BSO/Classical New England — 2020/08/29

This evening's "encore broadcast" is a good 'un, originally performed just last January 4. Here, slightly edited, is what I wrote back then:

The BSO returns to Symphony Hall with a couple of familiar pieces and a pleasant enough curtain raiser to precede them. The performance detail page has the usual links and this description:

Former BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger, who last led the BSO in 2014, is joined by distinguished pianist Javier Perianes for Beethoven’s heaven-storming Piano Concerto No. 5. Completed in 1811, it was the composer’s final concerto, a work perfectly balancing virtuosity with substance and depth and epitomizing the composer’s “heroic” period. (Perianes last performed with the BSO in March 2016.) Beethoven’s bright, five-minute overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, composed in 1801, was part of his complete ballet score, the first music he ever wrote for the theater. Closing the program is Tchaikovsky’s 1888 Symphony No. 5, a work as intensely lyrical as it is powerful, which uses a recurring “fate theme” to unify all four movements.

(Some emphasis added.)

The piano concerto, nicknamed "Emperor" only in the English-speaking world, is one of my favorite pieces of music, so I really enjoyed the first half of the concert. While Tchaikovsky isn't that high on my list of favorites, his music isn't bad. All in all, it was a fine evening on Thursday when I attended the performance, likely my favorite concert of the season.

The reviewers weren't as happy as I was. The Globe found plenty to dislike about the playing of the Beethoven; the Intelligencer found fault with both halves of the concert, although also some good things as well, mostly with the Tchaikovsky. Maybe this is a case where you're happier if you're not too sophisticated. The only criticism I had was that the pianist seemed to be playing the left hand part too softly.

So I recommend it unreservedly. Listen in over WCRB at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time this evening. They don't seem to be promising a rebroadcast on Monday, the 13th. We'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, listen this evening to be sure you catch it.

Enjoy.

I still think so.

In addition to all the links provided in my post, WCRB offers one for an interview with the pianist on its page about the concert.

WCRB/Tanglewood — 2020/08/21-23

When there are concerts at Tanglewood, WCRB has broadcast the Friday and Saturday evening concerts live at 8:00 p.m. and delayed broadcasting the Sunday afternoon concert until 7:00 p.m. We get something similar this weekend, with concerts all three evenings.

The Friday and Saturday concerts are being given as part of a mini-series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Those two concerts long antedate my presence on the internet, so I have no omments of my own from the time of performance. For years now, Beethoven's 9th Symphony has concluded the Tanglewood season.


Friday, August 21, 2020.   Haydn's The Creation (libretto) https://www.classicalwcrb.org/sites/wcrb/files/202008/twd_930815_creation.pdf, conducted by Simon Rattle on Aug. 15, 1993.

This should be well worth hearing.


Saturday, August 22, 2020.  Berlioz's Requiem, conducted by Seiji Ozawa on Aug. 5, 1995.

A spectacular piece, not to be missed.

Sunday, August 23, 2020. Here's WCRB's description:

This Sunday at 7, Andris Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and its "Ode to Joy," at Tanglewood.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

7:00 PM

This encore broadcast was originally recorded on Sunday, August 27, 2017.

Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Andris Nelsons, conductor/ Katie Van Kooten, soprano/ Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano/ Russell Thomas, tenor/ John Relyea, bass-baritone/ Tanglewood Festival Chorus

THOMPSON Alleluia

    (recorded on July 7, 1994, at Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood)

IVES “The Housatonic at Stockbridge” from Three Places in New England 

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

Here's what I wrote at the time:

For several years, the Beethoven 9th was the only piece performed at the Sunday afternoon season finale. Recently, there has been a curtain raiser to precede it, as is the case this year. Again, the performance detail page gives some particulars:

For the second year in a row, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Sunday, August 27. The performance features soprano Katie Van Kooten in her BSO and Tanglewood debuts; mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford; tenor Russell Thomas; and bass-baritone John Relyea, along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Maestro Nelsons and the BSO open the program with Charles Ives's tribute to Western Massachusetts, "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from Three Places in New England.

(Some emphasis added.)

Remember, WCRB broadcasts and streams the Saturday concert at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and the Sunday concert by tape delay at 7:00 p.m. Check out their website for the other material they have.

