BSO — 2023/01/28

 WCRB tells us:

Saturday, January 28, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 6

Latvian violinist Baiba Skride returns to the Boston Symphony for Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons conducts in the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s Concerto for Curved Space as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin

Steven MACKEY Concerto for Curved Space, for orchestra (world premiere)
SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 2
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4

To hear a preview of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Baiba Skride, use the player above, and read the transcript below:

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Baiba Skride, who's back with the Boston Symphony. Shostakovich, once again, just like last year, but the Second Concerto. Baiba, thank you for a little bit of your time today. I appreciate it.

Baiba Skride Oh, thank you so much for having me here. I'm so excited to be back with this orchestra, which I know quite well by now.

This concert wasn't part of my subscription, and I had a meeting to attend on Thursday evening anyway, so I can't tell you anything about the world premiere. What's more, I'll miss it this evening because I'll be attending a play at our local community theater. (The Sunday matinee was sold out when I wanted to buy a ticket. Here's what others have to say.

First we go to the BSO performance detail page. There we read:

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the world premiere of a BSO-commissioned Concerto for Curved Space, for orchestra by Grammy-winning American composer/guitarist Steven Mackey, whose vibrant music embraces a range of influences, from Ludwig van Beethoven to modern rock. Latvian violinist Baiba Skride returns to Symphony Hall for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2, written for the great Ukrainian violinist David Oistrakh in 1967. Johannes Brahms’ profound and majestic Fourth Symphony closes the program.

Of course, there are links to the program notes from the booklet audience members receive.

The reviews are in. Jeffrey Gantz, in the Intelligencer, gives a lot about the music itself as well as how it was performed. He does his best to avoid complaining, but he still observes that tempos tended to be slow, resulting in a long evening in the hall. Over at the Globe, Jeremy Eichler has no complaints about the Mackey piece, but thinks that other two weren't performed up to BSO standards, and wonders why Baiba Skride is here so often.

So there you have it: a long evening beginning with an hour of unfamiliar music and ending with a beloved warhorse. I'll have to catch the rebroadcast on February 6. You can listen and decide what you think of it all this evening at 8:)0, Boston Time.

BSO — 2023/01/21

Tonight's BSO concert is all unfamiliar, but not really bad. Here's WCRB's description (with links):

Saturday January 21, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 30

Karina Canellakis takes up her baton at Symphony Hall for the very first time in a folk-inspired Boston Symphony program that features Dvořák’s The Wood Dove and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Nicola Benedetti makes her BSO debut with Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

Karina Canellakis, conductor
Nicola Benedetti, violin

DVOŘÁK The Wood Dove
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2
LUTOSŁAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra

To hear a preview of the program with Karina Canellakis, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Karina Canellakis, who is here to conduct the Boston Symphony for the first time in this space, though, Karina, you have conducted the BSO a couple of t

Further information is available, as always, at the BSO performance detail page:

Making her BSO debut, violinist Nicola Benedetti joins conductor Karina Canellakis in her Symphony Hall debut for Karel Szymanowski’s scintillating Violin Concerto No. 2 from 1933, his last major work. His compatriot Witold Lutosławski’s folk-music influenced Concerto for Orchestra (1954) helped establish his international reputation. Antonín Dvořák’s nature-inspired tone poem Wood Dove has not been played by the BSO since 1905.

Check out the program notes for fuller descriptions of the pieces.

I was there on Thursday, and didn't find anythin too terrible. Dvořák is always pretty good, and "The Wood Dove" is no exception, despite the lurid program note. I'm always apprehensive about Szymanowski and Lutosławski, This time, the Szymanowski wasn't as dissonant as other things of his that I've heard. The piece by Lutosławski was bombastic  at one point I thought of Shostakovich  but it was a notch or so above tolerable.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a very favorable and wordy review. The Globe review is enthusiastic and more descriptive.

SO the reviewers give two thumbs up, and I don't disagree, so I suggest listening in. If you miss it this evening or want to rehear it, the concert will be rebroadcast/streamed om Janiary 30 at 8:00 p.m.

BSO — 2023/01/14

 Even the familiar piece in this week's concert isn't very familiar. Two are quite unfamiliar, and one is brand new. Here's the summary (with links to interviews) from WCRB:

Saturday, January 14, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 23

Alan Gilbert conducts the Boston Symphony in a brimming program that includes Dvořák’s glittering Carnival Overture and the world premiere of Justin Dello Joio’s Piano Concerto, Oceans Apart, with soloist Garrick Ohlsson.

