BSO — 2023/05/06

 WCRB gives us the basics.

Saturday, May 6, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, May 15

In the final program of the 2022-2023 season, the Boston Symphony and Music Director Andris Nelsons traverse the devastating landscape of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar, and Augustin Hadelich is the soloist in Britten’s deeply emotional Violin Concerto.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Matthias Goerne, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
New England Conservatory Symphonic Choir, Erica J. Washburn, conductor

BRITTEN Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar 

BSO program notes

Read translations of the texts sung in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 (courtesy of BSO Archives)

To hear an interview with The Boston Globe's Jeremy Eichler about Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 – which Eichler recently wrote an article about, and which plays a central role in his forthcoming book Time's Echo – use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at WCRB with Jeremy Eichler of the Boston Globe. Jeremy, thank you for coming to the studio today. I appreciate it.

Jeremy Eichler Thanks for having me, Brian.

Brian McCreath You recently wrote an article in The Boston Globe about Shostakovich's 13th Symphony and

Note that the page has links both to the program notes and to the English translqtion of the texts of the symphony.

There is also this from the BS)O performance detail page:

The BSO and Andris Nelsons complete their multi-season survey of Dmitri Shostakovich’s symphonies with No. 13, Babi Yar, based on poems by Yevgeny Yevteshenko. The title poem condemns Soviet revisionist history and antisemitism surrounding a Nazi massacre of Ukrainian Jews. The outstanding German bass-baritone Matthias Goerne is soloist. Opening the program, frequent BSO guest Augustin Hadelich plays Benjamin Britten’s early, lyrical and poignant Violin Concerto, the composer’s reaction to the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War. 

This week’s performances by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are supported by the Alan. J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Fund for Voice and Chorus.

---

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Matthias Goerne, bass
Tenors and Basses of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus
 James Burton, conductor
Tenors and Basses of the New England Conservatory Symphonic Choir
 Erica J. Washburn, conductor

BRITTEN Violin Concerto
Intermission
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar

The review in the Globe was extensive and very favorable, as is the one in the Intelligencer.

Hadelich was amazing in the Britten (and amazingly pale). The Shostakovich was powerful. Neither piece was pretty music, but it was fascinating. I recommend giving it a listen.

BTW this is the final concert of the season, Between now and Tanglewood, I expect reruns from WCRB as usual, while the Pops takes over Symphony Hall.

BSO — 2022/04/02

 This evening the BSO is back live, performing the "War Requiem" by Benjamin Britten. Here's how WCRB describes it:

Saturday, April 2, and Monday, April 11, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8, Antonio Pappano conducts the BSO in Britten’s mighty "War Requiem," with a cast of singers, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir.

Sir Antonio Pappano, conductor

Amanda Majeski, soprano
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Boston Symphony Children’s Choir
James Burton, conductor

Benjamin BRITTEN War Requiem

To hear a preview of War Requiem with Antonio Pappano, use the player above.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Antonio Pappano, and Mr. Pappano, it is so good to have you here. It's been a little while since you've been to the Boston Symphony, though more recently with your orchestra, Santa Cecilia, just about five years ago here at the hall. It's good to have you back.

Antonio Pappano Thank you very much. I'm thrilled to be back.

Brian McCreath Well, this piece, the War Requiem by Britten, you know, I'm curious about the circumstances and the thoughts behind it as you originally programmed it

As you see, there is an interview with the conductor, with a link to the audio recording of it as well as a transcript if you go to their page.

The BSO's performance page has a link to the program notes, which contain the full text of the piece, which you may want to have available when you listen. There is also a fairly detailed analysis. You can also follow links to performer bios.

I didn't attend the Thursday performance because I felt as if I had a cold coming on, and rain was in the forecast. So I missed the performance of the Ukraqinian national anthem as well as the chance to hear the Requiem live so I can't give you my  own impressions and observations.

The Globe's review is quite favorable. Vance Koven, the musicologist, gives a good analysis of the piece and then praises the performance in the Intelligencer.

Needless to say, I suggest giving this a listen over WCRB this evening and/or April 11, at 8:00 EDT on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/04/03

 This evening WCRB gives us the concert of November 5, 2016, which consists of two fairly unfamiliar works and one that is quite recent. Here's their description:

Saturday at 8pm, in a 2016 concert, Artistic Partner Thomas Adès leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in "Totentanz," his 2013 meditation on the indiscriminate nature of Death, with mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and baritone Mark Stone, as well as works by Britten and Sibelius.

