BSO/Classical New England — 2024/12/21

 Tonight's BSO concert on WCRB:

Saturday, December 21, 2024
8:00pm

Seiji Ozawa leads the BSO in a magical ballet score for the season that expresses the innocence of childhood and the drama of transformation, sprinkled with musical delights and passion.

J.S. BACH / Igor STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations of Vom Himmel hoch
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
Hector BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's Farewell" from L'enfance du Christ

This concert was originally broadcast on December 23, 2023.

Clearly, this was not a live concert last year, but something WCRB put together for the occasion a while back, which means that there is no BSO performance detail page or reviews. But it is all seasonal music and worth hearing, so I recommend giving a listen.

BSO/Classical New England — 2023/12/30

 For this week's "encore broadcast" WCRB brings us the concert of September 24, 2022, which they describe as follows:

Saturday, December 30, 2023
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony and the Lorelei Ensemble in Gustav Holst’s sweeping "The Planets," and pianist Awadagin Pratt makes his BSO debut with a concerto by J.S. Bach and Jessie Montgomery’s "Rounds."

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Awadagin Pratt, piano
Lorelei Ensemble

John WILLIAMS A Toast
Johann Sebastian BACH Keyboard Concerto in A, BWV 1055
Jessie MONTGOMERY Rounds
Gustav HOLST The Planets

This concert was originally recorded on September 24, 2022.

To hear a preview of Jessie Montgomery's Rounds with pianist Awadagin Pratt, use the audio player above.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall, where I talked with pianist Awadagin Pratt today about Jessie Montgomery's Rounds

I posted about it at the time. Since I had heard the same program on Thursday, I was able to give my impressions as well as link the reviews. Those links still work. Here's a link to the BSO performance detail page, which gives access to the full program notes.

Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2023/12/23

 They don't tell us in so many words, but it looks as if this evening's BSO offering from WCRB is this collection from the days of Seiji Ozawa: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2021-11-11/tchaikovskys-the-nutcracker-from-the-bso

Saturday, December 25, 2021
8:00 PM

In a timeless holiday season tradition, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra bring to life Tchaikovsky's magical tale of Christmas, Sugar Plum Fairies, and one very handsome prince!

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor

BACH/STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel hoch
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's Farewell" from Part 2 of L'enfance du Christ

It's good stuff, worth listening to.

BSO — 2022/09/24

 This evening WCRB gives the first broadcast of the Bston Symphony 2022-23 season. Here's their summary:

Saturday, September 24, 2022
8:00 PM

In the opening to the 2022-23 Season, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony and the Lorelei Ensemble in Gustav Holst’s sweeping The Planets,and Awadagin Pratt makes his BSO debut with a concerto by J.S. Bach and Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Awadagin Pratt, piano
Lorelei Ensemble

John WILLIAMS A Toast
Johann Sebastian BACH Keyboard Concerto in A, BWV 1055
Jessie MONTGOMERY Rounds
Gustav HOLST The Planets

To hear a preview of Jessie Montgomery's Rounds with pianist Awadagin Pratt, click on the player above, and see the transcript below.

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall, where I talked with pianist Awadagin Pratt today about

This is actually a rebroadcast of Thursday's opening night concert, which I attended. I found it enjoyable overall. The "Toast" by John Williams was typical cheerful brass music. My seat in the front row of the second second balcony afforded a good view of the pianist's right hand, and it was interesting to see his fingers fly over the keys in the Bach, which is part of the standard baroque repertory, and in the Montgomery, which was not bad for something just written. After intermission, "The Planets" was fun to hear. At the end, the women sang so softly that I wondered if they could even be heard at the back of the auditorium. Hopefully, the mics picked it all up. To me, the Bach concerto was the best piece on the concert, and while the rest isn't quite must listening it's all okay, and there's a reason "The Planets" is frequently played.

Jeremy Eichler reviewed the concert favorably in the Boston Globe, although he had a couple of minor quibbles. He is descriptive of "Rounds." David Patterson, writing in the Boston Musical Intelligencer, was favorable as well. For more information, you can access the BSO's performance detail page. There are brief descriptions of each piece there, and the full program notes can be accessed by clicking on the title of each piece. (I'm not sure how long they'll leave this page up, but at least it's there now.)

WCRB doesn't say they will rebroadcast the concert on October 3, so I wouldn't count on it, but there has also been an "on demand" feature which I've never used. So if you want to hear it again or at another time, check that out. At any rate, I give ths concert a "thumbs up."

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/19

WCRB does not identify this week's BSO presentation as a concert from a specific date. The conductor, Seiji Ozawa, was Music Director of the Boston Symphony from 1973 through 2002, so we will likely be hearing music from that era. I'm guessing it's from "studio" recordings rather than live concerts. Here's how WCRB describes it:

Saturday at 8pm, in a timeless holiday season tradition, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra bring to life Tchaikovsky's magical tale of Christmas, Sugar Plum Fairies, and one very handsome prince.

