BSO — 2025/11/29

 This evening the BSO gives us standard 19th Century music, namely Dvořák's Cello Concerto followed, after intermission, by his Symphony № 8. Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/an-all-dvorak-program-with-rachid-ferrandez-and-the-bso

Saturday, November 29, 2025
8:00 PM

Samy Rachid leads the Boston Symphony in an all-Dvořák program, featuring the Czech composer’s folk-inspired Eighth Symphony and his beloved Cello Concerto, with award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

All-Dvořák program 
Antonín DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Pablo Ferrandez appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

The interviews available on the page should be interesting.

Here's the blurb on the BSO performance detail page, which also has the usual links to performer bios and program notes: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-28-29-dvorak?performance=2025-11-29-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Samy Rachid, conductor Pablo Ferrández, Cello DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8  

Award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández returns to Symphony Hall to perform one of the most beloved works in the cello repertoire. Written while the composer was living and teaching in the U.S., Dvořák’s Cello Concerto weaves a virtuosic solo line into a rich orchestral tapestry that both pays tribute to and draws inspiration from his Bohemian homeland. The Eighth Symphony is a similarly folk-inspired work, warm and full of charm. Filled with folk dance rhythms and unexpected harmonic shifts, it captures the composer’s deep connection to his home.

If you can't access the bios and program notes via my quote, you'll have to go the the actual BSO page and click on the arrow after the item you want.

I was at the performance in Friday and thought it was very good. The conductor wore a nicely tailored suit, narrow at the waist, and conducted with clear but not excessive gestures to which the orchestra responded well. The enthusiastic review in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/29/free-range/ expresses it more completely and with pictures so you cab see the suit.

I caught much of Robert Kirzinger's pre-concert talk and he called attention to the prominence of the flute in these pieces, which gives a special interest to Brian McCreath's interview with Lorna McGhee in which they discuss the flute part in the s8th Symphony.

If you can't listen this evening, by all means try to catch the rebroadcast at 8 p.m., Boston Time, on December 8.

BSO — 2025/11/08

 Tonight the BSO gives us a tribute to long time maestro Seiji Ozawa with Japanese conductor and violin soloist and a piece by a Japanese composer — all with connections to Ozawa. We find the following at WCRB's website: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/okisawas-bso-debut-and-tribute-to-seiji-ozawassical Music on WCRB

                Saturday, November 8, 2025

                8:00 PM

Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa, a protégée of former BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa, makes her BSO debut with Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Takemitsu’s Requiem for strings, a work Stravinsky hailed as a masterpiece. The Ozawa tribute continues with Midori, a longtime Ozawa collaborator, as soloist in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto.

Nodoka Okisawa, conductor
Midori, violin

Tōru TAKEMITSU Requiem for strings
Antonín DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

Learn about Seiji Ozawa's history and incredible legacy with the BSO.

See the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Nodoka Okisawa, who's here with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the very first time. Ms. Okisawa, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it.

Nodoka Okisawa Thank you so much

Here's how the BSO introduces the concert on their performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/nov-6-8-takemitsu-dvorak?performance=2025-11-08-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Nodoka Okisawa, conductor Midori, violin TAKEMITSU Requiem for strings  DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto       intermissionDVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7  

Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa was mentored by longtime BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa, who appointed her the first principal guest conductor of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto (formerly Saito Kinen) Festival. She makes her BSO debut, leading a program that is the first in our series of concerts examining the last three symphonies of Antonín Dvořák, whose work Ozawa especially loved. She is joined by beloved violinist Midori, a longtime Ozawa collaborator. The great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, whose work Ozawa and the BSO promoted, was one of the first composers to gain a reputation in the West with his Requiem for strings — a work deemed a masterpiece by Igor Stravinsky.

As is often the case, there are links to performer bios and program notes. Click on the arrows.

I don't see a review in the lGlobe. The one in the Intelligencer https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/11/08/okisawa-midori/ is largely favorable but complains at several points that the orchestra was playing too loudly.

It seems this will be worth hearing.

