BSO/Classical New England — 2021/08/28

 WCRB says:

In a concert originally broadcast in 2019, Andrew Davis leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Symphony No. 5 by Vaughan Williams and Harbison's Symphony No. 2, and Alessio Bax is the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, Saturday at 8pm.

Andrew Davis, conductor
Alessio Bax, piano

John HARBISON Symphony No. 2
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 5

Encore broadcast from Saturday, January 12, 2019

John Harbison previews his Second Symphony and talks about his composing career on the occasion of his 80th birthday, in the audio player above.

WCRB's Brian McCreath talks with pianist Alessio Bax about Mozart's piano concertos and much more (transcript below):

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/22

A bit earlier than usual, but Saturday looks busy, so here's the preview.

This week's encore broadcast/stream is the concert of January 12. It's Harbison, Mozart, and Vaughan Williams, in that order. The program detail page (which see for links to the usual background information) puts it thus:

English conductor Sir Andrew Davis and the BSO are joined by Italian pianist Alessio Bax in his BSO debut for one of Mozart's stormiest works, his C minor piano concerto, No. 24, one of the unsurpassed series of concertos from the height of his Vienna popularity. Opening the concert is Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's 1986 Symphony No. 2, the four movements of which are called "Dawn," "Daylight," "Dusk," and "Darkness"-keys to its evolving expressive and musical character. This is one of several Harbison works being performed this year to mark the 80th birthday year of a composer closely associated with the BSO. Steeped in the musical tradition of England, Vaughan Williams's Fifth Symphony was composed at the beginning of World War II but maintains an optimistic and affirmative outlook.

(Emphasis added.)

I posted at the time, with links to reviews and a comment that the Harbison may be "challenging."

You can hear it over WCRB Saturday, June 22, and Monday, July 1, at 8:00 p.m.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/05/18

This week's encore broadcast is the second concert of last year's Symphony Hall season, originally broadcast October 20, 2018. I posted about it back then, and here's a link to the orchestra's program detail page. There is music of John Harbison, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.

It should be worth hearing, this evening at 8:00 and again on Monday, May 27, over WCRB.

BSO — 2019/01/12

This week it's Harbison, Mozart, and Vaughan Williams, in that order. The program detail page (which see for links to the usual background information) puts it thus:

English conductor Sir Andrew Davis and the BSO are joined by Italian pianist Alessio Bax in his BSO debut for one of Mozart's stormiest works, his C minor piano concerto, No. 24, one of the unsurpassed series of concertos from the height of his Vienna popularity. Opening the concert is Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's 1986 Symphony No. 2, the four movements of which are called "Dawn," "Daylight," "Dusk," and "Darkness"-keys to its evolving expressive and musical character. This is one of several Harbison works being performed this year to mark the 80th birthday year of a composer closely associated with the BSO. Steeped in the musical tradition of England, Vaughan Williams's Fifth Symphony was composed at the beginning of World War II but maintains an optimistic and affirmative outlook.

(Emphasis added.)

The reviews are in. The Globe liked it. So did the Intelligencer, with much interesting detail, including an overall reference to "the symphony’s particularly severe mien, even in contrast to Harbison’s other work, [which] lodges it in our mind as a true 20^th century modernist artifact." So be prepared for the challenge.

I was unable to get to the performance on Thursday. I've been especially looking forward to hearing the Harbison symphony, although the Intelligencer review has me expecting some challenging music. You can hear what all the talk is about this evening at 8:00, EST, over the facilities of WCRB, with a repeat transmission on Monday, the 21st, also at 8:00 p.m. Last week's concert will be rebroadcast on the 14th. As usual, I recommend checking out their website for information about other programming.

BSO — 2018/10/20

This week we get a curtain-raiser by John Harbison, followed by two works by early 20th Century Russian composers. Here's the blurb from the orchestra's performance detail page:

BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur is joined by outstanding American pianist Garrick Ohlsson for a work heard relatively rarely despite the popularity of its composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. The early First Concerto exhibits the same spirit of Russian lyricism and virtuosity found in his perennially popular Second and Third concertos. Opening the program is John Harbison's Jazz Age-flavored foxtrot Remembering Gatsby, an orchestral work foreshadowing his acclaimed opera based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. This is one of several Harbison works this season celebrating the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston-based composer's 80th birthday year. Closing the program are excerpts from Prokofiev's ballet score Romeo and Juliet, which includes some of the composer's best-known music.