Saturday, April 3, 2021
8:00 PM

Thomas Adès, conductor
Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano
Mark Stone, baritone

BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem
SIBELIUS Tapiola
ADÈS Totentanz

This concert is not available on-demand.

Thomas Adès previews the program with WCRB's Brian McCreath (transcript below):

I recommend listening to or reading the transcript of the interview with Maestro Ades for the background info on all three pieces, especially since the BSO performance detail page and program notes are no longer available.

My post from the time of the concert follows, edited to remove now inapplicable content:

This week the Boston Symphony gives us an early work of Benjamin Britten, a late one of Jean Sibelius, and a recent one of Thomas Adès, who also did the conducting. The BSO performance detail pageprovides these specifics:

British composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès joins the BSO family in the role of "Artistic Partner" this season, collaborating with the orchestra and its musicians in a variety of capacities. In these concerts he conducts his own 2013 Totentanz ("Dance of Death") for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra. Set to a text accompanying a 15th-century German frieze depicting Death (represented by the baritone) dancing with individuals from all strata of humanity (represented by the mezzo-soprano), the work is both macabre and funny-the Dance of Death is the one dance none of us may refuse. Opening the program is Britten's dramatic early orchestral work, Sinfonia da Requiem, premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1941 during Britten's time in the U.S. as a conscientious objector. (Its performance soon afterward by Serge Koussevitzky and the BSO led directly to Koussevitzky's commissioning Britten's opera Peter Grimes.) Also on the program is the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's late tone poem Tapiola, which atmospherically depicts the realm of the forest spirit Tapio from the Finnish epic Kalevala.

[…]

The reviews in the Globe and the Boston Musical Intelligencer are limited to descriptions of the music, with almost no comments on how well it had been performed. That is natural enough, since none of the pieces is familiar. When you don't know a piece, it's hard to say whether it is being done well.

I was in the audience on Thursday and I found it all interesting. "Tapiola" was the most accessible: Sibelius composed in a "late Romantic" style. The "Sinfonia da Requiem" had clear contrasts of mood between the three parts, and while the middle section was fairly harsh, the outer parts weren't bad. All of them seemed to fit the mood of the texts that supplied their titles. "Totentanz" was difficult to appreciate simply as music, but it was interesting to get some sense of the different types of music for the different individuals. Still, it may require several hearings to be able to really "get" the music and maybe even enjoy it.

You can hear it all via WCRB on Saturday, [April 3} at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time[…]You might also want to check out the remaining concert schedule for this season and poke around the website for other things they do.

I'd listen, but the Easter Vigil at church starts at 8:00, so I'll have to miss it, but don't let that stop you.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/04/04

I hope you've noted that for now WCRB is giving us encore performances six nights a week, not just on Saturdays,but Monday through Friday as well. There is a link on their homepage, which is also where you go to listen over the web. Also linked there is the page briefly detailing tonight's performance, with further links to interviews with the soloist and the conductor.

I definitely liked it and recommend listening. Here's what I wrote about it at the time:

"Last week I went to Colorado for the wedding of a cousin and didn't have time to post about last Saturday's concert. The same program was given on Tuesday this week, and I heard it then. I'm sorry I wasn't around to recommend it last week, because it was a gem. Fortunately there is still the rebroadcast on Monday, April 30. Listen if you can. Here's how the BSO's program detail page describes it:

Russian-Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev and Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki both make their BSO debuts in these concerts, working together in Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. Already acclaimed as a prodigy, Chopin was just twenty when he wrote and premiered this concerto in 1830. The piece blends Classical concerto form with the composer's entirely individual piano writing and lyrical Romanticism. Felix Mendelssohn began his Symphony No. 4, ["Italian"] also in 1830 during an extended stay in Italy. The predominantly cheerful opening movement reflects his pleasure in the Mediterranean environs. Opening the program is Benjamin Britten's  Simple Symphony, an utterly charming string-orchestra work created from fragments of his youthful compositions.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Britten piece was light and full of youthful good spirits — a very enjoyable beginning to the evening. It's a piece I wasn't familiar with, so it was a very pleasant surprise, given my general impression of later Britten. On the other hand, my father had a recording of the Chopin concerto, and we played it fairly regularly. The performance in this concert lived up to my expectations. While I don't have the expertise to pick up all the subtleties the reviewers noted in the piano playing, it seemed excellent to me. The only problem was that in several places where a solo horn was playing along with the piano, the horn drowned out the piano. Maybe the radio engineers can fix that. After intermission, Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony,was just what I expected. So it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

The reviews were enthusiastic, both in the Globe and in the Musical Intelligencer. So if you listen to WCRB at 8:00 p.m […], you're in for a treat."