Saturday, December 19, 2020
8:00 PM

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor

BACH/STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel hoch
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's Farewell" from Part 2 of L'enfance du Christ

So it seems that there are none of the usual performance detail pages, program notes, or reviews available, and it's nothing I wrote about. I'm sure you know enough about "The Nutcracker." If not, I'm leaving you to your own devices to research it. But, for those for whom "Vom Himmel Hoch" and "L'enfance du Christ" aren't familiar here are some links and comments.

This wiki article includes the text and standard 19th Century English translation. Here is a performance.

"L'enfance du Christ" is agood piece about Jesus' birth and the flight into Egypt to escape King Herod's attempt to murder him as a rival for the throne. The shepherds' Farewell is definitely a highlight of the work. Here's a program note from the Los Angeles Philharmonic whic gives an idea of the entire work and of the place of the excerpts we'll get.

Here's the text of the Shepherds' Chorus in French:

CHŒUR DES BERGERS

Il s’en va loin de la terre
Où dans l’étable il vit le jour.
De son père et de sa mère
Qu’il reste le constant amour,
Qu’il grandisse, qu’il prospère
Et qu’il soit bon père à son tour. 

Oncques si, chez l’idolâtre,
Il vient à sentir le malheur,
Fuyant la terre marâtre,
Chez nous qu’il revienne au bonheur.
Que la pauvreté du pâtre
Reste toujours chère à son cœur. 

Cher enfant, Dieu te bénisse!
Dieu vous bénisse, heureux époux!
Que jamais de l’injustice
Vous ne puissiez sentir les coups.
Qu’un bon ange vous avertisse
Des dangers planant sur vous.

And an English setting (noy exactly a translation, more a loose paraphrase, but it gives the general idea):

Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling,
the humble crib, the stable bare.
Babe, all mortal babes excelling,
content our earthly lot to share.
Loving father, loving mother,
shelter thee with tender care!

Blessed Jesus, we implore thee,
with humble love and holy fear.
In the land that lies before thee,
forget not us who linger here!
May the shepherd’s lowly calling,
ever to thy heart be dear!

Blest are ye beyond all measure,
thou happy father, mother mild!
Guard ye well your heavenly treasure,
the Prince of Peace, the Holy Child!
God go with you, God protect you,
guide you safely through the wild!

All in all, it should be an enjoyable program at 8:00 p.m. over WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/11/21

WCRB describes this week's retrospective as follows:

Saturday at 8pm, Isabelle Faust is the soloist in Alban Berg's Violin Concerto, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus sings Bach's Komm, Jesu, komm! and Es ist genug, and the BSO performs the Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich, all conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Saturday, November 21, 2020
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast from November 21, 2015
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

J.S. BACH Komm, Jesu, komm!, BWV 229
J.S. BACH Es ist genug, from Cantata No. 60
BERG Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

 This concert is no longer available on-demand.

Back then I wrote:

I don't know how to introduce this week's concert, so I'll simply quote the BSO's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads this intriguing program of seemingly disconnected works. Two of the most important works of the 20th century, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Alban Berg's Violin Concertowere composed within two years of one another. Shostakovich's symphony, which follows a trajectory from darkness to triumph, has long been considered his reaction to official condemnation of his music by the Soviet government, but the reality is far subtler than that.Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was composed as a memorial to eighteen-year-old Manon Gropius (daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler); the entire work is suffused with elegy. Its second movement quotes Bach'schorale Es ist genug, which has deep musical connections to Berg's piece. That brief Bach chorale from Cantata No. 60, as well as the short motet Komm, Jesu, komm!, open and set the tone for this program.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are recording these performances of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 for a release in May, 2016!

(Some emphasis added.)

What they don't tell you in the above blurb is that the violin soloist is Isabelle Faust and that the order of performance is Bach, Berg, Shostakovich. This concert is part of my subscription, but I'm really not interested in hearing either the Berg or the Shostakovich. If I'd been more alert, I'd have exchanged my ticket to this one for a ticket to either February 4th's concert of Shakespeare-related music, or to the one on March 29 which is in the series giving an American premiere; but after the attacks in Paris, I was content to be there because of the aspect of confronting tragedy and death which the program had.

The review in the Boston Globe isn't exactly glowing, but definitely favorable. The Boston Musical Intelligencer analyzes not only the music but also the performances, noting distinctive elements in Maestro Nelsons' approach.