Enjoy the concerts!

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/08/15

Tonight's encore broadcast via WCRB is of the Tanglewood concert of Sunday, July 7, 2019. It features Anne-Sophie Mutter performing music of John Williams arranged for her, with the Boston Pops playing and himself sharing conducting duties. Here's what I wrote at the time:

Sunday brings a "guest appearance" by the Boston Pops. The performance detail page gives some details about the performance, although the Pops performs so many pieces that they don't list them all.

Join the Boston Pops for the first of three programs this summer, celebrating the art of John Williams. Drawing from her recent recording “Across the Stars,” the great violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performs selections from Mr. Williams’ iconic scores, in brilliant new arrangements created especially for her. The program includes music from Star Wars, Dracula and Harry Potter, as well as the haunting melodies of Memoirs of a Geisha.

(Some emphasis added.)

What the synopsis doesn't mention is that David Newman shares podium duties with Maestro Williams.

Note the links both in my blurb and in WCRB's description.

I couldn't find a review in the Globe, but there is one in the Intelligencer that gives some good background information.

It should be interesting. Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/08/08

This week WCRB takes us back to the Tanglewood concert of August, 3, 2018, which I previewed as follows at the time:

We begin with approximately five minutes of sheer delight: the Overture to "Ruslan and Ludmila" by Glinka. Then there's a piano concerto by Rachmaninoff. After intermission comes the complete score to Firebird by Stravinsky, which is not as jarring as "The Rite of Spring." The official explanation, along with links to further information, can be found on the performance detail page:

UndersScore Friday ConcertTanglewood
Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View MapPatrons will hear comments about the program directly from onstage BSO musician Robert Sheena (English horn).Koussevitzky Artist Kirill Gerstein joins BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the BSO for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, a prime example of the composer's Russian-tinged Romanticism. The program begins with Glinka's infectiously energetic Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, the second of his two operas. After intermission, Mr. Masur leads the orchestra in a performance of the complete music from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, a scintillating score that proved to be the composer's breakout success when the ballet opened in Paris in 1910.

(Some emphasis added.)
It will be interesting to hear how Robert Sheena handles the introducer's duties at the beginning. At any rate, for me the best part of the concert comes at the beginning.

Glinka, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky with Kirill Gerstein

The last time the encore was an underscore, WCRB omitted the musician's introduction, so don't be too disappointed if you don't get to hear Robert Sheena at the beginning.

The Intelligencer gave a favorable review, with a minor complaint about balance at the beginning of the Rachmaninoff. The Globe doesn't seem to have reviewed it.

Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/08/01

This evening we get an encore broadcast of the Tanglewood concert given on Friday July 12, 2019. I must have been away, because i didn't post about it at the time.

The orchestra's performance detail page has the usual links to notes and performer bios, as well as the following brief synopsis:

BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs and English horn player Robert Sheena join Andris Nelsons and the orchestra for the opening work on the July 12 program, Copland’s Quiet City, followed by a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Jan Lisiecki in his Tanglewood debut and ending with Copland’s Symphony No. 3.

(Some emphasis added.)

WCRB has taken to playing "Quiet City" fairly frequently during late evenings. It's a pleasant enough piece which I think lives up to its name. I'm not familiar enough with the other pieces to offer a solid opinion, but I think they're both okay.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer's review is brief but highly favorable all around. The Globe's review (which starts with the Verdi Requiem given on Saturday) found no fault with the Copland, but was not satisfied with Lisiecki's playing of the Grieg.

IMO this is a concert worth listening to. I'll be tuned in to WCRB from 8:00 until my brother calls from Japan.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/25

This weekend there was to have been a tribute to Isaac Stern, whose centenary was this week, but the pandemic cancelled that. WCRB will present the concert of Friday August2, 2019, about which I posted as follows:

Says the orchestra's program detail page: 

Violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martinů’sMemorial to Lidice and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Martinů piece is one of the two non-standard items this weekend, and unfortunately the program detail page, as of this writing, has no link to the program note for it, so I'll be as surprised as you. According to wiki, Lidice was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 as a retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, and Martinů composed his Memorial in 1943. The composer's style is described as neoclassical.

The BSO performed the Dvořák symphony last January in Symphony Hall. My post at the time has links to favorable reviews.