(Some emphasis added.)

I stayed home with a cold on Thursday evening, so I can't tell you anything about how they did. I have vague memories of a prior performance of "Remembering Gatsby," and it was okay. The Globe review praised Garrick Ohlsson's playing as "relaxed and almost contemplative no matter the tempo," and had no fault to find with any of the concert. The review in the Boston Musical Intelligencer seems to agree with the Globe about the playing of the Rachmaninoff — but with fancier vocabulary, The reviewer also finds little fault with anything else, giving a nice synopsis of the Harbison.

Well, the Harbison may not be to everyone's liking, but it's short; and it seems the rest is definitely worth hearing. You can listen in at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time over WCRB FM and on line. If you miss it this evening, there is the customary rebroadcast/stream on Monday, October 29 at 8:00, p.m. (Last Saturday's concert is similarly available this Monday, Oct. 22, at 8:00.)

Enjoy.

BSO/Classical New England — 2015/09/19

WCRB gives us another "encore performance" of a concert given within the past year. I was at the Thursday November 20 performance. They recorded the one on November 22, 2014. Here's how WCRB briefly describes it on their BSO page:

Yo-Yo Ma is the soloist in Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, and Andris Nelsons conducts Harbison's Koussevitzky Said, Rachmaninoff's The Bells, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and a world premiere by Eriks Ešenvalds.

(Some emphasis added.)

That page also has the schedule of concerts to be broadcast and streamed next week and over the coming season as well as links to some interviews.

I don't know why they won't list the pieces in the order they are performed. Harbison's piece opens the concert, followed by Ešenvalds and Prokofiev. Rachmaninoff follows the intermission, and concludes the concert.

The piece given its world premiere in the Thursday concert and its broadcast premiere on Saturday was titled "Lakes Awake at Dawn."

My recollection of the concert is that it was very good. The Harbison is brief, intended as a curtain-raiser, and quite amusing; the Ešenvalds sets the moods of the poetry well; and the Rachmaninoff is very stirring. Since all three of them have sung texts, it's an especially good idea to go to the BSO performance detail page and access the link to the program notes, where you can find the words. I think it will also be especially useful to read the notes on the pieces and check out the other background info.

The p/review I posted at the time has links to reviews. along with my impressions back then.

As usual, the concert is available by radio or webstream from WCRB on Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time (EDT). See the first link above. I recommend listening.

Tanglewood — 2015/07/03-04

The Boston Symphony returns to Tanglewood this weekend. Opening night is Friday, with the concert and broadcast/webstream over WCRB beginning at 8:30, Boston Time. The BSO program detail page describes the program as follows:

For its first concert of the 2015 Tanglewood season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra celebrates our country's heritage during Independence Day weekend with an all American program of music by John Harbison, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington. The dynamic Jacques Lacombe conducts, with the exciting pianist Kirill Gerstein, equally renowned in jazz and classical repertoire, featured in Gershwin's Concerto in F. John Douglas Thompson will be the speaker in Copland's Lincoln Portrait. 

(Some emphasis added.)

The WCRB BSO page identifies the Harbison and Gershwin works as well.

Kirill Gerstein is the soloist in Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, and John Douglas Thompson is the narrator of Copland's Lincoln Portrait in an All-American Tanglewood Opening Night that also includes Harbison's Remembering Gatsby and Ellington's Harlem, all with conductor Jacque Lacombe.

That page also has various links, including one to an interview with the pianist, and the remaining Tanglewood broadcast/stream schedule.

In the Saturday BSO time slot, WCRB returns to Boston to give us
The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular!

Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops - along with hundreds of  thousands of fans - celebrate the Fourth of July at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, with special guest vocalists Melinda Doolittle, Michael Cavanaugh, and Michelle Brooks-Thompson, vocal ensemble Sons of Serendip, the Boston Crusaders drum and bugle corps, and the USO Show Troupe, all hosted by Ron Della Chiesa and Laura Carlo.

There is a link to more info on the WCRB page.

Enjoy both evenings. Apparently Sunday afternoon broadcasts from Tanglewood begin on July 12.