As for me, I didn't catch most of the features that the program notes and interviews had pointed out, except when the winds repeated the "Es ist genug" theme toward the end of the Berg concerto. I'm beginning to think that I listen too hard at these concerts. Maybe I shouldn't bother to try to catch everything that's happening and just let it wash over me. Having some idea what to expect may be a good thing, but maybe I don't need to try to pick it all out as it happens.

You can hear it for yourself via WCRB's broadcast or webstream at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, on November 21.

(Edited for relevance.)

This is one I'd probably skip if it weren't customary for me to listen to these broadcasts. In fact I might even see if WHRB is playing anything good at 8:00. So I won't blame you if you find something else to do this evening — or maybe switch away after the Bach pieces.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/05/30

This week's "encore broadcast" and webstream on WCRB is the concert of October 19, 2019.
Here's what I posted about it at the time:

This week it's "the four B's," extending Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms with some Bartók. The performance detail page describes it like this:

The eminent Hungarian-born pianist András Schiff made his BSO debut in 1983 and last appeared with the orchestra in 2008. In his first appearances with the BSO as a conductor, he leads Bach’s F minor concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from the keyboard. After intermission, he takes the podium to conduct Brahms’s Haydn Variations and Bartók’s pungent folk-influenced Dance Suite. The Haydn Variations are based on the “Chorale St. Antoni,” a well-known melody once attributed to Haydn. Composed in 1873, this was Brahms’ biggest foray into purely orchestral music prior to completing his first symphony three years later. Based on a variety of traditional dance melodies, Bartók’s Dance Suite was immensely successful at the time of its 1923 premiere.

(Some emphasis added.)

The page has the usual links to program notes and related media. WCRB has a page with a link to an interview with Maestro Schiff.

I was still away on Thursday, so I didn't hear the performance, but the reviewer in the Globe was deeply impressed with Maestro Schiff's performance. The review in the Intelligencer is equally favorable, if less extensive.

So, by all means give a listen over WCRB this evening at 8:00, Boston Time. 

At this point, I have nothing to add, so I'll just repeat the suggestion to listen in.

BSO — 2019/10/19

Sorry I missed last week, but I was away.

This week it's "the four B's," extending Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms with some Bartók. The performance detail page describes it like this:

The eminent Hungarian-born pianist András Schiff made his BSO debut in 1983 and last appeared with the orchestra in 2008. In his first appearances with the BSO as a conductor, he leads Bach’s F minor concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from the keyboard. After intermission, he takes the podium to conduct Brahms’s Haydn Variations and Bartók’s pungent folk-influenced Dance Suite. The Haydn Variations are based on the “Chorale St. Antoni,” a well-known melody once attributed to Haydn. Composed in 1873, this was Brahms’ biggest foray into purely orchestral music prior to completing his first symphony three years later. Based on a variety of traditional dance melodies, Bartók’s Dance Suite was immensely successful at the time of its 1923 premiere.

(Some emphasis added.)

The page has the usual links to program notes and related media. WCRB has a page with a link to an interview with Maestro Schiff.

I was still away on Thursday, so I didn't hear the performance, but the reviewer in the Globe was deeply impressed with Maestro Schiff's performance. The review in the Intelligencer is equally favorable, if less extensive.

So, by all means give a listen over WCRB this evening at 8:00, Boston Time. You can also hear the rebroadcast at 8 p.m. on Monday, October 28.

BSO/Classical New England — 2018/12/22

This week's offering isn't a rebroadcast of a concert. Instead, WCRB is presenting three recordings of the BSO under its former, long-time music director Seiji Ozawa in music of Bach, arranged by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and Berlioz. There is no performance detail page, of course, since this wasn't a concert. Here's the listing at WCRB's page for the concert:

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is known not only for its excellence in Symphony Hall, but also for its timeless recordings, holiday repertoire being no exception. Saturday night at 8, hear three of these recordings, including Tchaikovsky's magical "The Nutcracker."

Saturday, December 22, 2018
8:00 PM

Seiji Ozawa, conductor

BACH/STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel hoch
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker, Op. 71
BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's Farewell" from Part 2 of L'enfance du Christ

(Emphasis in original.)

"The Nutcracker" is a perennial favorite, and the other pieces should be well worth hearing. The "Shepherds' Farewell" is quite lovely, IMO. As always, you can hear the show beginning at 8:00 p.m. over WCRB radio and internet. Note also the other programming described there.

BSO — 2018/12/01

Tonight's concert starts a half hour early.

