from listening, even though I think I'll like the Still piece better. I have no idea about Walker's "Lilacs," but with new compositions "you pays your money (or listens in) and takes your chances." Unfortunately, the performance detail page doesn't seem to have a full program note for "Lilacs."

Remember that the Sunday concert broadcast begins at 7:00, Boston Time, not 8:00 as on Friday and Saturday.

Tanglewood — 2022/07/16-17

 Friday, Jujy 15, 2022.

It seems that the Friday evrning concert at Tanglewood this week is not being given by the BSO themselves. I'm guessing it's Boston Pops. Anyway, whatever it is, WCRB won't be roadcasting it. Nay, rather will they repeat a concert from last summer, which they describe as follows:

Friday, July 15, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8pm, in an encore broadcast from Tanglewood, the Latvian violinist is the soloist in Sibelius’s majestic Violin Concerto, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Dvorák’s Symphony No. 6.

Recorded on July 11, 2021, at the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin

Carlos SIMON Fate Now Conquers
Jean SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 6

I posted about it back then. Unfortunately the llink ro last summer's performance detail page no longer works, so that preview is unavailable.

The Sibelius and Dvorák are pretty mainstream and should be enjoyable for most of you.

Saturday, July 16, 2021.  It's opera night at Tanglewood. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, July 16, 2022
8:00 PM

Saturday night at 8pm, soprano Nicole Cabell and baritone Ryan McKinny star in Mozart’s timeless opera, joined by the Boston Symphony, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and a stellar cast of soloists, all led by Andris Nelsons.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Nicole Cabell, soprano (Donna Elvira)
Michelle Bradley, soprano (Donna Anna)
Janai Brugger, soprano (Zerlina)
Amitai Pati, tenor (Don Ottavio)
Ryan McKinny, baritone (Don Giovanni)
Will Liverman, baritone (Leporello)
Cody Quattlebaum, bass-baritone (Masetto)
Ryan Speedo-Green, bass (Commendatore)

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor 

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Don Giovanni

See the Boston Symphony's synopsis and program notes for Don Giovanni.

See a libretto and translation of Don Giovanni.

For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.

The BSO performance detail page has the usual links, but not one for the full libretto. (For that, go to the WCRB page and try their link.) Mozart is good, and there's lots of good music in this opera. On the other hand, it may seem much of a muchness if they don't cut anything out. Listening without benefit of any action and without surtitles could seem a bit overpowering. My suggestion, if you're not an opera buff, is to relax and let it fill your ears as you go about your business, maybe stopping to listen more intently when something captures your attention. Of course following along word for word with the libretto is fine too — maybe worth a try. 

Sunday, July 17, 2021.   Again we get a bit from WCRB:

Sunday, July 17, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)

Sunday evening at 7pm, pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen take center stage in the American premiere of Fazil Say’s “Phoenix,” and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and soloists in Brahms’s “A German Requiem.”

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Lucas and Arthur Jussen, piano
Ying Fang, soprano
Shenyang, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor

Fazil SAY Phoenix (Anka Kuşu), for piano four-hands and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co- commission)
Johannes BRAHMS A German Requiem 

The BSO performance detail page has more information, including links to the program notes. I haven't checked out the notes for the piano piece, so I have no idea what it will be like, but I'm interested to hear it. The Brahms is massive, and Brahms isn't my favorite cup of metaphorical tea, but there's a reason it stays in the repertoire, so if you're unfamiliar with it, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Of course, there are no reviews of the concerts which haven't yet been performed, and at this point I want to finish posting, so I'm not going to search for reviews from a year ago. You'll just have to enjoy tonight without them (or do some research on your own).

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/07/02

 If you aren't listening to the Red Sox game, you can hear a rebroadcast of the BSO concert of January 25 this year. WCRB synopsizes:

Saturday, July 2, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in Liszt's acrobatic Piano Concerto No. 2, plus Andris Nelsons conducts an American premiere by Augusta Read Thomas and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Augusta READ THOMAS Dance Foldings (American premiere)
Franz LISZT Piano Concerto No. 2
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Hear a conversation with CRB's Cathy Fuller and Jean-Yves Thibaudet on his new album Carte Blanche.

I wrote about it back then, and it seems that the links are still working, including the link for the program notes on the performance detail page.