BSO — 2014/11/20-22 (Updated)

I heard this week's Boston Symphony program on Thursday. It consists of two 21st century works, followed by two from 20th century Russian composers, with the intermission coming between the third and fourth pieces. The BSO performance detail page gives us the story:

Andris Nelsons demonstrates his thoughtful, adventurous programming with this wide-ranging selection of works. He and the BSO are joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma for Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, whose title suggests the symphonic nature of the score. Nelsons also leads the BSO's first world premiere and BSO commission of the season, a new work ["Lakes Awake at Dawn"] for chorus and orchestra by the conductor's Latvian compatriot Eriks Ešenvalds, who has secured a strong international reputation especially for his choral works. Opening the program is John Harbison's choral scherzo Koussevitzky Said:. Written for the 75th anniversary of Tanglewood and premiered there in 2012, this short piece sets words about music by the BSO's great former music director, Serge Koussevitzky. Setting Konstantin Balmont's Russian translation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells, Rachmaninoff's work for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra is considered one of his highest achievements. The BSO has only performed this great work on one other occasion, in subscription concerts in 1979.

(Some emphasis added.)

The performance detail page also has the usual links to program notes (including texts of the three sung pieces), audio previews, a video podcast about the Prokofiev and the Ešenvalds pieces, and performer bios (including chorus and its conductor as well as soloists in the Rachmaninoff).

The Boston Globe review was almost entirely about the works, rather than the performances, but everything it does say about the performances is approving. So far, there has been no review in the Boston Musical Intelligencer. When I see one, I'll add the link.* While none of the music is "must hear" to my taste, none of it was a chore to listen to, either. The Harbison is a lot of fun (and the Globe reviewer thinks it is important in a way). The composer was in the audience and stood for a well deserved bow. I had heard it when it was broadcast from Tanglewood two years ago. The rest of the concert was new to me. "Lakes Awake at Dawn," receiving its world premiere, was calm in many places, earnest, and musically better than one would expect of new music. The Prokofiev concerto was quite powerful, not without its pleasant moments, vigorously played by Yo-Yo Ma. After intermission "The Bells" was a powerful setting of the poem in four sections, with a soloist for three of them and the chorus alone in the third section. The singers all did well, as did the chorus, and the music itself was fine.

As always, you can listen live Saturday evening at 8:00 or Monday December 1, over WCRB radio or streaming. The station's BSO page has the entire remaining BSO broadcast schedule for this season as well as links to interviews about this and other concerts and to concerts now available for on demand listening.

* Edited to add: The BMInt has a very positive and descriptive review. At least it's in time for the rebroadcast on Dec. 1.

Tanglewood — 2012/08/24-26

August 24.  This evening Tanglewood invites us:

Gershwin and Friends

Join Keith Lockhart, the Pops, and favorite guest vocalists for a celebration of George Gershwin and the creators of the Great American Songbook, including Irving Berlin,  Jerome Kern and Cole Porter. The program also features Gershwin's classic Rhapsody in Blue.

The link above contains a further link to the program notes for the concert and pictures of performers that give identification when you put your cursor on them.


August 25.  Saturday evening, frequent guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will lead a program of Spanish Music:

ALBÉNIZ - (arr. Frühbeck de Burgos) Suite española
FALLA - La vida breve
Full Program Notes - Saturday, August 25, 8:30pm

Program notes are available by clicking the icons to the right of the listings, and, again, information about soloists is given on the detail page when you bring the cursor to the picture — more detail if you click on it.


August 26.  On Sunday afternoon Maestro Frühbeck leads the now-traditional Beethoven Ninth to close the Tanglewood season with a guaranteed "standing O." But there's more: the world premiere of a piece titled "Koussevitsky Said," by John Harbison, for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the BSO for Tanglewood's 75th anniversary. Here's the listing on the detail page with its links to notes (and audio for the Beethoven):

HARBISON - Koussevitzky said:, for chorus and orchestra (world premiere; BSO commission)
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 9
Full Program Notes - Sunday, August 26, 2:30pm

I'm really looking forward to hearing the Harbison piece — even more so after reading the program notes. I think once you read the notes, you'll want to hear it too.


Broadcasts and webstreams are scheduled as in previous weeks on Classical New England. CNE's "second page" via the BSO label, has a link to an interesting interview with John Harbison (not just a rehash of the BSO program notes). The page also tells us what Classical New England will use to fill the BSO concert slots on the three weekends between the end of the Tanglewood Season and the opening night of the Symphony Hall Season.