We are in for a treat: the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach. As Christmas music it is to the German speaking world what Handel's "Messiah" is to English speakers.But there is this difference: texts of Messiah begin with Jesus' birth and take us all the way through his death and resurrection to his heavenly triumph, whereas the Christmas Oratorio deals only with his birth and the events of his infancy. It is divided into six parts — each comparable in size to a cantata such as Bach composed for Sunday church services — intended to be performed in a service on a different day: the first, second, and third days of Christmas (all of which were holidays), New Year's Day (when Jesus' circumcision was commemorated), the following Sunday, and Epiphany (celebrating the visit of the Magi). Even though a purist might say they should be performed on separate days, we have so few chances to hear them live, that it's good to have even this opportunity. And in the program booklet there is an essay by Bach scholar Christoph Wolff in which he suggests that Bach might at least have thought it possible that they could be performed together.

Without further ado, here's how the performance detail page at the BSO's website describes it:

Assembled and composed for Leipzig's Christmas season, Bach's Christmas Oratorio is a celebration of the nativity of Jesus Christ originally performed over the course of six days beginning on Christmas Day 1734. As was often Bach's practice, he re-used music from several earlier works, including the independent secular cantatas nos. 214-216. In addition to chorus, the work features soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists, as well as an orchestra configured differently for each of the six sections. The BSO hasn't performed this important work since Charles Munch conducted it in 1960. For these performances, Andris Nelsons and the orchestra are joined by an outstanding group of soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

(Some emphasis added.)

There are the usual links to other information. If you're not already familiar with the piece, I recommend reading the program notes and, if possible, following along in the well-translated text. Even by itself the music is worth hearing, but I think sung music is even more meaningful and interesting when you know what they're singing about.

The Globe gives a scathing review. The Intelligencer finds a few shortcomings but is pleased overall.  Both were quite satisfied with the soloists. I was there on Thursday, having exchanged a ticket for this one, and noticed some of the things the reviewers mention, but none of it really bothered me.The syncopations in the bass aria in Part I and the chorus in Part V didn't come through quite as clearly as I would have liked, but it wasn't a major problem. That bass aria is my favorite number in the whole oratorio. I'm glad I was there.

So I definitely recommend listening to WCRB on line or on air this evening at 7:30 EDT. The rebroadcast on Monday, December 10, will begin at the usual time, 8:000 p.m., and add time as needed at the end of the show. The rebroadcast on December 3 will, as expected, be of last week's concert, the Beethoven 4th and 5th symphonies.

Enjoy!

A Concert in Rockport

Last Sunday, May 13, there was a concert I wanted to attend in Rockport. The Boston Artists Ensemble was presenting, inter alia, a new work which they had commissioned, "Songs Without Words,"* by Scott Wheeler. It's a three movement piece for cello and piano which the composer also calls "Cello Sonata #2." I would have liked to be present for the world premier on April 20, but I was in Colorado for a wedding that weekend. I was glad that there was this chance to hear it performed by the original performers, including the dedicatee.

Getting there was an adventure. I hadn't been to Rockport in over 60 years and had no memory of the town, so several days earlier I got directions to the Rockport Music Shalin Liu Performance Center. Unfortunately, I  neglected to print out the map. I had no trouble getting to downtown Rockport in good time, just as I had planned. But then I had two problems. First, I couldn't find a parking space downtown and had to park several blocks outside the downtown area. Second, I misremembered where the performance center — which is known for its spectacular view of the harbor — was located, and spent nearly a half hour searching for it around the harbor before I realized that there was a second harbor. By the time I got there, at about 3:10, the concert had begun and I was pretty frazzled.

Fortunately, "Songs Without Words" wasn't the first piece on the program, and during what remained of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata, I calmed down. In a program note, the composer writes:

The first movement is entitiled "Among the Trees." It begins "like a hymn" but quickly moves into a sort of recitative. The piano sometimes provides the hymnal accompaniment and sometimes a more sparkling background. The second movement, "Forest at Night," begins with misterioso pizzicato and soon becomes passionate. The third movement, "Barcarolle," is the most expansive part of the sonata,  and perhaps the most songful.

At this first hearing, it didn't seem very melodic, but it was very listenable and interesting. It was definitely more entertaining than what I heard of the Prokofiev. I'm glad I got there in time to hear it.

After intermission, Bach's Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 4 and Kodály's Duo for Violin and Cello, Opus 7, completed the concert.

It would be good to be able to hear "Songs Without Words" several more times, to get to really know it and be able to form a more definite opinion of how good it is. The problem for this and many other compositions is that there is so much music available for a limited number of places on concert programs. There are many works which have entered the standard repertory, and they occupy most of the available space. In my opinion, there are many fine works by "second string" composers (I'm thinking of Weber as I write this) which are rarely performed, while less deserving works by "first stringers" get played regularly. With known works languishing, it is regrettably difficult for a new work to get enough hearings to become established, no matter how good it is.

*I'm well aware that Mendelssohn composed "Songs Without Words." Apparently, the title does not belong to him.