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Lili BOULANGER D’un Matin de Printemps
STENHAMMAR Serenade
Justin DELLO JOIO Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Oceans Apart (world premiere)
DVOŘÁK Carnival Overture

To hear a preview of Justin Dello Joio's Oceans Apart, with pianist Garrick Ohlsson, use the player above and read the transcript in the tab below.

To hear a preview of the program with conductor Alan Gilbert, listen and read the transcript in the tab below.

(Surprisingly, the computer has converted the font of the original page to the one I''m using.) The BSO performance detail page tells a bit more and gives links to the program notes, which could be very useful.

American conductor Alan Gilbert and frequent BSO guest Garrick Ohlsson premiere Justin Dello Joio’s piano concerto Oceans Apart, written for Ohlsson. Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar’s wide-ranging 1911 Serenade has a satisfyingly symphonic scope. French composer Lili Boulanger’s impressionistic 1918 depiction of a spring morning and Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s celebratory Carnival Overture, from 1891, complete the program.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives good descriptions of the Stenhammar, Dello Joio, and Boulanger pieces, but not much about how well the orchestra did. The review in the Globe ignores the Dvořák, but is chatty about the others.

It wasn't part of my subscription, so I can't add anything. All in all, it doesn't strike me as a must listen concert, but it could be okay. It will be rebroadcast Monday week.

BSO — 2023/01/07

 The BSO is back live with an interestin concert. I was there on Thursday, but before I give my impressions, here's the official story. First let's hear from WCRB:

Saturday, January 7, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, January 16

Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber leads the Boston Symphony in an exploration of Beethoven, through the composer’s own works and a world premiere by Ella Milch-Sheriff, and Midori is the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto.

Omer Meir Wellber, conductor
Midori, violin
Eli Danker, narrator

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D
Ella MILCH-SHERIFF The Eternal Stranger (American premiere)
BEETHOVEN Funeral March from Symphony No. 3, Eroica
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3

Hear a preview of The Eternal Stranger with conductor Omer Meir Wellber and Arun Rath of GBH News.

The preview of "The Eternal Stranger" is linked in that line on WCRB's page.

The orchestra's own performance detail page gives this synopsis:

Performing with the BSO at Symphony Hall for the first time since 2003, renowned violinist Midori joins Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber in his BSO debut for Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto. Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff’s The Eternal Stranger for narrator and orchestra relates Ludwig van Beethoven’s difficulty in society due to his personality and deafness to the hostility and rejection experienced by refugees and other “strangers.” The funeral march from the Eroica Symphony and the overture from Beethoven’s opera about a political imprisonment remind us of the composer’s abiding universal humanity.

As usual, there are links to take you to the full program notes.

The review in the Globe talks about more than just the music, but finds it generally well performed. The Intelligencer presents a review which is all about the music, finding the Tchaikovsky excellent, the Beethoven good, and questioning the decision the program the Milch-Sheriff in connection with the Beethoven.

Like the Intelligencer, I thought there were points where the brass overpowered the strings. THe Milch-Sheriff music was okay, but not memorable. It worked to accompany the drama, which I thought was reasonably well performed. Unfortunately, you can't see the actor and his "stage business" on the radio. You also don't get to see the conductor,, which may be just as well, as his broad and energetic gestures were a little distraction.

You can't go wrong with the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, so I think this concert is definitely worth hearing. Not also that there will be a rebroadcast on January 16, so you can enjoy it again, or catch it if you have to miss this evening.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/12/31

 Between being busy and being away, I've failed to post for several weeks, but here's what WCRB is offering this evening in the 8:00 p.m. time slot: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2021-12-21/a-new-years-day-celebration

Saturday, December 31, 2022
8:00 PM

Ring in the new year with CRB and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with timeless waltzes by Lanner and Strauss and Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll," capped off with Beethoven's eternal Symphony No. 9 — all conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

Jane Marsh, soprano
Josephine Veasey, mezzo-soprano
Placido Domingo, tenor
Sherrill Milnes, baritone

Joseph LANNER "Die Mozartisten" Waltzes
WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
MOZART Flute Quartet in D, K. 285: III. Rondo (Boston Symphony Chamber Players)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, Choral
STRAUSS II, arr. SCHOENBERG Roses from the South (Boston Symphony Chamber Players)

This concert was originally broadcast on January 1, 2022 and is no longer available on demand.

Obviously, the performance wasn't given on January 1, 2022. Apparently WCRB put it together for that Saturday and decided it was worth a replay. It should be worth a listen.

