BSO — 2025/10/25

 Tonight's program doesn't feature any really familiar pieces (to me at least), but the interview with the condustor makes me want to hear the Copland symphony which concludes the concert. Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/yuja-wang-prokofiev-and-the-boston-symphony

Saturday, October 25, 2025
8:00 PM

Yuja Wang is the soloist in Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto—a work by turns acerbic and melodic—and Domingo Hindoyan returns to Symphony Hall to lead the BSO in Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On The Town and Copland’s Third Symphony.

Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano

Leonard BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On The Town
Sergei PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2
Aaron COPLAND Symphony No. 3

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

Conductor Domingo Hindoyan talks with CRB's Brian McCreath about the genesis of this program, his interpretation of Bernstein's and Copland's work, and his positions at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera. 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 Domingo Hindoyan, who's here with the Boston Symphony

The BSO's performance detail page give us a bit more as well as links to program notes and performer bios: https://www.bso.org/events/oct-23-25-bern-prokofiev-cop?performance=2025-10-25-20%3A00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Domingo Hindoyan, conductor Yuja Wang, Piano BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On The Town  PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2       intermissionCOPLAND Symphony No. 3  

Scintillating pianist Yuja Wang joins returning conductor Domingo Hindoyan and the BSO in Sergei Prokofiev’s technically challenging Piano Concerto No. 2, a piece that combines the composer’s sardonic humor with his gift for soaring melody. Two American works from the 1940s bracket the concerto. Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from his 1944 musical On the Town features music referencing such hits as “New York, New York” and the wistful “Lonely Town.” Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony, premiered by the BSO in 1946, includes the uplifting “Fanfare for the Common Man"

I don't find a review in the Globe, but there is a detailed and favorable one https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/10/24/bso-scintillate/ in the Intelligencer.

So it should be a good show.

BSO — 2024/09/28

 The Boston Symphony Orchestra begins its subscription series in Symphony Hall this week, and WCRB will broadcast the Saturday concerts as usual. Here's how they describe this week's offering:

Saturday, September 28, 2024
8:00 PM

The Boston Symphony Orchestra launches its 2024-25 season with an all-American program led by Music Director Andris Nelsons, including works by critically-acclaimed composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and inaugural BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon. Also, BSO Principal Clarinet William R. Hudgins is the soloist in Aaron Copland’s delightful Clarinet Concerto, contrasted with Samuel Barber’s soulful Adagio for Strings.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
William R. Hudgins, clarinet

Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light
Aaron COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
Samuel BARBER Adagio for Strings
Carlos SIMON Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra

Meet BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon in an interview with WCRB's Brian McCreath.

Hear a preview of Copland's Clarinet Concerto with William R. Hudgins using the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Bill Hudgins, Principal Clarinetist of the Boston Symphony.

There was an opening night gala on September 19, but this week the regular season begins. Let's see what the orchestra's performance detail page says.

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
William R. Hudgins, clarinet 

Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light 
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto 
BARBER Adagio for Strings 
Carlos SIMON Wake Up: A Concerto for Orchestra 

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads this all-American program including works by inaugural BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon and recent music by Sarah Kirkland Snider, both of which explore social justice via a musical lens. Two mid-20th-century classics are also featured: BSO Principal Clarinet William R. Hudgins is soloist in Aaron Copland’s delightfully energetic Clarinet Concerto, contrasting with Samuel Barber’s soulful, evergreen Adagio for Strings.

The usual program notes describing the pieces to be performed are linked, as are the performer bios.

The reviews are in. The Intelligencer is blandly approving. The Globe thinks the Copland needed more rehearsal, but is otherwise favorable.

Other than the "Adagio for Strings," this is unfamiliar to me. although I heard the Snider piece when it was performed last spring. This concert hardly qualifies as "must listen," but it could be interesting.

Tanglewood — 2024/07/26-28

 A little while ago the announcer on WCRB said that this weekend marks the midpoint of the BSO' Tanglewood season. Let's see what's in store.