BSO — 2018/02/10

It's Leipzig Week at the BSO, so they're offering four works from composers connected with Leipzig and the world premiere of a piece commissioned jointly by the BSO and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. As usual, the performance detail page refuses to tell about the program in order of performance — starting with the fourth piece, back to the first, on to the last, and finishing with the second and third ("not last but least"?). Anyway, here's what they say:

Andris Nelsons conducts J.S. Bach, Schumann, Shepherd and Mendelssohn featuring pianists Thomas Adès, Kirill Gerstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall - Boston, MA - View MapThis excitingly varied, Leipzig-centric program-the BSO's first "Leipzig Week in Boston"-celebrates Andris Nelsons and the BSO's compelling new collaboration with the venerable Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra by featuring three composers strongly associated with that city, plus a new work jointly commissioned by both ensembles from the accomplished American orchestral composer Sean Shepherd, a Tanglewood Music Center alumnus now based in New York City. The opener brings together three world-class virtuoso pianists for Bach's triple keyboard concerto, BWV 1063, possibly created for performances involving his two elder sons, W.F. and C.P.E Bach, at Zimmermann's coffeehouse in 1730s Leipzig. Closing the concert is the deeply Romantic Scottish Symphony of Felix Mendelssohn, who was music director of the Gewandhaus from 1835 to 1847. And it was Leipzig where Robert Schumann met his wife Clara and spent much of his early career; his two contrasting, rarely heard works for chorus and orchestra on this program date from the late 1840s.

(Some emphasis added.) They don't give the titles of the Shepherd and Mendelssohn works either. Mendelssohn's song are Nachtlied and Neujahrslied; Shepherd's is titled Express Abstractionism.

I attended the Thursday performance, and I was unimpressed with "Express Abstractionism." The first three movements seemed unfocused and meaningless. The thought came to me, "There is no beauty in this." At least the last movement was calm and pleasant to listen to, beautiful in a way. When the composer came on stage for his bows, I stopped applauding. I'll give it another chance during the rebroadcast on February 19 to see if it makes more sense, but at this point (unlike one of the reviewers), I'm not hoping they will play it again.

During the Bach concerto, I noticed that Maestro Nelsons, was not conducting with a precise beat:  up, down, in, out. It looked more like the way people conduct Gregorian chant, with flowing, sweeping, and occasionally circular, hand motions. The use of pianos gave a very different soind from what harpsichords give. Maybe that lusher sound had something to do with how Nelsons conducted.

The Globe and Intelligencer reviews are generally favorable. They, along with the program notes linked on the performance detail page, will give some idea of what to listen for — especially in the Shepherd piece — unless you prefer just to let it unfold with no preconceptions. Also available is this interview with the composer.

It's all there for you — the good and the not so good — at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, over WCRB radio and internet, with a repeat transmission on Feb. 19, also at 8:00. Be sure to check out their website for information about other offerings.

BSO/Classical New England — 2017/12/23

I had somehow gotten the idea that we'd hear the Holiday Pops concert this week, but not so. Here's the program listing from WCRB: http://classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0

Saturday night at 8, join us for a night of seasonal favorites led by Seiji Ozawa.

Saturday, December 23, 2017
8:00 PM

Seiji Ozawa, conductor

BACH/STRAVINSKY Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel hoch
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker, Op. 71
BERLIOZ Overture and "Shepherd's [sic] Farewell" from Part 2 of L'enfance du Christ

(Some emphasis added.)

This probably isn't a recording of a live concert, because you wouldn't have the longest work in the middle. If it is a concert, it would have to be from years before I started this blog, so I have no further information to share about the performance. I can say that it'll be interesting to hear what Stravinsky does with "Vom Himmel Hoch." I was middle aged before I became aware of "L'enfance du Christ." I like it, and I think the Shepherds' Farewell is the best piece in it. "The Nutcracker" (entire ballet, not just the suite) needs no introduction. I find it very episodic and uneven, but it has certainly come to be identified with the season.

So enjoy.

BSO — 2017/02/04

This week's BSO concert is a single work, the B Minor Mass by Bach, with Andris Nelsons conducting, Unfortunately, my browser is working very slowly, and I'm afraid I won't have time to get everything lined up for a regular review. Suffice it to say, the work is a masterpiece, and the performance on Thursday satisfied me and the reviewers. Nowadays, modern symphony orchestras don't perform much baroque music: they generally leave it to the specialists. So this is something of a rarity. It's certainly a break for listeners from the usual music from Mozart to contemporary. So by all means, listen in, if you can.

When I have a chance to add links to reviews and the orchestra's page, I'll do so, but that may be after the concert is over. Meanwhile, enjoy!