Enjoy!

John Harbison on Bach's St. Matthew Passion

On February 29, I attended a lecture by the composer John Harbison on the "St. Matthew Passion." He acknowledged that there were many ways of viewing the work, but he chose to look at it under the aspect of abandonment — that the text suggests that the Christian feels abandoned by Jesus. Of course, on the Cross Jesus quoted the Psalm verse which asks, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" But traditionally we have been invited to sympathize with Jesus' sufferings, and feel sorrow for our responsibility for them, but until now I don't think I've ever heard that we are invited to feel as he felt, especially in that precise moment. (The "Stabat Mater" asks that we feel as Mary felt.)

Harbison played several examples. He started with the opening chorus, with its call to lament (klagen). There are lines such as "Jesus takes leave of us," (Jesus von uns Abschied nimmt) "So is my Jesus captured now," (So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen.) "Give me back my Jesus," (Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder!) and the address to the faithful as "you forsaken chickens." (Ihe verlaßnen Küchlein) Finally, there is the closing recitative and chorus where the faithful bid good night to Jesus and sit weeping by the tomb.

I find it a startling take on the work as a whole. As Harbison himself pointed out, this is a Passion and therefore it does not include Easter. Furthermore, if it represents the feelings of loss those present at the actual events would have felt, it also includes notions of clinging to Jesus and being rescued by him. Certainly, it seems unlikely that Bach and his librettist Picander would have intended that the hearers should take away from the performance of the Passion an idea that they had been abandoned by Jesus. But it gave an aspect to think about, and as someone who has conducted the work on occasion, Harbison is certainly able to see aspects which are not immediately apparent.

During the question period at the end, a college-age girl asked Harbison what his name was. He responded with name and a very abbreviated bit of background. I wonder how the questioner learned of the lecture and decided to attend without knowing who the lecturer was.

BSO — 2012/01/12-17 Info and Reviews

Three Warhorses and a World Premiere

This weeks Boston Symphony program begins with the Overture to "Euryanthe", by Carl Maria von Weber, followed by Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist. After the intermission we have the world premiere performances of John Harbison's Symphony No. 6, which was commissioned by the BSO and is dedicated to former Music Director James Levine, who secured the commission. Soloist in the first movement is Paula Murrihy, mezzo-soprano. The final work on the program is "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks", by Richard Strauss. Conductor is David Zinman.

As usual, the BSO website has additional info, including the program notes for the four pieces and audio previews of the three "warhorses." There are also previews with the conductor, the pianist, and the composer at WCRB/Classical New England.

Broadcasts/webstreams are Saturday at 8:00 and Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with the concert available On Demand for two weeks after that. And there are the usual pre-concert features at 7:00 on Saturday.

I was there for the absolute premiere of the Harbison 6th on Thursday evening and again on Friday afternoon. I liked it better than his 5th symphony, which was played earlier this season. The singing in the first movement seemed a bit more lyrical, and although there were cacophonous moments here and there throughout the symphony, there was more that was not unpleasant, with musical figures or themes being repeated, given changed pitch, and developed. I won't be able to listen to the broadcast tonight, but I hope to hear the rebroadcast tomorrow afternoon and record it.

Here's the Boston Globe reviewer's take on the concert, and here's a feature about the Harbison symphony that was published a week ago.

Follow-up

I listened to the Harbison 5th on the radio Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. It reinforced and clarified my impression from Thursday. The symphony is more like a series of "accompagnato" recitatives followed by a duet. He's gone back to Bach. The orchestra supports the declamation of the texts and adds tonal color and emphasis, but there is no memorable melody from singer or instruments. It works very well as a dramatic retelling of the legend, but calling it a symphony is an unusual use of the word.

BSO — 2011/12/01-03 — Info and Reviews

I was in the audience for the Thursday evening performance of John Harbison's Symphony No. 5 — which could be subtitiled "Orpheus and Eurydice" but hasn't been — with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4  and Leonore Overture No. 3 after the intermission. BTW, I had heard the world premiere of the Harbison when the BSO gave it three and a half years ago.

Here's a bit from the BSO website.