Tanglewood — 2019/08/16-18

Friday evening's concert will not be broadcast. It's "Star Wars: A New Hope" with the Boston Pops playing the score while the movie is being shown. Whether for copyright reasons or because they think it just wouldn't work without the visual, WCRB will give us instead an "encore broadcast" from the 2018 Tanglewood season.


Friday, August 16, 2019.   We can listen to the concert of Friday , July 27, 2018. As the performance detail page told us back then:

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena leads the BSO in a program that begins with the Four Sea Interludes from Britten's opera Peter Grimes, a work of particular significance to Bernstein, who conducted the first American performances of the opera at Tanglewood in 1946 and also led the Four Sea Interludes to open the last concert he ever conducted, on August 19, 1990 in the Shed. Following the Britten, Garrick Ohlsson joins the orchestra as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271, and the concert concludes with Brahms's marvelously energetic and compact Symphony No. 3.

(Some emphasis added.)
As you'll recall, in 2018 they were celebrating the centennial of Bernstein's birth.


Saturday, August 17, 2019.  See the performhttps://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0ance detail page for the usual links. Here's the rushed synopsis:

François-Xavier Roth makes his Tanglewood debut conducting joining pianist Kirill Gerstein for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on a program with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2.

(Emphasis added.)

Maestro Roth has conducted the BSO enough that it came as a surprise to read that this is his Tanglewood debut.

Unfortunately for me, the Schumann comes during my brother's call from Japan.


Sunday, August 18, 2019.  We get to enjoy more Schumann and Brahms under the baton of Maestro Roth on Sunday. See the performance detail page, which provides this tidbit:

François-Xavier Roth is joined by Yo-Yo Ma for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, on a program with Brahms’s Serenade No. 1 and Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra, featuring members of the BSO horn section.

(Emphasis added.)

I'm especially looking forward to this one. The horn piece should be fun, and I actually like Brahm's serenades, which I wasn't aware of until James Levine led a performance of the delightful Serenade No. 2 in Symphony Hall a number of years back.


Don't forget, WCRB transmits the Friday and Saturday concerts at 8:00 p.m. EDST, and the Sunday at 7:00. See their website for the link to listen over the internet and for other material.

Tanglewood — 2018/07/27-29

For some reason WCRB will transmit the Friday evening and (by tape delay) Sunday concerts of  the BSO from Tanglewood, But instead of the BSO's performance of "West Side Story" on Saturday, they will give us a repeat of a Boston Pops performance of Bernstein's music from two months ago. I don't know why they are making the substitution on Saturday, but I'd guess the copyright holders of the film or the musical wouldn't allow the live concert to be broadcast.

At any rate, here's what you can hear over WCRB.

Friday, July 27,  2018.  The program detail page tells us:

Juanjo Mena conducts Britten, Mozart and Brahms with Garrick Ohlsson

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena leads the BSO in a program that begins with the Four Sea Interludes from Britten's opera Peter Grimes, a work of particular significance to Bernstein, who conducted the first American performances of the opera at Tanglewood in 1946 and also led the Four Sea Interludes to open the last concert he ever conducted, on August 19, 1990 in the Shed. Following the Britten, Garrick Ohlsson joins the orchestra as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271, and the concert concludes with Brahms's marvelously energetic and compact Symphony No. 3.

(Some emphasis added.)

The usual background information is available via links on the detail page. (BTW, I think Garrick Ohlsson looks like Robert Bork in the pictures there.)


Saturday, July 28, 2018. In lieu of the "West Side Story" from Tanglewood, WCRB will give us the following, as described on their website:

Saturday night at 8, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centennial in a program of his most celebrated works, including "West Side Story" and "Candide."