Opera and Chamber Music Concerts

Regular readers of my other blog know that my year can be roughly divided into two parts: 1.) running sailboat races, June-September; and 2: going to concerts, October-May. Of course that's not all I do, but those are activities which I don't engage in all year. The separation isn't absolute, especially in September. This year, for example, my last scheduled race committee duty* is Saturday, October 1, and as of this writing, I have already attended four concerts. Here I'll t6ell of the first three, and I'll blog about the BSO subscription opener in my preview of the Saturday broadcast.


Dimitrij.  On Friday, September 16, I went to Boston for Odyssey Opera's concert performance of "Dimitrij," by Antonin Dvořák It's about a man who claims to be the lost son of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. He has a polish fiancée, Marina, and Polish forces are supporting him in an attempt to gain control of Russia. The Russian people accept him, but once he is crowned as tsar, things unravel. The Russians resent the Poles. Dimitrij resists his (now) wife's plans to catholicize Russia and falls in love with Xenie, the daughter of  Boris Godunov, his predecessor as tsar. His wife, Marina, has Xenie killed and reveals that he isn't really Dimitrij. Dimitrij was murdered as a child, and the new tsar is actually Grigoriy Otrepyev. He is killed and so is she.

The opera is in Czech, and Czech opera stars were brought in to sing the leading roles. They were excellent. I found the opera very good, both musically and as a drama. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gave an extensive, and very favorable review. They had previously published a very informative preview. The Boston Globe also gave an informative and favorable review.


Boston Artists Ensemble.  The following Friday, September 23, I attended the season opener of the BAE, in Hamilton Hall, Salem. The program was a couple of trios for piano, violin, and cello, with the world premiere of a work for cello and piano between the two. The Beethoven, which began the program, and the Schumann, which followed intermission, are more to my musical taste than the Weir piece. Still, the Weir was unmemorable, rather than really unpleasant. After the concert, I asked the composer if she had specifically decided to ignore the traditional tunes for the words of the first two "chorales." She had done that, so as not simply to give variations on those tunes. I think it was a good decision. With her own music, she was able to evoke the mood she wanted form the text. In the third chorale, since Hildegard's tune is not familiar to us, she could use it for her evocation of the text.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer gave a review of the Sunday performance in Brookline. (There is a minor error. The reviewer says, "The second" when she refers to the third movement, the one based on music of Hildegard von Bingen.)


Handel and Haydn. Less than 48 hours later,o n Sunday afternoon I traipsed into Boston for a concert of music by Bach, with one item by Schütz thrown in. The full program was

• Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229
• Concerto for Three Violins in D (reconstructed) BWV 1064
• Cantata 149, Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg
• Intermission
• Cantata 50, Nun is das Heil und die Kraft
• Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener SWV 432 (Schütz)
• Magnificai in D BWV 243

It was all good, with the Cantata 50 and Magnificat being especially stirring. I like Schütz's music, but I was hoping for something a bit livelier to represent his oeuvre. The piece is calmer, to fit the mood of the text, and may have been chosen to contrast with the vigorous pieces on either side. It also had the effect of giving us two of the three canticles from the Gospel of St. Luke to end the program.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer provides an entertaining but critical review. The Boston Globe also provides a very favorable review, but I haven't been able to link the page.

BSO — 2015/11/19-21

I don't know how to introduce this week's concert, so I'll simply quote the BSO's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads this intriguing program of seemingly disconnected works. Two of the most important works of the 20th century, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Alban Berg's Violin Concerto were composed within two years of one another. Shostakovich's symphony, which follows a trajectory from darkness to triumph, has long been considered his reaction to official condemnation of his music by the Soviet government, but the reality is far subtler than that.Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was composed as a memorial to eighteen-year-old Manon Gropius (daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler); the entire work is suffused with elegy. Its second movement quotes Bach's chorale Es ist genug, which has deep musical connections to Berg's piece. That brief Bach chorale from Cantata No. 60, as well as the short motet Komm, Jesu, komm!, open and set the tone for this program.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are recording these performances of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 for a release in May, 2016!

Join the conversation online by using #BSOShostakovich for this concert series or #BSO1516 on your social networks to discover the excitement of the season and connect with one another!

(Some emphasis added.)

As always, you can find links to their Media Center, performer bios, program notes, and audio previews. What they don't tell you in the above blurb is that the violin soloist is Isabelle Faust and that the order of performance is Bach, Berg, Shostakovich. This concert is part of my subscription, but I'm really not interested in hearing either the Berg or the Shostakovich. If I'd been more alert, I'd have exchanged my ticket to this one for a ticket to either February 4th's concert of Shakespeare-related music, or to the one on March 29 which is in the series giving an American premiere; but after the attacks in Paris, I was content to be there because of the aspect of confronting tragedy and death which the program had.