First is WCRB's description of this evening's concert:

Friday, July 26, 2024
8:00 PM

In celebration of Serge Koussevitzky’s 150th birthday, Andris Nelsons leads a concert that includes Koussevitzky’s Double Bass Concerto, with soloist Edwin Barker, as well as spectacular works by Steven Mackey, Sibelius, and Scriabin.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Edwin Barker, double bass
Will Liverman, baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
James Burton, conductor

Steven MACKEY Urban Ocean
Serge KOUSSEVITZKY Double Bass Concerto
Jean SIBELIUS The Origin of Fire
Alexander SCRIABIN Prometheus, Poem of Fire

To hear a preview of Scriabin's Prometheus, Poem of Fire with pianist Yefim Bronfman, listen to this interview from April 6, 2024. Use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Sympho

So there is an interview accessible from the WCRB page either audio or transrcipt.

As always, the description on the BSO's performance detail page is fuller:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Yefim Bronfman, piano 
Edwin Barker, double bass 
Will Liverman, baritone 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
 James Burton, conductor

Steven MACKEY Urban Ocean 
KOUSSEVITZKY Double Bass Concerto
-Intermission-
SIBELIUS The Origin of Fire for baritone, male chorus, and orchestra 
SCRIABIN Prometheus, Poem of Fire, for piano, chorus, and orchestra

Tonight’s concert is generously supported by Eitan and Malka Evan.

This evening's performance by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus is supported by the Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Fund for Voice and Chorus.

In tribute to Serge Koussevitzky’s legacy, Andris Nelsons and the BSO dedicate this concert series to the trailblazer, opening with Koussevitzky’s virtuosic Double Bass Concerto performed by the BSO’s own Edwin Barker.  

Baritone Will Liverman and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus join the program for two impassioned works: Sibelius’ The Origin of Fire and Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire, which Koussevitzky led the 1925 Boston premiere of. 

As always, there are links to performer bios and program notes, which you might like to read. (Side note: When Edwin Barker joined the BSO back in the 70's he looked so much like my kid brother that when my mother first saw him on stage she wondered, "What's Jerry doing here?" Now they aren't lookalikes any more.)

Next we come to Saturday, and WCRB says:

Saturday, July 27, 2024
8:00 PM

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in Khachaturian’s vibrant, colorful Piano Concerto, part of a program that also includes Tania León's Pulitzer prize-winning Stride and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the “Pathétique.”

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Tania LEÓN STRIDE
Aram KHACHATURIAN Piano Concerto
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

From the BSO we get the following:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride 
KHACHATURIAN Piano Concerto
-Intermission-
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

In tribute to Serge Koussevitzky’s legacy, Andris Nelsons and the BSO dedicate this concert series to the trailblazer. In the spirit of Koussevitzky’s passion for promoting contemporary music and composers, this concert features Tania León's STRIDE, a Pulitzer prize-winning work of resilience and surprise. 

Jean-Yves Thibaudet also joins for Khachaturian’s vibrant, colorful Piano Concerto, and the concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s moving, yearning Pathétique Symphony. 

Tonight’s concert is generously supported by Bonnie and Terry Burman.

Tonight's performance by Jean-Yves Thibaudet is generously supported by Stephen Bardfield in memory of his mom, Gisele Klein Wolfson.

Finally on Sunday at 7:00 we get the usual rebroadcast of the matinee concert. Per WCRB:

Sunday, July 28, 2024
7:00 PM

This program, focusing on the wide variety and rich tapestry of 20th century music, explores themes of spirituality and liberation, blending American sounds and European traditions much as Koussevitzky did during his life. 

In a reflection of Koussevitzky’s commitment to new music, Thomas Warfield is the narrator in James Lee III’s Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, a piece based on the great Fredrick Douglas text “What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”. Paul Lewis is the soloist in the Piano Concerto by Aaron Copland, whom Koussevitzky brought to the Berkshires to launch what’s now the Tanglewood Music Center, one of the world’s premiere academies for early-stage professional musicians, and for which Randall Thompson wrote his Alleluia, still sung at the TMC to begin of every summer. And the Tanglewood Festival Chorus also sings one of Koussevitzky’s most significant commissions, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano
Thomas Warfield, narrator
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
James Burton, conductor

James LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn
Aaron COPLAND Piano Concerto
Randall THOMPSON Alleluia
Igor STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms

Read the entire text of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" from PBS and learn more about the speech from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Hear composer James Lee III describe the genesis of Freedom's Genuine Dawn using the audio player above and reading the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB with James Lee III who is back in Boston for the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the second time. 