Saturday, July 28, 2018
8:00 PM

Recorded at Symphony Hall on May 30, 2018

Boston Pops Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor

Matthew Anderson, Teresa Blume, Aimee Doherty, David McFerrin, and Andrew Tighe, vocalists

Overture to Candide
Three Dance Variations from Fancy Free
On the Town: New York, New York; Lonely Town; I Can Cook, Too; Lucky To Be Me
Love Theme and Finale from On the Waterfront
Wrong Note Rag from Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town: What a Waste; A Little Bit in Love; Conga!
West Side Story: Mambo
West Side Story: Something's Coming; One Hand, One Heart; Tonight
America
Candide: The Best of All Possible Worlds; Gliter and Be Gay; I Am Easily Assimilated; Make Our Garden Grow
Some Other Time
 WILLIAMS To Lenny! To Lenny!

(Some emphasis added.)

Actually, I think I'd rather hear this than a complete screening of "West Side Story" with live orchestra. Too bad the excerpts from "Candid will come during my brother's call from Japan.


Sunday, July 29, 2018.  We're back with the BSO at Tanglewood to hear the concert which they describe as follows on their performance detail page:

Gil Shaham plays Prokofiev

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

Juanjo Mena returns for a second BSO performance to conduct works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, with American virtuoso and frequent Tanglewood guest artist Gil Shaham as soloist. The concert begins with Haydn's Symphony No. 88, one of the composer's best-known works in the genre and a favorite of Bernstein's (including a Tanglewood performance in 1988), and completing the program is Mozart's dramatic Symphony No. 40 in G minor, one of Mozart's final trio of symphonies and one of only two that he wrote in a minor key.

(Some emphasis added.)

As usual, this will be transmitted on air and on line at 7:00 p.m., Boston Time, while Friday and Saturday's shows will begin at 8:00. This should make for some enjoyable listening.

BSO — 2018/04/21

Last week I went to Colorado for the wedding of a cousin and didn't have time to post about last Saturday's concert. The same program was given on Tuesday this week, and I heard it then. I'm sorry I wasn't around to recommend it last week, because it was a gem. Fortunately there is still the rebroadcast on Monday, April 30. Listen if you can. Here's how the BSO's program detail page describes it:

Russian-Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev and Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki both make their BSO debuts in these concerts, working together in Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. Already acclaimed as a prodigy, Chopin was just twenty when he wrote and premiered this concerto in 1830. The piece blends Classical concerto form with the composer's entirely individual piano writing and lyrical Romanticism. Felix Mendelssohn began his Symphony No. 4, ["Italian"] also in 1830 during an extended stay in Italy. The predominantly cheerful opening movement reflects his pleasure in the Mediterranean environs. Opening the program is Benjamin Britten's  Simple Symphony, an utterly charming string-orchestra work created from fragments of his youthful compositions.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Britten piece was light and full of youthful good spirits — a very enjoyable beginning to the evening. It's a piece I wasn't familiar with, so it was a very pleasant surprise, given my general impression of later Britten. On the other hand, my father had a recording of the Chopin concerto, and we played it fairly regularly. The performance in this concert lived up to my expectations. While I don't have the expertise to pick up all the subtleties the reviewers noted in the piano playing,, it seemed excellent to me. The only problem was that in several places where a solo horn was playing along with the piano, the horn drowned out the piano. Maybe the radio engineers can fix that. After intermission, Mendelssohn;s Italian Symphony,was just what I expected. So it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

The reviews were enthusiastic, both in the Globe and in the Musical Intelligencer. So if you listen to WCRB at 8:00 p.m EDST on April 30, you're in for a treat.

Tanglewood — 2017/07/21-23

It looks like a good weekend at Tanglewood, including one of my favorite pieces of all time (which will be played during my brother's weekly phone call from Tokyo). All three concerts include a solo piano in one of the pieces.


Friday, July 21, 2017.  The BSO performance detail page informs us:

Captivating French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the BSO and conductor Gustavo Gimeno-who returns to the Tanglewood podium after making his debut with the orchestra last summer-for Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety, a piece dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky and premiered by the BSO in 1949. Mr. Gimeno also leads the BSO in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.

(Some emphasis added.)