The review in the Boston Globe isn't exactly glowing, but definitely favorable. The Boston Musical Intelligencer analyzes not only the music but also the performances, noting distinctive elements in Maestro Nelsons' approach.

As for me, I didn't catch most of the features that the program notes and interviews had pointed out, except when the winds repeated the "Es ist genug" theme toward the end of the Berg concerto. I'm beginning to think that I listen too hard at these concerts. Maybe I shouldn't bother to try to catch everything that's happening and just let it wash over me. Having some idea what to expect may be a good thing, but maybe I don't need to try to pick it all out as it happens.

You can hear it for yourself via WCRB's broadcast or webstream at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, on November 21, with a repeat transmission on Monday, November 30, at the same time of day. Also check out the "on demand" availability of this and other concerts from the past year — see their BSO page for information about that (in the upper right corner) as well as the podcast feature and schedule information I've mentioned every week.

Additional Concerts over WCRB on March 29, 2015

In addition to the Boston Symphony concert broadcast/webstream of March 28, which I strongly recommend, WCRB is giving us a chance to hear two other masterpieces in performance this weekend. On Sunday they're giving us the two surviving Passions by J. S. Bach. First, at 3:00 p.m., we get a live broadcast of a performance of the St. Matthew Passion by the Handel and Haydn Society. I have a ticket, so I expect to be hearing it in the hall while you can listen on radio or the web. Here's how WCRB describes it:

WCRB takes you live to Symphony Hall for one of the signature events of the bicentennial season of the Handel and Haydn Society. Artistic Director Harry Christophers leads this pinnacle of Bach's musical achievement, a piece performed for the first time in the U.S. by the Handel and Haydn Society in 1879. Tenor Joshua Ellicott sings the role of the Evangelist, with baritone Roderick Williams in the role of Jesus. Additional soloists include

• soprano Joélle Harvey,
• mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany,
• tenor Matthew Long, and
• baritone Sumner Thompson, with
• the VAP Young Women's and Young Men's Choruses.

Then at 7:00 p. m. they broadcast and stream the recording they made of a recent performance of the St. John Passion by Emmanuel Music, reviewed here in the Boston Musical Intelligencer. Here's WCRB's description:

Ryan Turner leads the chorus and orchestra of Emmanuel Music in Bach's St. John Passion, with tenor Matthew Anderson in the role of the Evangelist and baritone Dana Whiteside in the role of Jesus. Additional soloists include

• sopranos Roberta Anderson and Brenna Wells,
• altos Deborah Rentz-Moore and Krista River,
• tenors Jonas Budris and Frank Kelley, and
• bass soloists Bradford Gleim, Mark McSweeney, and Paul Max Tipton.

If you're familiar with both, you know how you'd prioritize. If not, there are a couple of perspectives I'd offer. The St. Matthew is generally regarded as one of the summits of Western music. It is monumental and profound. In my personal opinion, it can also be overwhelming and seem ponderous. The St. John is maybe not quite so highly esteemed by the professionals, but I find it livelier and a bit more accessible.

To help you decide if you'd like to listen to either or both of these pieces which are so appropriate for Holy Week, there are links to interviews with the directors of each performance on the page WCRB dedicates to them.

If you plan to listen to either, I strongly recommend having a copy of the text in German and English so you can follow along. I'm sure you can readily find both online.

Handel & Haydn 2014/12/21; Pops 2014/12/20

On Sunday I went to Boston to hear the Handel and Haydn's "Bach Christmas" concert. Although it's called Bach Christmas, as you can see, it included lots of music by other composers as well. The whole thing was quite enjoyable —very well played and sung — but after the gemlike delights from the late Renaissance and early Baroque, Bach's more extensive pieces seemed almost too much. I do enjoy most of Bach's music, including Sunday's pieces.and I find no fault in the performances themselves. Only the contrast was a little regrettable.

Holiday Pops is always a nice bit of fluff: mostly stuff you hear nearly everywhere before Christmas. But the Pops play lush arrangements very well. One really nice touch was "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in an arrangement made several years ago for the Pops and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. As they go along, other melodies are substituted for the original tune. For example, the fifth day gets the opening music of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and seven swans a-swimming get the big tune from "Swan Lake." The music from the "Hallelujah Chorus" makes an appearance in the twelfth day, etc. Of course the audience loved it, and Keith Lockhart told them that it is on the Pops' newest CD, available after the concert. He advised them they could play it "throughout the holiday season. Amaze your friends. Confound your enemies." The concert is available on demand at WCRB. http://www.wgbh.org/995/