The Orchestra will be back performing live next week.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/12/03

 Now it's Holiday Pops time at Symphony Hall, so WCRB is giving us rebroadcasts. Here's this evening's program as given on their website:

Saturday, December 3, 2022
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast of the first of three programs encompassing Beethoven’s piano concertos, Paul Lewis is the soloist in the Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, alongside the world premiere of “Makeshift Castle,” by Julia Adolphe, all conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano

Julia ADOLPHE Makeshift Castle (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3

Franz SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, Unfinished: II. Andante con moto
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Nicolò Foron, conductor
Recorded on July 11, 2022, at the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

This concert was originally broadcast on July 29, 2022 and is no longer available on demand.

It looks as if the Adolphe and Beethoven were one concert, and the Schubert is part of abother, and WCRB is adding the Schubert to round out the evening,Regrettably, I didn't post about either of the concerts. I was away on retreat on July 11, and I forgot to post about July 29. I think they"ll be giving us the July 30 and 31 over the next two weekends, and I did post about them back then. But for now, here's a quote from a review in the Boston Musical Intelligencer when they performed the Adolphe work again in October:

Accessible and fun Makeshift Castle by Julia Adolphe — a BSO co-commission — played on contrasts between inexorable brass and diverse and quiet orchestral textures. In her introduction, the composer pithily articulated a “contrast between permanence and ephemerality,” and indeed those fateful brass sounds persisted in the memory; no subsequent artifice could shake it off. Gorgeous pianissimo muted violins, harp interludes, auditory exciting exchanges between the piano and the bongo drums: the shimmering sonic smorgasbord took advantage of the technical might of the full BSO band. But any hope for resolution awaited subsequent works due to lucky or extremely clever program structure.

There is a fuller description of the piece in the program note from the BSO performance detail page.

So it seems "Makeshift Castle" will be okay, and of course the Beethoven and Schubert are well worth hearing.

BSO — 2022/11/26

 The orchestra is back from Japan. WCRB tells us what they'll play for our entertainment this evening:

Saturday, November 26, 2022
8:00 PM

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina conducts the suite from Elena Langer’s Figaro Gets a Divorce and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Inon Barnatan is the soloist in the crown-jewel of Rachmaninoff’s works, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Anna Rakitina, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano

Elena LANGER Figaro Gets a Divorce Suite
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Modest MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

In a conversation with CRB's Brian McCreath, pianist Inon Barnatan describes his love for Rachmaninoff's music, how the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is unique among the composer's works for piano, and what he's learned as Music Director of the La Jolla SummerFest. To listen, used the player above, or read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Inon Barnatan, who is back with the BSO for the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, one of my

As usual, if you go to their page you can find a link to the audio of the interview as well as the full transcript.

The BSO' own performance detail page gives the following blurb as well as links to the program notes that are in the booklets given to the audience:

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina leads pianist Inon Barnatan in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s last piano-and-orchestra work, featuring both astonishing virtuoso passages and Rachmaninoff’s best-known melody. The orchestral suite from composer Elena Langer’s witty and touching opera Figaro Gets a Divorce is by turns mysterious, songful, and jazzy. Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated brilliantly by Maurice Ravel, is a magical response to marvelous paintings.

As the program note informs us, the "Figaro Gets a Divorce" Suite was performed at Tanglewood in 2021. I think I heard it then, and I seem to remember it was okay, but nothing to write home about. The other two pieces on the program are "warhorses."

The Intelligencer has a mixed review of Friday's performance. I can't find a review in the Globe.

Well, the Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff pieces have stood the test of time (even if they aren't the greatest thing since sliced bread), so you might as well listen to them. Nothing there to drive you screaming from the room.

I hope there will be a rebroadcast at 8:00 p.m. on December 5. There usually is a retransmission when it's a live concert on a Saturday, although they don't actually promise it this time. We'll see.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/11/19

 This week we are treated to a rebroadcast of the BSO concert of last April 9. Here's what WCRB says about it, plus the beginning of a sixteen minute interview with the conductor  (with audio also linked on the page):

Saturday, November 19, 2022
8:00 PM

The BSO Assistant Conductor conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an encore broadcast featuring a modern work by American composer Ellen Reid and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7, and pianist Alexandre Kantorow makes his BSO debut as the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Anna Rakitina, conductor
Alexandre Kantorow, piano

Piotr TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 2
Ellen REID When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist
Jean SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7

This concert was originally broadcast on April 9, 2022 and is no longer available on demand.

Hear a preview of the program with Anna Rakitina with the audio player above (transcript below).

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Anna Rakitina

For whatever reason, it seems I didn't write about theis concert at the time, or in the preceding or following weeks, so all I can say is Tchaikovsky is pretty safe, and I like Sibelius' symphonies. Based on that, it should be good, although the reid piece is a question mark for me.