The BSO performance detail page, in addition to the usual links, offers this synopsis:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Paul Lewis, piano
Thomas Warfield, narrator
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
 James Burton, conductor

James LEE III Freedom’s Genuine Dawn
COPLAND Piano Concerto
-Intermission-
THOMPSON Alleluia, for unaccompanied chorus
STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms

In tribute to Serge Koussevitzky’s legacy, Andris Nelsons and the BSO dedicate this concert series to the trailblazer. 

This program, focusing on the wide variety and rich tapestry of 20th century music, explores themes of spirituality and liberation, blending American sounds and European traditions, much as Koussevitzky did during his life. Performing artist Thomas Warfield joins as the narrator for James Lee’s Freedom’s Genuine Dawn, a piece based on the great Fredrick Douglas text “What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”, which makes the audience grapple with the legacy of slavery being intertwined with the founding of the country. 

This afternoon’s performance by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus is supported by the Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Fund for Voice and Chorus.

This looks like an interesting series of concerts. Apart from the Tchaikovsky, there are no "warhorses" of the orchestral repertory, but nothing really far from the mainstream. I can't vouch for the new music, but the rest shouldn't be excessivelychallenging — all in all a worthy tribute to the long-time maestro, so I give it a "thumbs up."

Tanglewood — 2022/08/26-28

 It's the last weekend of the Tanglewood season, ending with the traditional Beethoven Ninth Symphony on Sunday. I think I heard Laura Carlo say this morning that Ron Della Chiesa  would be retiring as "the voice of the BSO' after these performances, which, if I heard correctly, gives a further incentive to listen.

Friday, August 26, 2022. We look to WCRB for the outline:

Friday, August 26, 2022
8:00 PM

Anna Rakitina leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 3, “The First of May,” and violinist Gil Shaham is the soloist in Dvorak’s rustically brilliant Violin Concerto.

Anna Rakitina, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor 

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Waltz No. 2 from Suite No. 1 for Variety Orchestra
Antonín DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 3, The First of May 
Alexander BORODIN Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor 

Some descriptive verbiage is to be found on the orchestra's own performance detail page:

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina leads frequent Tanglewood guest soloist Gil Shaham in Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s great Violin Concerto, which sings with pungent Czech traditional rhythms and melodies. Three Russian works complete the program. Part-time composer and full-time scientist Alexander Borodin wrote his tremendously energetic and popular Polovtsian Dances for his opera Prince Igor, which remained unfinished at his early death. Two Dmitri Shostakovich rarities demonstrate his fantastic range. Purely for entertainment, the Suite for Variety Orchestra is a mishmash of pieces from various contexts—the Waltz is from his score from the 1955 film The First Echelon. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 3, The First of May is a serious work for chorus and orchestra in praise of the Soviet revolution predating Joseph Stalin’s cynical crackdown on artistic creativity, which would have dangerous consequences for Shostakovich. This is the first performance of this piece by the BSO, part of its multi-season traversal of the composer’s complete symphonies.

As usual, full program notes are linked there.

I'm not a big fan of the Borodin, although it's generally pretty well liked. On the other hand the Shostakovich symphony will probably be an adventure. The Dvořák should be good.

Saturday, August 27, 2022.  Again, we turn first to WCRB:

Saturday, August 27, 2022
8:00 PM

Michael Tilson Thomas returns to the Berkshires to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Copland’s inspirational Symphony No. 3, and pianist Alexander Malofeev is the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s mighty Piano Concerto No. 3.

Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor  
Alexander Malofeev, piano

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Dubinushka 
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Aaron COPLAND Symphony No. 3

For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.

Click on the player above to hear a preview of the concert with Michael Tilson Thomas, who connects Rimsky-Korsakov's Dubinushka to great musical figures of the past, describes the special qualities he hears in Alexander Malofeev's playing, and recalls conversations with Aaron Copland that reveal the essence of the composer's music.