Making his BSO debut, Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek is chief conductor of the BBC Symphony and chief conductor designate of the Czech Philharmonic. The program opens with John Harbison's BSO-commissioned Symphony No. 5 (premiered in 2008) for baritone, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra, a dramatic, lyrical work setting poems inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The program's second half features American pianist Jonathan Biss in Beethoven's equally dramatic and lyrical Fourth Piano Concerto. To finish, Beethoven's powerful LeonoreOverture No. 3 offers another musical take on the transportive power of love.

That website page also has links to the program notes and an audio preview. I very much recommend the program note for the Harbison for a good explanation of the piece, including the use of three different poems to cover various facets of the legend.

Perhaps I'll revise my opinion after I hear the Harbison symphony again this evening and tomorrow afternoon, but the hearing on Thursday left me a bit disappointed. The baritone who sings the first two movements and with the mezzo soprano in the fourth had very clear enunciation, so that practically every word could be understood even without looking at the text in the program. The mezzo did almost as well in the third and fourth movements. And the texts were interesting. But the music itself was rarely engaging or even particularly expressive, to my ears. The composer was on hand, as he had been last week, to take a bow from the stage after his symphony. Then he was seated diagonally across from me in the first balcony for the second half. I couldn't help wondering if he was wondering if his symphony would be as much listened to after 200 years as Beethoven's music is today.

I want to like John Harbison's work, so I'll be hoping this symphony will impress me more on my later hearings. The poems have interesting insights into the legend, and at least the music doesn't get in the way of them; and of course Beethoven is always worth hearing. As usual, you can hear it over WCRB/WGBH/Classical New England. In addition to being able to hear the webstream, you can use this link to find a further link to a page where you can hear the composer himself talking about the symphony.

The Globe reviewer seems to have liked the Harbison better than the way the orchestra played the Beethoven.

BSO — 2011/11/25-29 — Info and Reviews

I went to the BSO today to listen to John Harbison's 4th Symphony. I liked it. He has managed to occupy the middle ground between Beethoven and Babbitt. You can hear it tomorrow at 8:00 p.m Boston time on the webstream from http://www.wgbh.org/995/ with a "pre-game show" at 7:00, or on Sunday at 1:00 without the "pre-game." After that it will be available on demand for two weeks.

They also had a book signing by Ron Della Chiesa, the radio and web announcer of the concerts, for his book "Radio My Way." I got he book and the autograph and had a nice conversation with him while the orchestra was playing a Suite from "Daphnis and Chloë. (I had left the auditorium so as not to overlay the Harbison with the Ravel.) Among other things, I learned that the phrases "Fenway Park of Music" (referring to Symphony Hall), and "pre-game show" are things which the producer, Brian Bell, came up with. I had always thought the they were original with Ron.

To amplify a bit on my statement that "I liked it. He has managed to occupy the middle ground between Beethoven and Babbitt," the work is jagged and episodic, but it has recognizable short themes which get repeated and modified, so I considered it musical. You might want to check out the program notes included on the BSO website, and I'll link the Boston Globe review when it is published.  Here it is. He's noncommittal.

Here's the description of the whole concert on the orchestra's website. This page also has links to the program notes for the Ravel and the Mahler.

To open his second program this season, former BSO assistant conductor Ludovic Morlot leads Pulitzer Prizewinning American composer John Harbison's exciting Symphony No. 4. Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 begins with an atmospheric evocation of dawn and ends with the stunning, breathless "danse générale." Mahler's Symphony No. 1 draws on melodies that reflect the folk music and natural environment of the composer's native central Europe.

As I mentioned above, I didn't want to cover the Harbison in my mind with the Ravel, so I left the auditorium after the Harbison symphony. But I went back after intermission and listened to the Mahler. It was a fine performance, IMO, with nothing that struck me as particularly noteworthy or different. I did notice some "faulty intonations," as I think they call it, from the horns, but they were loudly cheered, along with each of the sections when the conductor recognized them at the end. There was a standing ovation, which only lasted for two curtain calls! Adequately played, Mahler's First is definitely worth hearing, so I'd say this performance is worth listening to.

BSO — 2010/12/2-4

I was in Symphony Hall again on Thursday for this weekend's program, described as follows on the BSO website.