The BSO performance detail page says:

Having made her Symphony Hall debut in the BSO’s streamed concerts of 2020–21, Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina conducts her first live-audience Symphony Hall program featuring the BSO debut of French pianist Alexandre Kantorow. The grand prix winner in the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition performs Tchaikovsky’s rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 2, an attractive work long overshadowed by the composer’s immensely popular Concerto No. 1. Tennessee-born composer Ellen Reid won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her opera p r i s m. Her 2019 orchestral score When the World as You’ve Known it Doesn’t Exist revels in energy and pure orchestral sound; the instrumental ensemble is enhanced by the earthy sounds of three soprano voices. Sibelius’ one-movement Symphony No. 7, one of his last completed works, was an entirely personal reinvention of the genre that had occupied him for almost forty years and which was closely tied to the landscape and culture of Finland.

There are also links to the program notes on that page.

The Globe has a tepid review. By contrast, the reviewer in the Intelligencer found the concert "fabulous" and felt that the Reid piece deserves a second hearing.

After reading the linked material, I'd suggest that the concert may not be the greatest ever, but still worth hearing. When will you have another chance to hear Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto?

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/11/12

 This evening's BSO rebroadcast is summarized as follows by WCRB:

Saturday, November 12, 2022
8:00 PM

The Latvian violinist is the soloist in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in works by Pärt and Stravinsky, as well as Saariaho’s "Saarikoski Songs," with soprano Anu Komsi.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin
Anu Komsi, soprano

Arvo PÄRT Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1
Kaija SAARIAHO Saarikoski Songs (world premiere of orchestral version; BSO co-commission)
Igor STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

This concert was originally broadcast on February 26, 2022 and is no longer available on demand.

Hear Baiba Skride describe the challenges of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the audio player above (transcript below):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Baiba Skride, who is back here in the United States once again after a nice trip to Tanglewood last summer. Baiba, thank you for a little bit o

The audio of the interview is about eleven minutes long.

The BSO performance detail page for the concert is still available, and includes a link to the program notes for all the pieces in the concert.

I wrote about it back when it was performed in February, and I have no new information. Rereading what I write has slightly jogged my vague memory, and I still think it's not must hear music, but I'll want to hear the opening piece. After that I'll probably leave the radio on, but not pay careful attention.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/11/05

 The orchestra has gone to Japan for a concert tour, so WCRB is providing us with a rebroadcast from last spring, as noted here:

Saturday, November 5, 2022
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast of the final concert in the 2021-2022 Boston Symphony Orchestra season, BSO Principal Cellist Blaise Déjardin is center-stage in Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons conducts Richard Strauss's panoramic "An Alpine Symphony" and a selection from the composer's "Intermezzo."

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Blaise Déjardin, cello

Richard STRAUSS "Dreaming by the Fireside" from Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo
Camille SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

This concert was originally broadcast on Saturday, April 30. It is no longer available on demand.

To hear Blaise Déjardin preview the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Saint-Saëns, talk about his new book, Audition Day, and how golf and learning magic helped his cello playing, use the audio player above, and read the transcript below:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Blaise Déjardin, the Principal Cellist of the Boston Symphony. But Blaise,

At the time, I wrote as follows:

 We come now to the final concert of the BSO's 2021-22 season.[…]

If you go to WCRB's page you can read or listen to the interview.

The BSO's own performance detail page tells us more about the music:

The BSO’s own principal cello Blaise Déjardin makes his solo concerto debut with the orchestra in these concerts performing the astonishingly gifted French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1873 Cello Concerto No. 1. In one movement, this compact concerto moves from exhilarating energy to great charm and finally to impassioned, virtuosic lyricism.
The orchestral interludes from his 1924 opera Intermezzo are self-contained miniature tone poems of great dramatic effectiveness. The gorgeous “Dreaming by the Fireside” depicts a woman’s yearning for her husband, who is a musician on tour—part of the autobiographical plot of the opera. Strauss’s absolute mastery of the orchestra is put to very different use in the tone poem An Alpine Symphony, which musically illustrates nature in all its glory via the climb and descent of a mountain in the Alps.

There are also brief blurbs about each piece and a number of links, including one for the program notes which appear in the booklet given to audience members.

The Globe reviewer liked the first Strauss piece and the Saint-Saëns cello concerto, but found the Alpine Symphony too long and mostly unengaging, but found no fault with how it was performed. So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't say how they did. What I can say is I'm not surprised by the review in the Globe. I'd expect the first half to be pleasant. I've heard the Alpine Symphony a few times and I'd say it has its moments, and it's never hard to listen to.

Overall, I think it's worth tuning in or connecting.

I've subsequently found a mixed review in the Intelligencer: liked the first half, not thrilled with the "Alpensymphonie."I still recommend it overall, although I won't blame anyone who treats the second half as background music.