There don't seem to have been any reviews of the concert last summer. Unfortunately, I don't recall the Martinů piece, but Dvořák is good, as is Bell, so it should be worth listening to, beginning at 8:00 this evening, Boston Time, on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/18

WCRB reaches back two years to July 22, 2018, for this week's "encore broadcast." Here, somewhat edited, is how I previewed it at the time:

…Thomas Adès conducts his own music and that of Sibelius. This synopsis appears in the orchestra's performance detail page:

Thomas Adès conducts Adès and Sibelius with Christian Tetzlaff

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès makes his first Tanglewood appearance of 2018, taking the podium to lead the BSO in his own Suite from Powder Her Face, the composer's 1995 chamber opera, which helped cement an already impressive reputation. Mr. Adès will also lead the orchestra in Sibelius's Symphony No. 5, and renowned German violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins the orchestra for Sibelius's Violin Concerto.

(Some emphasis added.)

I make no guarantees about "Powder Her Face," but I like Sibelius. His music is among the most tonal and least dissonant of works by prominent composers of the early 20th Century.

There isn't much of my own that I can add now. The Boston Mysical Intelligencer published a highly favorable review. The Globe also has a review which says nothing about "Powder Her Face," but is very complimentary toward the interpretations of the Sibelius.

To conclude, then, it seems that the two Sibelius works are must listening, and the Adès should be at least okay. Tune your radio, computer, or other device to WCRB at 8:00 p.m. to enjoy it.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/11

Today we get last summer's Tanglewood concert of July 21. At the time neither I nor the performance detail page had much to say — "just the facts."

[This evening] we'll have a chance to hear some more or less familiar music. I quote the performance detail page: www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/100263/

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the featured soloist for two works by Gershwin—Piano Concerto in F and Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” for piano and orchestra; Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in a performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushkato complete the program.

(Some emphasis added.)

Neither the Globe nor the Intelligencer has a review I can find. So we are left with the links on the performance detail page. Well, Gershwin is familiar enough, and "Petrushka" is the least jarring (to me, anyway) of Stravinsky's three most famous ballets. So it should be a pretty good evening, beginning at 8:00 on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/05

This evening, at 7:00, WCRB gives us an encore broadcast of a BSO concert. It's the opening concert of last summer's Tanglewood season. I previewed itvery briefly about it back then, as follows:

Opening night features Mozart and Mahler. Here's the synopsis from the orchestra's own program detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its Opening Night concert of the season with Tanglewood favorite Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, on a program with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

(Emphasis added.)

As regular readers of these blogposts know, the performance detail page has links to further information including program notes, audio previews, performer bios (click the thumbnail photos), and related media. There are also links to additional material on the WCRB homepage, as well as the button to listen "live" over the internet.

The Mahler Symphony was performed in Symphony Hall on November 17, 2018. My post at the time was highly abbreviated, so if you want reviews, you'll need to do your own digging in the Globe and the Musical Intelligencer. The piano concerto was given, with a different soloist and conductor, on January 26 of this year. My blogpost about the concert doesn't have anything to say about the Mozart, but it does have links to reviews.

You can check the orchestra's performance detail page via the link in my post. Subsequently, a very favorable review appeared in the Boston Musical Intelligencer. The Boston Globe was similarly favorable.

So this should be worth listening to. I'm looking forward to it, especially the Mozart.

Don't forget, it starts at 7:00 p.m., not 8:00, on WCRB.

WCRB — Classical New England — 2020/07/04

For the first time I can remember since WCRB started giving us Boston Symphony concerts on Saturday evenings — usually live, occasionally recorded, and once in a while Boston Pops — they are not giving us a concert this evening. Instead, they are presenting "A Festival of American Orchestras for July 4th." (already in progress) The page I linked lists the orchestras whose recordings will be included and gives links to each.

Then tomorrow, Sunday evening, they begin "Summer at Tanglewood, from WCRB." As you see on their page, this includes full recorded concerts every Saturday evening at 8:00 except this weekend and the final weekend, when the concerts are Sunday at 7:00. But wait, there's more. As you see, there are recorded concerts five nights a week, Monday through Friday at 8:00, through the season.

Enjoy.