BSO — 2019/09/28

One great piece and one okay one (my opinion) are on the program this evening. Fortunately, the great one comes before my brother calls from Tokyo, so I get to hear it and only have to miss the okay one. Here's the description from the performance detail page (which also has the usual links to program notes etc.):

The outstanding Italian-born violinist Augustin Hadelich returns to Symphony Hall to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a pinnacle of the violin repertoire. It is also one of the most challenging violin concertos, demanding the utmost sensitivity and sense of line in its many lyrical passages, as well as pinpoint intensity in its faster episodes. Richard Strauss wrote a series of tone poems in the 1890s depicting larger-than-life concepts via such characters as Don Juan, Don Quixote, and—in the somewhat tongue-in-cheek Ein Heldenleben (“A Heroic Life”)—himself. By contrast, in his 1903 tone poem Symphonia domestica he turns his unsurpassed orchestral imagination to “a day in my family life,” depicting the ordinary interactions of himself, his wife Pauline, and their young son. These performances are part of Andris Nelsons’ and the BSO’s ongoing focus on Strauss’ works.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, the Boston Globe either couldn't be bothered to review the BSO performance on Thursday, or  they've skillfully hidden the review from me. The reviewer in the Boston Musical Intelligencer is ravished by the violin concerto and chuckles with amusement at the well played symphony.

The glitch with WCRB's home page continues, but there is this. I hope those of you who are outside the range of their radio signal can find your way to a Listen Live button. Or try WAMC in Albany, NY. Maybe they also have a webstream.

You may note that the page I linked also talks of the encore broadcasts on the Moday nine days after the actual performance. For some reason, it doesn't say anything about it until next week's concert. But I suppose it will do no harm to listen in on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 at 8:00 p.m. to see if they give us the encores of last week's concert and this.

BSO — 2019/09/21

This evening we get the first Saturday concert of the new season. Here's the orchestra's synopsis from their program detail page:

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the opening concerts of the orchestra’s 2019–20 season, which feature the world premiere of the second BSO commission by the young American composer Eric Nathan, his Concerto for Orchestra, which highlights the virtuosity of the BSO’s various instrumental sections. Two Poulenc works of diverse character frame the program: his exciting, neo-Baroque Concerto in D minor for two pianos—here featuring the Dutch duo-pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen in their BSO debuts—and one of the most significant works first premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the French composer’s optimistic and lyrical Gloria, here with soprano Nicole Cabell and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. In addition, the TFC, six recent Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, and piano soloist Arthur Jussen join the BSO for Beethoven’s majestic Choral Fantasy.

(Some emphasis added.)

I couldn't find a review in the Boston Globe. The one in the Boston Musical Intelligencer is detailed and generally quite favorable.

I was there live on Thursday evening. 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. The Beethoven Choral Fantasy is basically a cheerful work, and I really looked forward to being able to hear it in the hall. The best part is at the end when the singing takes place, and I wish Beethoven found a way to extend that and maybe not spend quite so long building up to it. But all is well at the end. After intermission, the Nathan concerto seemed to be musical at points, and rarely just plain cacophonous — not nearly so bad as a quick glance at the program notes had led me to believe. That was a pleasant surprise. Finally, the Poulenc "Gloria" had some very nice singing from the soprano.

So I think it'll be mostly good listening over WCRB beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time. I can't get their home page to come up on my computer so I can link their url, but you can find it in previous posts.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/09/14

Today's "encore performance" comes from March 9 of this year. WCRB gives the basics on their website:

Saturday, September 14, 2019
8:00 PM

Recorded on March 9, 2019

Thomas Adès, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano

LISZT Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Thomas ADÈS Piano Concerto
   (world premiere; BSO commission)
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

(Emphasis added);

and the BSO program detail page provides further information:

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès returns for a concert featuring the world premiere of his Concerto for piano and orchestra , commissioned by the BSO and composed for Kirill Gerstein, a frequent collaborator. Mr. Adès also leads the orchestra in two Romantic-era scores. Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltz depicts a scene from Nicolaus Lenau's 1836 poem Faust in which Mephistopheles plays demonically on a fiddle during a wedding. Tchaikovsky's emotionally intense and magnificently orchestrated Fourth Symphony, completed in 1878, represents the culmination of a traumatic period in the composer's life.

The WCRB page also has a link to a conversation with the soloist, and the BSO page has the usual links to background information.

My review at the time gives you my reaction to the performance two days earlier as well as links to the published reviews. It should be worth hearing (again) this evening at 8:00 via WCRB on air or on line. The WCRB home page also has a link to an article about Malcolm Lowe, the long-time concertmaster of the BSO, who will retire before the season opener next week. It includes the audio of an interview with him, and it should be interesting and informative.

Enjoy!

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/09/07

Here's the scoop on this evening's concert from WCRB:

Saturday, September 7, 2019
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt conducts Brahms's majestic Symphony No. 1, and guest soloist Truls Mørk showcases the lightheartedness of Haydn in his Cello Concerto No. 1.

Recorded on January 19, 2019

Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Truls Mørk, cello

HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 1 in C
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

(Emphasis added.)

The WCRB web page for the concert has a link to an interview with the cellist about the Haydn concerto. Their home page has links to a lot more about what they're presenting, as well as the "Listen Live" button for listening over the web. There is a bit more about it (including a link to the Globe review) in my preview posted in January.

It's good standard repertory, and most listeners should find it worth hearing. The show begins at 8:00 p.m.,  Boston Time.

Enjoy.