Transcript:

Brian McCreath Michael Tilson Thomas, it's so good to talk with you. Thank you for a little bit of your time today. We'll talk about the programs that you're conducting at Tanglewood. And the first piece that you'll conduct on Saturday night is Dubinushka.

Michael Tilson Thomas "Du-BEE-nushka."

BMcC "Du-BEE-nushka." Thank you. Thank you for the correction.

As you see, there's a bonus: an interview with the conductor. If you go to the WCRB page, you can see the video or read the transcript. I haven't read the whole thing, but he mentions that he likes to find unfamiliar things. He did that about fifty years ago withthe BSO when he led a performance of "Vespro della beata vergine," composed in 1610 by Claudio Monteverdi. I had never heard anything like it, and I was blown away. It has since been recorded commercially, and I have a couple of those recordings, but I wish I could hear that live performance again sometime.

Further information is available, including a link to the program notes, on the BSO performance detail page:

Renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, whose rich association with the BSO dates back to his time as a TMC Fellow (1968-69), is joined by the remarkable young Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev in his BSO and Tanglewood debut for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Sparkling and lush, it is one of the most beloved and challenging concertos in the repertoire. Aaron Copland’s orchestral music epitomizes a distinctly American sound that persists in the concert hall and in film soundtracks. His Third Symphony, premiered by the BSO and Serge Koussevitzky in 1946, incorporates the bold and familiar Fanfare for the Common Man. The concert opens with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s brief, rousing Dubinushka, based on a tune he heard marching workers sing during the Russian Revolution of 1905 and not performed by the BSO since 1944.

Sunday, August 28, 2022.  Michael Tilson Thomas returns to close out the season: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/beethovens-ninth-at-tanglewood

Sunday, August 28, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)

An incredible cast of soloists joins Michael Tilson Thomas, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor 
Jacquelyn Stucker, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Ben Bliss, tenor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor 

Charles IVES Psalm 90
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

There's more at the performance detail page:

Bert L. Smokler Memorial Concert

Michael Tilson Thomas leads the BSO in Tanglewood’s traditional season-ending performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s intensely expressive, innovative, but ultimately uplifting Symphony No. 9. Following three questing instrumental movements, the finale is a setting for soloists and chorus of the German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” The symphony—Beethoven’s last, composed in 1825—was an immense success at its premiere and has since become a symbol of hope for the universal togetherness of humankind.

Ives is unique. His music may take some getting used to, and it would be good if his compositions were played more often so people could get used to it. I recommend reading the program note. I don't think I've ever heard "Psalm 90," and I'm looking forward to it. If you find it too strange, stick around for the Beethoven.

So it's a weekend with the familiar and the adventurous, with the great Ron Della Chiesa as the announcer. Don't forget that the Sunday concert will be delivered an hour earlier than the Friday and Saturday ones.

Tanglewood — 2021/07/24-25

This weekend the BSO is giving us a lot of new music. I recommend reading the program notes if you want an idea of what to expect — or you can just let it be unexpected as it is performed.

Saturday, July 24, 2021.  We get two new pieces, one from 80 years ago that is not often heard, and one from 100 years ago that can still be jarring. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, July 24, 2021
8:00 PM

Saturday at 8pm, the superstar violinist [Anne-Sophie Mutter] is the soloist in the world premiere of John Williams’s Violin concerto No. 2, led by the composer, and Andris Nelsons conducts the BSO in 20^th- and 21^st-century pieces by Copland, Stravinsky, and Jessie Montgomery.

Andris Nelsons and John Williams, conductors
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Robert Sheena, English horn
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet

Jessie MONTGOMERY Starburst
John WILLIAMS Violin Concerto No. 2 (world premiere)
COPLAND Quiet City
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

(Some emphasis added.)

Yes, that John Williams. You will be able to hear the world premiere of his concerto. Before that comes another piece that the BSO is giving for the first time in a live concert. I can't vouch for either of them, but after reading the program notes via the links on the orchestra's performance detail page, I think the Williams concerto should be okay, and I'm hoping the Montgomery will be tolerable.

Copland's "Quiet City" is quiet and pleasant. I don't think I had heard it until a couple of years ago. Then WCRB began playing it fairly frequently just before midnight. I like it, and I'm looking forward to hearing it live. As for "The Firebird," it's not as wild as "The Rite of Spring." I may switch stations and listen to the Red Sox. But I'll definitely be listening to WCRB at 8:00, Lenox/Stockbridge Time.