BSO — 2014/10/23-25

This week it's the three B's: Bach, Brahms, and BSO. Bach's solo cantata, "Ich habe genug," was sung by Bryn Terfel with the orchestra. For the Brahms "German Requiem," they were joined by Rosemary Joshua and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, singing, as always, from memory. This was the second program that Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was originally scheduled to conduct. Bramwell Tovey, who seems to be well-liked by the chorus, took on the podium duties. Here's what the orchestra's performance detail page has to say about the program and performers:

This program pairs two of the great works for voice and orchestra in the German musical literature. Bach's 1727 cantata for bass soloist and orchestra stands among the best-known of his several hundred works in the genre. Its text (the title translates to "I have enough") refers to the sustaining power of faith in the hour of death. A German Requiem, Brahms's largest work, originated with music he wrote following Robert Schumann's attempted suicide in 1854 and evidently was also connected with the death of the composer's own mother. The result is an utterly personal, scarcely ceremonial Requiem for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus, and orchestra, episodically setting texts from the Bible. Its "German"-ness derives partly from the fact that, unlike the traditional Latin Requiem text, Brahms used Martin Luther's German translations of scripture. Bryn Terfel, who has previously appeared with the orchestra at Tanglewood and in gala Symphony Hall concerts, here makes his BSO subscription series debut. Acclaimed British soprano Rosemary Joshua makes her BSO debut in the German Requiem.

The page also contains the usual sorts of links to audio, program notes, and performer bios.

The Globe reviewer was very pleased with the performance, and the somewhat more detailed review in the Boston Musical Intelligencer was also highly laudatory. I was there on Thursday, and I think both reviews are good. I'd underline that I thought the various sections of the orchestra played their parts very clearly: Maestro Tovey kept the forces well-balanced.

Brahms is not my favorite composer, but this piece, especially as performed on Thursday, is worth hearing. The concert was an appropriate anticipation of All Souls Day, November 2, as well as an appropriate memorial to Maestro Frühbeck, as pointed out in the Intelligencer. So I recommend listening in over WCRB this evening or November 3 at 8:00 p.m. And visit their BSO page for all the links that you can find there.

BSO — 2014/04/10-12

This week's Boston Symphony concerts and broadcast/webstream feature the BSO debut (and North American conducting debut) of François-Xavier Roth, filling in for Daniele Gatti, who has shoulder problems. Maestro Roth will conduct the originally scheduled program, described as follows on the BSO's program detail page:

The BSO presents a diverse program featuring BSO players as oboe, horn, and violin soloists in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, one of the great works of the Baroque era. The BSO will be joined by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for two works: Stravinsky's austerely beautiful Symphony of Psalms and Beethoven's Elegiac Song, originally for solo mixed voices and string quartet. Never previously played by the BSO, Elegiac Song will be performed here by full chorus with strings. Closing the program is Beethoven's Symphony No. 4, one of his most consistently good-natured symphonies.

Conductor Daniele Gatti-on the advice of his doctors-with deep regret cancels all his professional engagements for the next two months, including his performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 10-12, 2014. He will be replaced by François-Xavier Roth in his BSO debut. 

(Some emphasis supplied) See that page also for the usual links: performer info, program notes, and audio previews.

The program, unusual as it is, fits well with Maestro Roth's experience in conducting everything from baroque to contemporary music with orchestras he has founded, so even though he hadn't planned he, he was a natural to take it over unchanged.

I was there on Thursday, and I thought the Bach worked well on modern instruments. The Stravinsky piece is beyond my powers of description — I advise reading the program notes and listening with the text available if you're not already familiar with it. And I do recommend listening. It is clearly a heartfelt piece, and it seemed well performed, as far as I could tell. The Beethoven Elegiac Song is a little gem, also worth having the text available. As for the 4th Symphony, it is my least favorite among Beethoven's symphonies: while the first movement is okay and the second is gorgeous, the last two are altogether too brusque and coarse for my taste (sort of like the scherzo in the 9th). But the performance on Thursday smoothed out the last two movements enough that they actually seemed musical to me. Of course, the fast and loud ending brought the obligatory standing ovation from most of the audience.

The Boston Globe's reviewer's description of the Beethoven 4th performance suggests what there was that let me like it better than I had expected. He was non-committal about the Stravinsky, and less than thrilled with the Bach. On the other hand, the reviewer in the Boston Musical Intelligencer was happiest with the Stravinsky, liked the Elegiac Song, and found the opening and closing pieces a mixture of good and not-so-good. BTW, the review also has some good pix.

You can listen on WCRB, Classical New England, at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, this evening, and again on April 21 (thereafter streamed on demand). A schedule of their remaining BSO broadcasts/webstreams of this BSO season and links to other features (including an interview with the conductor) are on their BSO page. On Monday, April 14, the rebroadcast/stream is of last week's concert, which included the new concerto for piano and orchestra by Bernard Rands.

Enjoy.