Tanglewood — 2025/08/08-10

 A mix of the familiar,  the not-so-familiar, and the new is being presented tonight and Sunday, with two of the greatest string players of ouur time as soloists. In between, we can hear John Williams Film Night on Saturday. We turn once more to WCRB for the basics and the BSO page for fuller descriptions.

August 8, 2025

WCRB tells us: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/orozco-estrada-conducts-dvoraks-new-world-at-tanglewood

Friday, August 8, 2025
8:00 PM

Colombian conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Italy, makes his Tanglewood debut conducting Dvořák’s much-beloved Symphony No. 9, From the New World. The inimitable Joshua Bell, who has performed at Tanglewood every year since 1989, is the soloist in Lalo’s spirited Symphonie espagnole.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Édouard LALO Symphonie espagnole
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

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

Now for the link to the orchestra's performance detail page:

https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-8-joshua-bell?performance=2025-08-08-20%3A00

There you find links to the program notes. Among other things they note that the melody of the slow movement of the Dvořák is the composer's own invention, not a Negro spiritual.

August 9, 2025

Again we look to WCRB for the basics, as well as an interview with the composer which should be interesting reading: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/lockhart-leads-the-pops-in-john-williams-film-night

Saturday, August 9, 2025
8:00 PM

A cherished Tanglewood tradition, John Williams’ Film Night returns with a fabulous program of film music highlights specially curated by Maestro Williams himself and featuring Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. It’s a special evening of magical music that you won’t want to miss!

Boston Pops Orchestra
John Williams, curator
Keith Lockhart, conductor

Film Night!

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

In an interview with Brian McCreath from 2016, John Williams discusses what led him to become a composer, why conducting The Boston Pops is so special, and why he believes Star Wars resonates so profoundly with humanity. Listen with the audio player above, and follow the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (Note: The Star Wars film discussed here is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, from 2015.):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall. I'm with John Williams, and it is a great pleasure to have the chance to speak with you, John.

Need I say more?

Here's the link to the performance detail page. There are no program notes for individual pieces, but you can find those for the performer bios.

https://www.bso.org/events/boston-pops-august-9?performance=2025-08-09-20%3A00

August 10, 2025

Sunday evening brings us the afternoon concert from Taanglewood, described here by WCRB: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/yo-yo-ma-samy-rachid-and-pepins-un-monde-nouveau-at-tanglewood

Sunday, August 10, 2025
7:00 PM

Following his highly acclaimed Tanglewood debut last summer, BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid leads an exciting program featuring the American premiere of French composer Camille Pépin’s Un Monde nouveau, Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, and Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Yo-Yo Ma. It will be the first time that Ma performs this cello concerto at Tanglewood, the piece he performed with the Boston Pops in his 1971 Symphony Hall debut as a 15-year-old prodigy.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Camille PÉPIN Un Monde nouveau (American premiere)
Camille SAINT-SÄENS Cello Concerto No. 1
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, Scottish

I highly recommend going to the performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-10-yo-yo-ma?performance=2025-08-10-14%3A30 and following the link to the notes for Un monde nouveau. I wonder why they didn't program the New  World Symphony on the same evening. Of course the other program notes are also worthwhile.

It promises to be an enjoyable weekend.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/05/17

 Again this week the encore broadcast is taken from last year's Tanglewood season. Most of it is the concert of July 14, but it is supplemented by one piece from the concert of July 8. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Saturday, May 17, 2025
8:00 PM

Augustin Hadelich is the soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in a Boston Symphony concert led by Andris Nelsons that also features Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Forward Into Light, a meditation on “perseverance, bravery, and alliance.”

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

Sarah KIRKLAND SNIDER Forward into Light 
Sergei PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Ballade in A minor (Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Na'Zir McFadden, conductor, recorded on July 8, 2024)
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

This concert was originally broadcast on July 14, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

The program notes for the three works on the July 14 concert are available on the performance detail page for that concert.  https://www.bso.org/events/snider-prokofiev-dvorak?performance=2024-07-14-14:30  That page also provides the following overall description:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Augustin Hadelich, violin

Sarah Kirkland SNIDER Forward into Light 
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2 
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
 

Written as part of the NY Philharmonic’s “Project 19” — which commissioned 19 female composers to write new works commemorating the ratification of the 19th Amendment — Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Forward Into Light is a meditation on “perseverance, bravery, and alliance.” The title is derived from a suffrage slogan, and the music contains quotes from the woman’s suffrage movement anthem, “March of the Women.”