Sunday, July 25, 2021.  There will be two "warhorses" of the repertoire on Sunday after we sit through a new piece. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Sunday, July 25, 2021
7:00 PM

Yefim Bronfman returns to the Berkshires as the soloist in Beethoven’s impassioned Piano Concerto No. 3, and Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rhapsodic work by Iman Habibi, Sunday at 7pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Iman HABIBI Jeder Baum spricht
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

(Some emphasis added.)

You can't go wrong with Beethoven piano concertos and Schumann symphonies. The program note for "Jeder Baum spricht" — which you can find via the link on the performance detail page — doesn't give me great hope. When a contemporary composer is inspired by one of the classical masters, it's never as good as the original. Sometimes it turns out to be something I'd like to hear one more time or even become familiar with, but more often once is enough or too much (which is also true of new pieces in general). The thing is, you never know until you've listened to it that first time. So I'll have WCRB on at 7:00.

BBSO/Classical New England — 2021/07/03

 Once more we get an encore broadcast of the BSO from WCRB. NextSaturday live concert broadcasts resume from Tanglewood. This evening's "encore broadcast" features some infrequently heard music that could be interesting. Here's what WCRB says on their website:

In an encore broadcast, Lisa Batiashvili is the soloist in Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Copland's majestic Third Symphony.

Saturday, July 3, 2021
8:00 PM

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Lisa Batiashvili, violin

Olly WILSON Lumina
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 1
COPLAND Symphony No. 3

Encore broadcast from Saturday, February 9, 2019

Hear a preview of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Lisa Batiashvili in the player above.

Interview transcript:

Brian McCreath [00:00:00] I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Lisa Batiashvili, and Lisa, it's so good to see you here back in Boston. It's been quite a while. I do remember your Tanglewood performance from a few years ago, which was fantastic. But thanks for taking a few minutes with me right now to talk about Szymanowski.

As you can see from what I wrote at the time, I didn't like the Wilson piece, but found the remainder okay.

It's all 20th Century music this week, but it could be worse. Some of it is very good and some of the rest isn't tough to take (at least for me). I'll let the BSO's [performance] detail page give the introduction:

The Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili joins Andris Nelsons and the BSO as soloist in the important Polish composer Karol Szymanowski'sViolin Concerto No. 1, a brilliant piece colored by both French Impressionism and German late Romanticism. American orchestral works open and close the concert. The St. Louis-born Olly Wilson, who died in March 2018 (and whose Sinfonia was commissioned by the BSO for its centennial), was a longtime faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. His well-traveled orchestral work Lumina is a scintillating, single-movement orchestral landscape. Aaron Copland'sSymphony No. 3, premiered by the BSO under Serge Koussevitzky in 1946, is a substantial, expressively rich work incorporating the composer's familiar Fanfare for the Common Man as the theme of its final movement.

(Some emphasis added.)
Don't forget the links to performer bios and other info on the performance detail page.

I attended the performance on Thursday. The opening piece struck me as unmelodious and disjointed. I thought of Elliot Carter and Milton Babbitt, but this wasn't quite as cacophonous as their stuff. Anyway, I wouldn't blame anybody for skipping it. (The problem is knowing when to come back for the next piece. You should be safe if you're tuned in by 8:17.) Or, you might want to listen and see if it's better than I think it is. In the past Szymanowski's music has also struck me as unpleasant, but this is better than the things of his I had previously heard, so it was a pleasant surprise — lush is a word that comes to mind for the overall impression. After intermission Copland did not disappoint.

The reviews are in, and while both the Globe and the more extensive Intelligencer found minor details to criticize, both were generally satisfied. An interesting sidelight: when the reviewer in the Intelligencer, Mark DeVoto, was a college student, Aaron Copland autographed DeVoto's copy of the score of this evening's symphony.

As always, you can go to the WCRB website for information about their programs as well as the link to their live stream, where you can listen this evening at 8:00, EST if you're outside their broadcast range.[…]

I wonder if they chose this concert for this weekend because it includes Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Anyway, there it is.