That's right, folks: a symphony with a solo piano. From the brief audio preview available via the program detail page, it sounds not too tough to take, and the program note makes it sound interesting. I'm going to dinner at the yacht club with a bunch of people from the Race Committee. I might be able to get home in time to hear the whole thing. If not, there's always the "on demand" feature on WCRB so I can catch it later.

By the way, this is one of the BSO's "Underscore Fridays." To enhance the audience's enjoyment, a member of the orchestra introduces the program briefly just before the performance begins. This evening, it will be Assistant Tympanist Daniel Bauch. His take should be interesting to hear.


Saturday, July 22, 2017.  We start with some 20th century music that I don't think I've ever heard, and end with that favorite of mine. Per the performance detail page:

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès opens the Saturday, July 22 BSO program leading his own …but all shall be well, a piece inspired by lines from T.S. Eliot's quotation of Julian of Norwich in Four Quartets: "Sin is Behovely, but All shall be well, and All manner of thing shall be well." The program also features Emanuel Ax in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, the last and most monumental of Beethoven's concertos; as well as the dramatically expressive Sinfonia da Requiem by Benjamin Britten, a composer for whom Mr. Adès has a great affinity.

(Some emphasis added.)

Apparently, the order of performance was revised after the program detail page was written. At any rate the season brochure and the program notes agree that the Britten work will precede the Adès. We'll find out who's right on Saturday. As always there are links to audio previews, program notes, and performer bios on the detail page.


Sunday, July 23, 2017.  Again, the performance detail page gives us the basics, with further information available via the links on the page.

On Sunday, July 23, BSO Assistant Conductor Ken-David Masur is joined by Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky for Prokofiev's sparkling Piano Concerto No. 3. Mr. Masur opens the afternoon program with Aaron Jay Kernis's airy and moving Musica Celestis ("Heavenly Music"), written by the Grawemeyer Award-winning composer in 2000. Closing the concert is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2, Little Russian.

(Some emphasis added.)

From the program note and the audio preview, it seems that the Kernis piece should be fairly easy listening, but I've never heard the whole thing, so I can't make any guarantees. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing it. Remember, the Sunday concert is recorded when performed and broadcast and streamed 4 1/2 hours later, at 7:00 p.m., Boston Time, by WCRB. The other concerts are transmitted live at 8:00 Friday and Saturday.

BSO — 2016/11/05

This week the Boston Symphony gives us an early work of Benjamin Britten, a late one of Jean Sibelius, and a recent one of Thomas Adès, who also did the conducting. The BSO performance detail page provides these specifics:

British composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès joins the BSO family in the role of "Artistic Partner" this season, collaborating with the orchestra and its musicians in a variety of capacities. In these concerts he conducts his own 2013 Totentanz ("Dance of Death") for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra. Set to a text accompanying a 15th-century German frieze depicting Death (represented by the baritone) dancing with individuals from all strata of humanity (represented by the mezzo-soprano), the work is both macabre and funny-the Dance of Death is the one dance none of us may refuse. Opening the program is Britten's dramatic early orchestral work, Sinfonia da Requiem, premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1941 during Britten's time in the U.S. as a conscientious objector. (Its performance soon afterward by Serge Koussevitzky and the BSO led directly to Koussevitzky's commissioning Britten's opera Peter Grimes.) Also on the program is the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's late tone poem Tapiola, which atmospherically depicts the realm of the forest spirit Tapio from the Finnish epic Kalevala.

Immediately preceding that synopsis is a link to a video made at the time of the world premiere of "Totentanz" three years ago. There is a four minute discussion of the piece with the composer/conductor, followed by the actual premiere performance. I think the discussion gives some idea of the concept of the work; while the performance itself can give a preparation no written notes can do. It can also give a nice opportunity to review the piece. There are also the usual links to performer bios, program notes, and podcasts. Fortunately, the program notes give the text this time. The English translation comes after the German original. You might want to read the German along with the video, which has English subtitles, and then follow along in English during the live performance.

The reviews in the Globe and the Boston Musical Intelligencer are limited to descriptions of the music, with almost no comments on how well it had been performed. That is natural enough, since none of the pieces is familiar. When you don't know a piece, it's hard to say whether it is being done well.