James Levine leads the BSO and Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider in Mozart’s elegant Violin Concerto No. 3, one of the five concertos for the instrument Mozart wrote in his late teens. Also on the program is Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. Which he wrote in 1845 following a bout with debilitating depression, but the work is ultimately affirmative in character. Continuing another cycle, John Harbison’s Symphony No. 2 is the third of the six Harbison symphonies to be performed by the BSO this season and next. Written in 1987, its four movements are titled evocatively “Dawn,” “Daylight,” “Dusk,” and “Darkness.” 

I thought it was all worth hearing. While the Harbison 2nd Symphony isn't quite as accessible to me as the 1st, I'm looking forward to hearing it again in this evening's broadcast.

If you're thinking of listening, once more I recommend going to the BSO page that links preview material, and if you've got the time for it, there will probably be some good preview features both on the Mozart and the Harbison during WCRB's "pre-game show" at 7:00, Boston Time.

The Boston Globe review also contains the reviewer's description of the Harbison symphony, along with his review of the performances.

BSO — Rehearing

I did get a ticket to last Tuesday's repeat performance of the Schumann and Harbison symphonies,* and I'm glad I was able to do so.

I enjoyed the Schumann "Rhenish" Symphony even more than on Friday. The brass section had a prominent part in the symphony, and they were in top form — as good as in last season's Beethoven 6th Symphony.

But it was even more worthwhile for the replay of John Harbison's First Symphony. On Friday, I was especially impressed by the verve and dynamic rhythms of the fourth movement. But on Tuesday, I became aware of the musical beauties of the first three movements — I noticed things that I hadn't in my first hearing of the work, and they greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the piece.

Having a chance to hear a new piece of music several times in a short period is certainly a great help to appreciation. In its early years, when programs weren't set long in advance, the BSO sometimes would play a new piece a second time shortly after the first performance. It's unfortunate that they no longer do that. Maybe when composers get commissions, they should stipulate a level of repetition.

*On both occasions, the concert concluded with the Prelude and Liebestod from "Tristan und Isoolde," and on both occasions I left before it was played. While I enjoy a fair amount of Wagner's music, I find "Tristan" tedious, and I did not want to spoil the experience of Schumann and Harbison by sitting through the opera excerpts.

BSO — 2010/11/26-30: Review and /Comments

The Boston Globe reviewer liked the Harbison Symphony (and the Wagner), but thought the Schumann performance was sub-par. I found the Harbison "interesting," with the last movement really enjoyable.

If you're going to listen, maybe the ideal would be to listen without any previews, but record the performance as it's happening. Then go to all the info on the BSO website, and after that, play the recording with the program notes in front of you.

But if you can't do that, then I strongly recommend reading and listening to what the website provides. I don't know what will be on WCRB in the hour before the concert and during the intermission, but there will probably be more good stuff about the Harbison symphony during one or the other or both.

I want to hear it again, so I'm seriously considering getting a ticket for next Tuesday's performance.

BSO — 2010/11/26-30

When I learned that the BSO is having a mini Schumann festival and putting on all six Harbison symphonies over this season and the next, I "had" to get a ticket for tomorrow's matinee, described as follows by the BSO website (http://www.bso.org):

In celebration of Robert Schumann's bicentennial, the BSO performs the composer's four symphonies in a three-week span, continuing this week with James Levine leading the Symphony No. 3, Rhenish, which was inspired by the composer's environs in Northern Germany and the Rhine River. Maestro Levine also continues the BSO's two-season cycle of complete John Harbisonsymphonies.

This week's Harbison is Symphony No. 1, and the concert concludes with the Prelude and Love-death from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The show isn't being given on Thursday evening because it's Thanksgiving. And I'm glad the Wagner comes at the end, because I'll bee able to hear what I want and leave early. I like a fair amount of Wagner, but Tristan und Isolde has never appealed to me.

Various background info is available on the page from which I copied the quote above.http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/content1.jsp?id=43200080

And as always, the concert is streamed over WCRB — http://www.995allclassical.org — at 8:00 p.m. "Boston Time" with pre-game show at 7:00.

BSO — 2010/10/14-16

On Saturday, October 16, at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, you can hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra over WCRB radio or webstream in the program which the BSO website describes as follows.

"Performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 continue James Levine and the BSO's Mahler anniversary season. Mahler composed the instrumental Fifth in the summers of 1901 and 1902, and is famous for its beautiful Adagietto movement. Levine and the orchestra also begin a cycle of symphonies, continuing this season and next, by the eminent American composer John Harbison. Two of Harbison's five symphonies were commissioned by the BSO, and his Sixth, another BSO commission, will be premiered next season. The Third, from 1991, is a vigorous five-movement work with Italianate sensibilities, including a musical allusion to a Genoese carillon.  "

The "pregame show" from "the Fenway Park of Music" with announcer Ron Della Chiesa begins at 7:00.

I'm planning to be there for the performance on Thursday, and if I get a chance I'll add a link to the review in the Boston Globe and maybe some comments of my own.

As noted in the website quote, the BSO is observing Mahler's 150th anniversary with performances of several of his symphonies and are, with this concert, beginning a two-year cycle of all of Harbison's symphonies, culminating next season with the world premiere of his 6th. When I went through the calendar to make sure I'd hear all of this season's Harbison, I found that one of the symphonies is not in my subscription. And I also discovered that it is paired with a Schumann symphony, and they're giving all four Schumann symphonies in a three week span. I have tickets for the other concerts in the Schumann series; but the Schumann/Harbison is in Thanksgiving week, so it won't be given Thursday evening. I'll "have to" get a ticket for the Friday afternoon show.

First, here's a link to the review in today's Boston Globe. I like what the reviewer said about the Harbison symphony. It was definitely "modern," but musical and approachable. The composer was present at the pre-concert talk, and he said some interesting things. One thing that helped to enable him to write a symphony was realizing that Haydn was able to write so many (each different and worthwhile in Harbison's opinion) because he didn't treat them as monumental statements of cosmic significance. Each was composed for a specific time and circumstance. In saying this, of course, he distanced himself from Mahler. Not only do Harbison's symphonies not attempt the creation of a world, as Mahler intended in his, but Harbison has drastically cut back on length — the third takes less than 25 minutes — and he writes in a different musical idiom.


As for the Mahler, I began to find it tedious about halfway through. There was altogether too much of it for me, at least last evening. Harbison's symphony, like Mahler's, was in five movements. Each movement had a different mood, and Harbison was able to do justice to them in under 5 minutes per movement. But Mahler went on and on and on.


So my recommendation is that you listen to as much of the pre-concert show as you can, because they may have some features previewing the Harbison. Then listen to Harbison's symphony, which is played first. If you have nothing better to do, you can stick around for the Mahler if you want to. But for once I won't be sorry that my brother will be making his weekly call from Tokyo about the time the Mahler begins.

BSO — 2010/04/08-10: P/review

Sorry for the late notice. I thought I had already mentioned this one.

First the big news: Maestro Levine had to cancel his appearances at the past two weeks' concerts as well as this week's. The BSO got a young conductor named Jayce Ogren to take the Lieberson premiere. He substituted Sibelius' "Finlandia" and "Valse Triste" for the Debussy "Jeux" which was to have opened the program. It turns out the BSO has not performed these pieces for a long time, and it was good to hear the. He seemed to me to do a competent job all around. Then for Elijah, they were fortunate to get Rafeal Frühbeck de Burgos as conductor. The oratorio is a favorite of his and he conducts it fairly regularly, so it was in good hands. Since it was Holy Week, I didn't get to it, but the reviews were favorable.

This week we have another world premiere: "Double Concerto for Violin, Violoncello, and Orchestra" by John Harbison. The conductor this week is Carlos Kalmar, a Uruguayan born conductor of Austrian parentage (the name looks Hungarian), who is currently the music director of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. I was at the first performance, on Thursday, and enjoyed the new piece. It was commissioned for the BSO by the Friends of Dresden Music Foundation to honor violinist Roman Totenberg, who will be 100 years old next January 1. Mr. Totenberg was born in Poland but has long made his home and taught in the Boston area. The Friends had in mind a piece for his former student Mira Wang, whom he helped come from China to the US, and her husband, the cellist Jan Vogler, who for a time was principal cellist of the Dresden Staatskapelle. James Levine suggested John Harbison as the composer. Harbison, knowing that the "creators" of the solo parts are husband and wife, decided to write it as a dialogue between the spouses, with "misunderstandings" along the way, but eventual agreement, and then a bit more conversation.

As I said, I enjoyed it, and you can too, since it will get its broadcast premiere this evening at 8:00 (Boston time) on WCRB. It will be first on the program. After intermission that will play Mahler's Symphony No. 7.