BSO — 2026/02/07

 There are three pieces on this evening's Boston Symphony concert, the second inspired by the third. Here's WCRB's synopsis: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-02-14/esa-pekka-salonen-the-bso-and-bruckners-romantic

Saturday, February 14, 2026
8:00 PM

Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to lead the BSO for the first time since 2012 with the highly anticipated American premiere of his own Horn Concerto, a BSO co-commission composed for Stefan Dohr, principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic. The concerto draws on material from Anton Bruckner’s soaring, brass-friendly Symphony No. 4, Romantic.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Stefan Dohr, horn

Luigi BOCCHERINI & Luciano BERIO Ritirata notturna di Madrid
Esa-Pekka SALONEN Horn Concerto (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
Anton BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, Romantic

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

In a wide-ranging interview, Esa-Pekka Salonen describes the twists and turns of composing a concerto for the instrument he played as a young musician, the BSO's unexpected role in shaping his first impressions of orchestral music, his goals for the 2026 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood, and what he learned from the late architect Frank Gehry. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Esa-Pekka Salonen, 

The BSO's performance detail page says the following: https://www.bso.org/events/feb-12-14-salonen-bruckner?performance=2026-02-14-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Stefan Dohr, horn BOCCHERINI/BERIO Ritirata notturna di Madrid  Esa-Pekka SALONEN Horn Concerto (American premiere; BSO co-commission)       intermissionBRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, Romantic  

Before Esa-Pekka Salonen became one of the world’s most renowned conductors, he started his musical life as a working horn player and progressive composer. He brings his musical worlds together in leading the American premiere of his Horn Concerto composed for Stefan Dohr, principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic. The concerto draws on material from Anton Bruckner’s magisterial, brass-friendly Fourth Symphony, which Salonen has programmed for the second half of this concert. Bruckner’s soaring symphonies are frequently described as “cathedrals in sound.”

This time there are links to the program notes. (Thank you, BSO.) Go to the page and click on the arrow after the name of the piece.

Finally there is this review in the Intelligencer: https://www.classical-scene.com/2026/02/13/city-country/ The reviewer has an interesting approach, overall favorable. The comments suggest that this is must listening, especially the Bruckner.

Tanglewood — 2011/08/12-14

The BSO website says it best:

Bizet, Rodrigo, Boccherini/Berio, Falla, Granados and Giménez 
Friday, August 12, 8:30PM

Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns for the second week in a row to lead the BSO in an August 12 program dedicated to Spanish and Spanish-inspired music, repertoire championed by Mr. Frühbeck throughout his career. World-renowned guitar virtuoso and fellow Spaniard Pepe Romero makes his Tanglewood debut in this concert, highlights of which include Preludes from Bizet’s Seville-set opera Carmen; Rodrigo’sConcierto de Aranjuez, surely the best-known work for guitar and orchestra; and the Interlude and First Dance from Falla’s La vida breve (Life is Short), an opera about the doomed love of a gypsy woman for an upper-class man. 

Prokofiev, Schumann and Brahms 
Saturday, August 13, 8:30PM

Two of classical music’s most decorated artists join the BSO August 13 as the inimitable cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs as soloist and German-Hungarian conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads the orchestra. Opening the program is Prokofiev’s effervescent Symphony No. 1, Classical. Mr. Ma takes the lead in Schumann’s free-flowing and adventurous Cello Concerto, and the evening concludes with Brahms’s monumental Symphony No. 1, with which the composer finally took up the imposing symphonic mantel [sic] of Beethoven. 

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra: All-Brahms 
Sunday, August 14, 2:30PM

On Sunday afternoon, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra pays homage to Brahms with a concert dedicated entirely to his music, including Nänie, a work for chorus and orchestra that sets a poem by Schiller contemplating mortality; Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), something of a miniature counterpart to the German Requiem; the Alto Rhapsody¸ a piece for mezzo-soprano, male chorus, and orchestra written as a wedding gift for Schumann’s daughter; and the great Symphony No. 2. The young orchestra is conducted by Mr. Frühbeck and joined by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. 

Careful readers will have noted that although the heading for Friday evening promises "Bizet, Rodrigo, Boccherini/Berio, Falla, Granados and Giménez ", the body says nothing about Boccherini/Berio, Granados, or Giménez. But elsewhere, the website promises us "BOCCHERINI/BERIO Ritirata notturna di Madrid" before the Falla and "GRANADOS Intermezzo from Goyescas" and "GIMÉNEZ Intermezzo from La boda de Luís Alonso" afterwards. (Maybe the BSO website doesn't say it best, after all.) This website page with complete listings in turn has links to notes on all the works, and audio for all but Bizet and Granados.

Other pages offer links for notes and audio for the Saturday and Sunday concerts.

Go to WCRB for the stream, including pre-concert features, if you don't have a broadcast provider where you live.