Grammy-winner Augustin Hadelich rounds out the program with Prokofiev’s intense Violin Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 – sometimes called the composer's greatest symphony.

I can't find a performance detail page for the Coleridge-Taylor piece, but most of his music is good.

The Globe reviewer was happy with the July 14 concert; the Intelligencer didn't review it.

 I wrote about the July 14 concert back then, and I think it should be worth listening to along with the interpolation from the 8th.

P.S. Next weekend, WCRB will give us four evenings of rebroadcasts: the full cycle of Beethoven symphonies from last winter. They'll begin with Nos. 1, 2, and 3 on Friday evening of the long weekend, followed by 4 and 5 on Saturday, 6 and 7 on Sunday, and 8 and 9 on Monday, all at 8"00 p.m. Boston Time.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/12/28

 This evening we have a replay of a couple of debut performances: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2023-09-25/the-bso-debuts-of-ferrandez-and-hindoyan

Saturday, December 28, 2024
8:00pm

Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan makes his BSO debut leading the American premiere of the BSO co-commissioned Symphony No. 6 by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra. Also making his BSO debut is Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández in Edward Elgar’s regal and impassioned Cello Concerto, often interpreted as a profound reaction to the First World War. One of the repertoire’s greatest symphonies, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s darkly majestic Seventh, exudes his love for his native Bohemia as well as the influence of his mentor, Johannes Brahms.

Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

Roberto SIERRA Symphony No. 6 (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
Edward ELGAR Cello Concerto
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

The broadcast was originally broadcast on March 30, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

Kendall Todd spoke with Domingo Hindoyan about his personal relationship with Roberto Sierra's music, what makes Dvořák's Seventh Symphony so special, and sharing a BSO debut with Pablo Ferrández. Follow along with the audio player above and the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Kendall Todd I'm Kendall Todd here at Symphony Hall with Domingo Hindoyan, who is here at Symphony Hall with the Boston Symphony for the first time.

Go to the BSO performance detail page for links to the program notes. Here's their synopsis:

Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello

Roberto SIERRA Sinfonía No. 6 (American premiere; co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director, as part of the Koussevitzky150 initiative, with generous support from the New Works Fund established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser.) 
ELGAR Cello Concerto
Intermission
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

Thursday evening’s concert is supported by Nancy and Richard Lubin.
Thursday evening's performance by Pablo Ferrández is supported by Mary Cornille, in loving memory of Jack Cogan.
Saturday evening’s concert is in memory of Stephen R. Weber, supported by Dr. Dorothy A. Weber.
Saturday evening's performance by Pablo Ferrández is supported by Jim Aisner, in memory of his wife, Virginia Simpson Aisner.

Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan makes his BSO debut leading the American premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Symphony No. 6, a BSO co-commission. Also making his BSO debut is Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández in Edward Elgar’s regal and impassioned Cello Concerto, often interpreted as a profound reaction to the First World War. One of the repertoire’s greatest symphonies, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s darkly majestic Symphony No. 7 exudes his love for his native Bohemia as well as the influence of his mentor, Johannes Brahms.

When I wrote about it back at the time it was originally broadcast, I noted a favorable review in the Intelligencer and an encouraging program note about the Sierra piece. So it's worth listening to IMO.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/12/14

 This week's encore broadcast is from last March. Here's WCRB's description:

Saturday, December 14, 2024
8:00pm

Eminent English conductor Sir Mark Elder returns to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2011 to lead a program exploring whimsy, fantasy, and folklore. He leads the American premiere of Elena Langer’s The Dong with  the Luminous Nose, a setting of Edward Lear’s delightful “nonsense poem,” written for the BSO and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The performance features BSO Principal Cellist Blaise Déjardin as soloist along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose began as a suite of children’s piano pieces, each illustrating an iconic fairytale, while Antonín Dvořák’s The Noonday Witch is based on a much darker Czech folktale. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s energetically masterful Sinfonietta closes the program.