It could be interesting and enjoyable.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/06/25

 This is a good program, IMO, originally broadcast on November 27, 2021. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, June 25, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, the Boston Symphony's Music Director leads the orchestra through the rustic serenity of the German composer's Serenade No. 2, as well as his roiling and triumphant First Symphony.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

Johannes BRAHMS Serenade No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Hear Andris Nelsons preview the concert and describe his experiences of Thanksgiving in America with the audio player above.

Transcript: 

Brian McCreath Let's talk about Brahms and the program for Thanksgiving weekend, here in the U.S., and tell me about how you decided upon the Second Serenade and

Serenade No. 2 is peobably my favorite piece by Brahms. Lest that be taken as faint praise coming from me, I'll add that I really like it, as I said when I posted back then.

There's nothing to add to what I wrote last November. Enjoy! 

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/06/18

 Here, courtesy of WCRB, are the basics about this evening's BSO concert rebroadcast, while we wait for the Tanglewood season to begin next month:

Saturday, June 18, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, the Swedish trumpeter is the soloist in Jörg Widmann's "Towards Paradise," a BSO co-commission, and Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler’s vision of nature, life, and transformation, the First Symphony.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Håkan Hardenberger, trumpet

Jörg WIDMANN Towards Paradise (Labyrinth VI), for trumpet and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 1

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Interview With Håkan Hardenberger

Interview With Andris Nelsons

Hear Håkan Hardenberger describe the genesis and challenges of Jörg Widmann's Toward's Paradise in the audio player above.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall in Boston and very pleased that Håkan Hardenberger is back here with us,

The concert was originally performed and broadcast on Nonember 20, 2021, and I wrote about it then. Sorry to say, I don't remember what I thought of it at the time, but the links in my postfrom that date seem to be working, so you can check out the BSO's program notes etc. and the reviews.

For now, I can only add that if you don't like the Widmann, most of you will probably find the Mahler easy listening.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/06/11

 WCRB tells us:

Saturday, June 11, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, BSO Principal Clarinetist William R. Hudgins is the soloist in Mozart’s timeless Clarinet Concerto, and Roderick Cox leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Roderick Cox, conductor
William R. Hudgins, clarinet

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Clarinet Concerto
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, Scottish

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Interview With Roderick Cox

Interview With William R. Hudgins

Hear a preview with Roderick Cox, including his approach to Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Sym 

This is the concert of November 13, 2011. I wrote favorably about it back then, and I have no reason to change my recommendation. I presume the links to the reviews still work, so give it a listen.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/06/04

 WCRB tells us:

Saturday, June 4, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, the Italian pianist is the soloist in the sweeping epic of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
Beatrice Rana, piano

Peter TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
Antonin DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Hear a conversation with Beatrice Rana and CRB's Brian McCreath with the audio player above.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB at Symphony Hall with Beatrice Rana, and Beatrice, it's so good

This was originally performed and broadcast on November 6, 2021, and I wrote about it then.

This should be enjoyable all the way.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/05/28

 This evening, while we wait for the BSO's Tanglewood season to begin, WCRB rebroadcasts the concert of October 30. Here's the outline from their page:

Saturday, May 28, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, the celebrated electric bassist is the soloist in his own concerto, La Lección Tres, and the BSO's Thomas Wilkins conducts music from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Hiawatha and Duke Ellington’s The River.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Victor Wooten, electric bass

Samuel COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Suite from the ballet Hiawatha
Victor WOOTEN La Lección Tres, for electric bass and orchestra
Duke ELLINGTON Suite from The River

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Hear conductor Thomas Wilkins describe his longtime friendship with Victor Wooten, why Coleridge-Taylor's ballet music for Hiawatha is a relatively new discovery, and Ellington is a natural fit for the BSO with the audio player above (transcript below).

In a conversation with WCRB's Brian McCreath, Victor Wooten describes the artistic opportunities of bringing his musical voice to the symphony orchestra, and why he's perfectly comfortable being out of his comfort zone

It seems that I didn't post about it back then, nor do I recall hearing it. I just remembered: that was the weekend I was in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics to cure my cellulitis. Let's see if I can find reviews.

The Intelligencer urges us not to miss the Wooten piece and is pleased with the whole concert. The Globe reviewer is equally enthusiastic.

So I guess this is worth hearing. 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, this evening.