I was in the audience on Thursday and I found it all interesting. "Tapiola" was the most accessible: Sibelius composed in a "late Romantic" style. The "Sinfonia da Requiem" had clear contrasts of mood between the three parts, and while the middle section was fairly harsh, the outer parts weren't bad. All of them seemed to fit the mood of the texts that supplied their titles. "Totentanz" was difficult to appreciate simply as music, but it was interesting to get some sense of the different types of music for the different individuals. Still, it may require several hearings to be able to really "get" the music and maybe even enjoy it.

As always, you can hear it all via WCRB on Saturday, November 5 at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time, with a repeat on Monday the 14th. There is a page on their website with a link to the podcast "The Answered Question," with  a lot about this concert, including a very informative discussion with Thomas Adès over the first 19 minutes (after a brief introduction). You might also want to check out the remaining concert schedule for this season and poke around the website for other things they do.

Tanglewood — 2016/08/05-07

Friday, August 5.  Here's how the BSO's performance detail page — with its usual links — describes the program:

Costa Rican conductor  Giancarlo Guerrero  leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in two programs, August 5 and 6, both featuring world-class pianists. On Friday, August 5, at 8 p.m., Mr. Guerrero is joined by  Yefim Bronfman for Liszt's innovative and sparkling one-movement Piano Concerto No. 2. The program will also feature the BSO in Dvořák's Serenade for Winds, Britten's arrangement of Mahler's  What the Wild Flowers Tell Me (the original second movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 3), and Brahms' Serenade No. 2, which was dedicated to Clara Schumann and represents one of Brahms's various developmental steps in orchestral composition along his long path to completing his First Symphony.

(Some emphasis added and some changed.)

Regular readers may recall that I don't care for Brahms' symphonies and concertos. But several years ago James Levine led the orchestra in a performance of "Serenade № 2," and I found it delightful. More precisely, it was all pleasant enough, but the final section was a joy. The rest of the concert should be okay, although I don't really need to hear the Dvořák again, but it's not bad. I don't recall the Liszt concerto. It'll be interesting to hear what Britten does with the Mahler.

It's another of the unnecessary Underscore Fridays, but I'm actually looking forward to this one, partly because the last time some of the comments from the stage actually were worth hearing and more because I met Jamie Sommerville at a Harvard Musical Association concert and found him pleasant to talk to so I want to hear what he will say. Maybe he can even make the Dvořák interesting for me.


Saturday, August 6.  This time, the performance detail page says nothing about the pieces to be played, just about the change in scheduled artists:

Pianist Daniil Trifonov, who was scheduled to perform a recital on Thursday, August 4, and feature with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, August 6, has, with great regret, been forced to withdraw from these concerts due to an ear infection. Marc-André Hamelin replaces Mr. Trifonov for the recital at Ozawa Hall on August 4, and Ingrid Fliter performs as soloist in Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in her BSO and Tanglewood debuts on August 6. Changes have been made to the August 4 recital repertoire, while the August 6 program remains the same.

(Emphasis added.)

What is the unchanged program, you ask? Well, it opens with a piece titled Harmonienlehre, by John Adams. I recommend reading the program note linked on the detail page. It sounds fascinating. After intermission comes the Chopin, and the show wraps up with Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Strauss — another one of the pieces that this curmudgeon thinks is much overplayed, but at least doesn't need a lot of rehearsal time, and it's not too long. We had recordings of the Chopin piano concertos which got played fairly regularly when I was young — one much more than the other. I'm not sure which one this is, but I'm looking forward to hearing it anyway and maybe experiencing a bit of nostalgia for the younger days when I used to hear it occasionally. Again, the program note may be useful reading. All is once more under the baton of Maestro Guerrero. The program detail page also has the usual links to background information.


Sunday, August 7.  On Sunday, we get Mozart and Mahler, The program detail page informs us:

On Sunday, August 7, at 2:30 p.m., BSO assistant conductor  Moritz Gnann makes his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at Tanglewood with works by Mozart and Mahler. Acclaimed Brazilian pianist  Nelson Freire joins Mr. Gnann and the orchestra for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, considered the composer's first masterwork of the piano concerto genre, written in 1777 when he was just 21 years old. The program closes with Mahler's at times brooding, at times vigorously energetic Symphony No. 1. Completed when the composer was in his late twenties, it is in a four-movement, mostly traditional form, but already hints at the expansiveness and innovation of his later symphonies.

(Emphasis added or modified.)