Sir Mark Elder, conductor 
Blaise Déjardin, cello 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Maurice RAVEL Mother Goose 
Elena LANGER The Dong with a Luminous Nose, for cello, chorus, and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission)
Antonín DVOŘÁK The Noonday Witch
Leoš JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

This broadcast was originally broadcast on March 16, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

Read Edward Lear's "The Dong with a Luminous Nose" at Poetry Foundation.

For a preview of the program with Sir Mark Elder, use the player above, and read the transcript below:

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Sir Mark Elder, and you are back with the Boston Symphony for the first time in quite a while. But it's really wonderful to have you here

The BSO's own performance detail page gives the same overall description, but also has links to the program notes, which could prove useful:

Sir Mark Elder, conductor 
Blaise Déjardin, cello 
Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
 James Burton, conductor 

RAVEL Mother Goose (complete) 
Elena LANGER The Dong with a Luminous Nose, for cello, chorus, and orchestra (American premiere; BSO co-commission) Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director, through the generous support of the Arthur P. Contas Commissioning Fund.
Intermission
DVOŘÁK The Noonday Witch
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

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

Thursday evening's concert is supported by Patricia Romeo-Gilbert, in memory of Paul B. Gilbert.

Friday afternoon’s concert and soloist Blaise Déjardin are supported by the Elfers family.

Eminent English conductor Sir Mark Elder returns to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2011 to lead a program full of whimsy, fantasy, and folklore. Opening the program, Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose ballet score began as a suite of children’s piano pieces, each movement illustrating an iconic tale. Next is the American premiere of Elena Langer’s The Dong with a Luminous Nose, a setting of Edward Lear’s delightful “nonsense poem” written for the BSO and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which gave the first performance in March 2023 featuring BSO principal cello Blaise Déjardin as soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Antonín Dvořák’s The Noonday Witch is based on a much darker Czech folktale. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s energetic, masterful Sinfonietta closes the concert.

I wrote about it back then, a bit more favorably than I feel right not. I found the Ravel dull, although most peopple seem to enjoy it. The Langer piece was amusing at points and the music fits the text, but IMO it isn't music for the ages. The concert gets really good after intermission with an interesting piece by Dvořák and a good one by Janáček. In other words it could be interesting to hear.

Tanglewood — 2024/07/13-14

 I didn't get a chance to include last evening's concert in this post. Here's what we have to look forward to today and tomorrow.

Here's WCRB's synopsis of tonight's concert:

    Saturday, July 13, 2024

8:00 PM

Andris Nelsons conducts a Boston Symphony program that includes Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, with soloist Yuja Wang, as well as two pieces by Duke Ellington and Carlos Simon’s “Warmth from Other Suns.”

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano

Carlos SIMON Warmth from Other Suns, for string orchestra
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
Duke ELLINGTON Three Black Kings

    ELLINGTON A Tone Parallel to Harlem 

 

If you want to read up on the music, here's a link to the BSO's performance detai page, which has links to the program notes for the various pieces: https://www.bso.org/events/bso-simon-beethoven-featuring-yuja-wang?performance=2024-07-13-20:00

For Sunday, here's the program, per WCRB:

Sunday, July 14, 2024
7:00 PM

Augustin Hadelich is the soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in a Boston Symphony concert led by Andris Nelsons that also features Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Forward Into Light, a meditation on “perseverance, bravery, and alliance.”

Sunday, July 14, 2024
7:00 PM

Augustin Hadelich is the soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in a Boston Symphony concert led by Andris Nelsons that also features Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Forward Into Light, a meditation on “perseverance, bravery, and alliance.”

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

Sarah KIRKLAND SNIDER Forward into Light 
Sergei PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7

Here's the linkf or the performance detail page forr Sunday: https://www.bso.org/events/snider-prokofiev-dvorak?performance=2024-07-14-14:30

Note the earlier start time on Sunday.

Some of this is familiar and should be very good. Some of it is new and unfamiliar, so your guess is as good as mine. Enjoy what you can.