I think both should be worth hearing


The Friday and Saturday concerts can be heard via WCRB radio or web at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and the Sunday program will be aired and streamed at 7:00, p.m. (not live at 2:30). Their home page, in addition to the link to listen over the web, gives information about other special programming which may be of interest. Their BSO page, in addition to brief descriptions of the Saturday and Sunday concerts, gives similar information about the remaining Tanglewood concert broadcasts and various other interesting items and links.

BSO/Classical New England — 2015/06/06

This week the Boston Pops again grace the BSO Saturday evening time slot on WCRB. Here's the synopsis from the station's BSO page (where there is much more available about the broadcast and streaming schedule):

John Hodgman and the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

The actor and comedian brings his unique voice to the narration of Benjamin Britten's classic with Keith Lockhart and the Pops.

(Audra McDonald has regretfully withdrawn from this performance)

I'm guessing that this is the concert of June 3, recorded for broadcast. The BSO's own performance detail page has a fuller description of that concert:

Presidents at Pops
Boston Pops Present Michael Cavanaugh
The Great Singer Songwriters: The Music of Paul Simon, James Taylor and Neil Diamond 

Pops 

Symphony Hall - Boston, MA - View Map

Presidents at Pops is a unique fundraising gala that celebrates the extraordinary partnership between the corporate community and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This year Michael Cavanaugh comes to Symphony Hall for the 34th annual "Presidents at Pops". The evening will also feature the performance of a new narration to Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" by author and Daily Show contributor John Hodgman.

Due to laryngitis Sutton Foster has had to withdraw from her performance with the Boston Pops. We are fortunate that Michael Cavanaugh, star of the hit Broadway musical, Movin' Out is able to perform for an evening of the music of Paul Simon, James Taylor and Neil Diamond.

On Monday, June 8, there will be a rerun of last Saturday's Film Night concert, and today's will be repeated on June 15. All broadcasts/webstreams are at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time.

BSO/Classical New England — 2015/05/16

This week it's not a live concert that WCRB will present, but recent recordings of the orchestra under the baton of Andris Nelsons. Here's how they describe it on their BSO page:

Saturday, May 16, and Monday, May 25

Hear the most recent Boston Symphony recordings, including Wagner's Overture to Tannhäuser and the Symphony No. 2 by Sibelius, conducted by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, as well as Britten's Violin Concerto with soloist Gil Shaham.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Wagner was on the program for last September 27, and the Sibelius, November 8. Gil Shaham performed the Britten concerto with the BSO (but a different conductor) in the concert of November 3, 2012. So you can find a bit about the performances if you go to my posts for those dates.

The page I've linked above also has information about future BSO broadcasts/streams. As always, the broadcasts and webstreams begin at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time.

The Overture to Tannhäuser is Wagner in good form, IMO. (I like to say that if he had stuck to music for orchestra, and not tried to write for singing, Wagner could have won the enduring fame of John Philip Sousa. It's facetiously put, but I do think he writes much better for orchestra than for singers.) I'm also very much looking forward to the Sibelius. My first impressions of the composer were colored by the saying attributed to my grandmother: "A little Sibelius goes a long way." But as I began to listen to his music, I soon decided that it's really quite good.

As for the Britten, I seem to recall something a bit less lyrical than the other two. If they play it during my brother's weekly call from Japan, I won't be heartbroken, but otherwise I'll keep the radio on.

Notice that on Monday the 18th, they'll give us the Mozart final three symphonies, conducted by von Dohnányi, from March 21.

Classical New England — 2013/12/28 & New Year's Day

My apologies for getting so distracted by other things that I didn't get around to posting about what was being offered last Saturday. I hope you found it on your own, if you were interested. Of course, I realize that you can listen to the broadcasts or webstreams whenever you want. I offer these posts as a way of giving a little preview and reminder which I hope will encourage you to listen, and at least help you decide whether you want to do so or not.

This week, on December 28, Classical New England is giving us a New England Conservatory performance of Britten's A Ceremony of Carols and other Christmas pieces at 7:00 p.m. At 8:00 they will offer a repeat of a concert which took place last summer* at Tanglewood: Symphony No. 3 by  Mahler under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Here's a bit more detail from the station's Holiday Specials page:

Saturday, Dec. 28

7pm: A Centennial Ceremony of Carols: A Benjamin Britten Holiday Celebration

We mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the renowned British composer Benjamin Britten through his Ceremony of Carols and other holiday works, as well as traditional carols arranged by Sir David Willcocks, all performed by the NEC Chamber Chorus, led by Erica Washburn.

8pm: Boston Symphony Orchestra: Sound the Posthorn!

We ring out the old year by revisiting one of the highlights of the 2013 Tanglewood season: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, with mezzo-soprano Ann-Sophie von Otter, the PALS Children's Chorus and the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

* Here's a link to what I wrote at the time. It, in turn, contains a link to the BSO's performance detail page for the concert.


You can find other programming between now and January 5 listed on the same page as the description of December 28. It also lists all the concerts and programs of the Christmas — and Hanukkah — season which are now available on line for on demand listening. There's a lot, and a good variety. Follow the link.


On New Year's Day, continuing a long-standing tradition, at 11:00 a.m. they will broadcast and stream the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Day Concert. Music of Johann Strauss is always a large part of the program. Then at 3:00 p.m., something new this year, I think — a New Year's Day concert by Boston Baroque. Each will be repeated in the evening. Once more, a quote from their page:

Wednesday, Jan. 1

11am: New Year's Day from Vienna

Direct from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, it’s the most popular classical music concert in the world! Laura Carlo hosts this national broadcast, produced by WCRB, as Daniel Barenboim leads the annual celebration concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.

3pm: Boston Baroque's Gala First Day Concert

Champagne, Concertos…and Coffee! Join us for a Boston New Year’s Tradition, now shared with the nation! Martin Pearlman leads Boston Baroque, now in its 40th Anniversary Season as America’s oldest “period-instrument” orchestra in a festive All-Bach New Year’s Day concert, live from Sanders Theatre in Harvard Square.

5pm: encore of New Year's Day from Vienna

10pm: encore of Boston Baroque's Gala First Day Concert

Happy listening!

Since this is probably my last post of the year, I want to wish my readers a New Year that is happy in every possible way, as well as to express Christmas greetings, with the hope that Christmas Day was merry and that the joy of the celebration is continuing through the twelve days (and beyond if your Christmastide extends to the celebration of the Lord's Baptism or even to Candlemas). Joy to you all!

Winter Orgy® Period

At the beginning of the month I checked the WHRB website to see what they'd be doing for their Winter Orgy® Period. But I made what turned out to be the mistake of going to the Classical Music page, where I read the following outdated material: "WHRB's Orgies ®, presented each January and May, are tributes to particular composers and performers. Past Classical Orgies have included the works of Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, pianist Artur Schnabel, and an epic broadcast of the complete works of J.S. Bach. Check our Program Guide for upcoming Orgies."
Actually, they switched the winter orgy to December when the university switched exams to December. Based on that, however, I thought they had switched back.

But no. The program guide arrived in the mail today, and it turns out the orgy period began as usual on December 1. We have already missed the Baroque Masters of the Harpsichord Orgy, The First Nights Orgy, and the Classical Guitar Orgy. As I type this, the Warhorse Orgy is in progress, and will continue until about 6:45 this evening.

Here's what is still to come:

December 8, 12:30 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.  Charles-Valentin Alkan Orgy
     6:00 p.m. — midnight  The Benjamin Britten Orgy®
December 9–12,  6:00 a.m. — midnight  The Benjamin Britten Orgy® continues and concludes
December 13,  6:00 a.m — 10:00 a.m. The Role of the Listener
     10:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.  Two Piano Orgy
     3:00 — 10:00 p.m.  Fritz Kreisler Orgy
December 15,  12:30 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.  Process Music or "Bach to Basinski" Orgy
December 16, 10:00 a.m. — 7:00 p.m.  Process Music Orgy continues and concludes
December 17,  4:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.(?)  Anthony Collins (conductor, d. 1963) Orgy
December 18,  1:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.(?) Morton Gould Orgy
December 19,  noon — 10:00 p.m.(?)  Britten as Performer Orgy

Although they don't call them orgies, there will be a Hindemith Centenary (sic) Commemoration at 6:00 p. m. on Saturday, December 28, and a Colin Davis Tribute on Sunday, January 5, at 1:00. I suppose both will end at about 10:00 p.m.

While I'm at it, I'll also mention that WHRB carries the Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts.