Tanglewood — 2026/07/19

 Today's conceert should be a good on. WCRB gives us the basics: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-03-25/trifonov-the-bso-and-shostakovich-at-tanglewood

Sunday, July 19, 2026
7:00 PM

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in two masterpieces of the symphonic form, beginning with Haydn’s Symphony No. 22 and ending with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. In between, Daniil Trifonov is the soloist in Shostakovich’s rollicking First Piano Concerto, with BSO Principal Trumpet Thomas Rolfs.

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Daniil Trifonov, piano 
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet 

Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 22, The Philosopher
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2

Haydn's Symphony No. 22 is a favorite of mine. Perhaps the feeling of repose at the beginning seems to characterize the mindseet of a philosopher. At any rate, I like it.

 The BSO page gives us access to performer bios and program notes via the arrows. : https://www.bso.org/events/july-19-boston-symphony-orch?performance=2026-07-19-14:30

The Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Memorial Concert

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Daniil Trifonov, piano Thomas Rolfs, trumpet HAYDN Symphony No. 22, The Philosopher  SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 1  BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2  

I'm definitely looking forward to this one. 

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/12/20

 This week's encore broadcast is an interesting program: Haydn and Stravinsky. The conductor makes a case both for playing Haydn and for putting Stravinsky on the same program. I recommend reading the interview on WCRB's page: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2024-10-31/isabelle-faust-and-alan-gilbert-join-the-bso-for-haydn-and-stravinsky

Saturday, December 20, 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return to Symphony Hall for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career.

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Marie Therese
Igor STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

This concert was originally broadcast on February 22, 2025, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear a preview of the program with Alan Gilbert, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Alan Gilbert, back for a concert with the BSO that I think is just a really interesting program and one that doesn't sort of organically fall off a tree, I feel like.

Here's a similar description from the BSO's performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/alan-gilbert-conducts-haydn-stravinsky?performance=2025-02-22-20:00

Alan Gilbert, conductor Isabelle Faust, Violin 

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Maria Theresia
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
-Intermission-
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto, a work at the core of his sparkling and witty neoclassical period. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career, during which he largely created the foundations for the 18th-century Viennese Classical era.

If you go to the actual page, the arrows are links to performer bios. I don't know why they won't provide links to the program notes as well, but there you have it.

There is an enthusiastic review https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/02/21/done-to-perfection/ in the Intelligencer.

I think this concert is worth listening to.

BSO — 2025/02/22

 Two Haydn symphonies bookend Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. We get some particulars from our friends at WCRB:

Saturday, February 22, 2025
8:00 PM

Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return to Symphony Hall for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career.

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Marie Therese
Igor STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

To hear a preview of the program with Alan Gilbert, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Alan Gilbert, 

A  slightly fuller description is availblle at the BSO performance detail page:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 48, Maria Theresia
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
-Intermission-
HAYDN Symphony No. 99

Isabelle Faust and Alan Gilbert return for Stravinsky’s bracing, wry Violin Concerto, a work at the core of his sparkling and witty neoclassical period. Bracketing Stravinsky’s concerto are two Joseph Haydn works from early and late in his symphonic career, during which he largely created the foundations for the 18th-century Viennese Classical era.

Regrettably, they do not link the program notes for the concert. I wonder what's wrong with the publications department. The links to performer bios are there.

The review in the Intelligencer is enthusiastic, especially about the Stravinsky. It seems the Globe couldn't be bothered to publish a review.

I've been staving off a cold, and I elected not to use my ticket for Friday afternoon, but you can't go wrong with a couple of Haydn symphonies, one of which is nicknamed for the empress of the Holy Roman Empire. So why not give a listen?

BSO — 2024/02/10

 This evening's BSO program has only two works. I'll let WCRB tell you about them:

Saturday, February 10, 2024
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 19

Karina Canellakis leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Bartók’s chilling and thrilling two-character opera Bluebeard’s Castle, based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill returns to Symphony Hall and German bass-baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle makes his BSO debut. Also returning to the BSO stage is cellist Alisa Weilerstein, performing Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone 

Joseph HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Béla BARTÓK Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 

For a libretto and translation of Duke Bluebeard's Castle, visit Colorado MahlerFest.

To hear a preview of Bluebeard's Castle and Haydn's Cello Concerto with conductor Karina Canellakis, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Karina Canellakis, so good to have you back

The Haydn piece is very pleasant. I hear it on the radio from time to time. As for the Bartók, I was at a BSO performance a nnumber of years ago and my recollection is that I found it dull. I guess it's supposed to be allegorical.

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Karina Canellakis, conductor 
Alisa Weilerstein, cello 
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano 
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
Jeremiah Kissel, narrator

HAYDN Cello Concerto in C
Intermission
BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle*

*Concert performance; sung in Hungarian with English supertitles

Thursday evening's concert is supported by Alex Healy. Friday afternoon's performance by the vocal soloists is supported by a generous gift from the Ethan Ayer Vocal Soloist Fund.
Friday afternoon's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by the May and Dan Pierce Guest Artist Fund.
Saturday evening's concert is supported by Mr. C. Thomas Brown.
Saturday evening's performance by Alisa Weilerstein is supported by Professor Paul L. Joskow and Dr. Barbara Chasen Joskow.

American conductor Karina Canellakis returns to lead a concert performance of Béla Bartók’s chilling and evocative opera Bluebeard's Castle. Based on the fable of the cruel duke whose new wife discovers his terrible past, the opera features some of Bartók’s most riveting orchestral writing. Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill sings the role of Judith, Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg is Bluebeard, and speaker Jeremiah Kissel performs the opera’s Prologue in these performances. To begin these concerts, the innovative American cellist Alisa Weilerstein is soloist in Joseph Haydn’s playful Cello Concerto in C.

Scholar and writer Lucy Caplan will give the Friday Preview on February 9 at 12:15pm. Admission included with ticket.

Thursday's performance will end around 9:30pm, Friday's performance will end around 3:30pm, and Saturday's performance will end around 10pm.

Regretfully, baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle has had to withdraw from his performances this week in the role of Bluebeard in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle due to illness. We are fortunate that bass-baritone Nathan Berg is able to sing the role in his place at very short notice.

See that page for program notes.

The Globe liked the performances but felt that there was no connection between the pieces. The review in the Intelligencer is quite complete and favorable.

So maybe enjoy the Haydn and give the Bartók a try.

BSO — 2023/10/14

It looks like an unusual concert this evening. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, October 14, 2023
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, October 23

Yo-Yo Ma brings his unsurpassed passion to both of Shostakovich’s powerfully emotional cello concertos as part of the BSO’s multi-season survey of Shostakovich’s symphonies and concertos, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 22, nicknamed Philosopher, is paired with Iman Habibi’s moving Zhiân in a program led by Music Director Andris Nelsons.

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Yo-Yo Ma, cello 

Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 22, Philosopher 
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 2
Iman HABIBI Zhiân (BSO commission)
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1

Listen to The World's interview with Iman Habibi from earlier this year and learn the meaning behind Zhiân.

The BSO performance detail page puts it this way:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Yo-Yo Ma, cello 

HAYDN Symphony No. 22, Philosopher 
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 2
Intermission
Iman HABIBI Zhiân (Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director, through the generous support of the New Works Fund established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.)
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma brings his unsurpassed skill and passion to both of Shostakovich’s powerful cello concertos, originally written for the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich. These performances are part of the BSO’s multi-season survey of Shostakovich’s symphonies and concertos. Haydn’s stately Symphony No. 22, nicknamed Philosopher, pairs with Iman Habibi’s Zhiân, a BSO commission, to round out the evening. 

Saturday’s concert is supported by Lloyd Axelrod, M.D.

The Friday Preview on October 13 at 12:15pm will be hosted by author and Northeastern emeritus professor Harlow Robinson with composer Iman Habibi. Admission included with ticket.

As usual, there are links to the program notes, which could be interesting. You may also get some idea about the music from the review in the Intelligencer. The Globe also has a generally favorable review, but questions the choice of Haydn to open the concert.

In general, I don't care for Shostakovich, and I don't hope for much from Zhiân. OTOH, the Haydn symphony is very enjoyable. If it were just a little earlier, I might skip it this evening and go to my club for dinner and plan to catch the rebroadcats on the 23rd. Anyway, I recommend the Haydn.

BSO — 2022/10/01

 We get some unfamiliar music, including a very recent composition and two piano concertos, and then some good old Haydn. As always we turn to WCRB for the basics, plus an interview available on their page:

Saturday, October 1, 2022
8:00 PM

Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Haydn’s 100th Symphony, and electrifying soloist Yuja Wang takes the stage at Symphony Hall for not one, but both of Shostakovich’s piano concertos.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet

Julia ADOLPHE Makeshift Castle
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 1
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 2
Joseph HAYDN Symphony No. 100, "Military"

To hear a preview of Shostakovich's piano concertos with Yuja Wang, click on the player above, and read the transcript below:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Yuja Wang, who has returned to the Boston Symphony with Shostakovich, both piano concertos this time, unlike last time 

I had  a ticket for the Thursday performance but didn't feel like trekking in to Boston, so I can't tell you much except that the Haydn is good stuff. For the rest, there's the interview — which suggests that the second piano concerto may be easier to tak than the first — and the BSO performance detail page, with its link to program notes and this blurb:

Dynamic Chinese pianist Yuja Wang plays not one but both of Dmitri Shostakovich’s piano concertos, written 24 years apart, part of the BSO and Andris Nelsons’ multi-season exploration of the composer’s major works with orchestra. The concert closes with Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 100, whose nickname comes from the surprising appearance of percussion in the slow movement. The American composer Julia Adolphe, who has earned praised for the sonic and narrative inventiveness of her music, says of her new work, “Makeshift Castlecaptures contrasting states of permanence and ephemerality, of perseverance and disintegration, of determination and surrender.”

The program notes give hope that "Makeshift Castles" will be okay and that even the Shostakovich won't be too jarring. So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer. The Globe is generally favorable.

Bottom line: I'm not exactly recommending the first half, nor saying not to listen, but I definitely encourage listening to the Haydn.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/09/04

 Here's the scoop on this evening's concert, as given by WCRB:

Tonight at 8pm, in an encore broadcast, Juanjo Mena conducts Mendelssohn's gracefully lyrical Violin Concerto with soloist Julian Rachlin and the hyper-charged brass fanfares of Janáček's Sinfonietta.

Juanjo Mena, conductor
Julian Rachlin, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 44, Trauer
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
JANÁČEK Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

Encore broadcast from February 2, 2019

Hear a preview of the concert with Juanjo Mena in the audio player above.

TRANSCRIPT:

As indicated, if you go to their page, you can hear or read the interview, or do both.

Here's a somewhat fuller description from the orchestra's performance detail page:

The popular Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena collaborates with Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin in Mendelssohn's evergreen Violin Concerto, among the most charming works in the standard repertoire. Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 44, Trauer ("Mourning"), is one of the composer's most serious and closely worked symphonies, written during a period of experimentation that saw the composer rapidly expanding the potential of the genre. Closing the program are two works from the 1920s by the great Czech composer Leoš Janáček: a suite of music from his folk-tale opera The Cunning Little Vixen and his brass-dominated Sinfonietta, both of which feature the pungent influence of the Czech musical tradition.

The usual links are available there, for additional background if you want it.I didn't post anything about it at the time. Of course the Haydn and Mendelssohn are okay for most ears. Janáček is more advanced, but I find it tolerable — the music seems to be approaching standard repertoire status, but I won't promise you'll like it.

Apart from some unhappiness with parts of the Mendelssohn, the Globe review was favorable. The one in the Boston Musical Intelligencer was highly favorable about everything, including the Mendelssohn.

So it's probably worth listening to.

Tanglewood — 2021/07/31

 Tonight we have two symphonies by Haydn. WCRB says:

Saturday night at 8pm, BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in two symphonies by Haydn plus his own O Albion, and Kirill Gerstein is the soloist in Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds.

Thomas Adès, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano

HAYDN Symphony No. 64, Tempora mutantur
STRAVINSKY Concerto for Piano and Winds
Thomas ADÈS O Albion
HAYDN Symphony No. 45, Farewell

The BSO performance detail page has the usual links, including those to the program notes.

I'll be interested to hear the Adès piece, and th e Haydn should be good. I'm looking forward to the "surprise" ending of the "Farewell" Symphony.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/15

 WCRB gives us another rebroadcast of a concert without a soloist:

Saturday at 8pm, in an encore broadcast of opening night 2017, Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony and the colossal Symphony No. 1 by Mahler.

Saturday, May 15, 2021
8:00 PM

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor

HAYDN Symphony No. 103, Drumroll
MAHLER Symphony No. 1, Titan

Encore broadcast from Saturday, September 23, 2017

Here's what I wrote back then:

We read in the BSO [performance] detail page:

Franz Joseph Haydn and Gustav Mahler defined the genre of the symphony during their respective eras- Haydn as one of its originators in the late 18th-century Classical era, and Mahler as revitalizer and innovator at the end of the Romantic era. Haydn's Drumroll Symphony-not performed by the BSO since 1995-was the next-to-last symphony he wrote, in the first half of the 1790s. Written nearly 100 years later, the first of Mahler's nine symphonies employs folk-music references and a conventional four-movement form that have their foundations in Haydn's time. Its expanded scope and instrumentation are evidence of the genre's 19th-century transformation as well as Mahler's own stretching of the form.

(Some emphasis added.)

As in prior seasons, the [performance] detail page also has links to performer bios (Click on the thumbnail photo.), program notes, audio previews, and a video podcast.

Also as in prior seasons, WCRB will stream and broadcast the concert, beginning at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time (EDT). Their homepage has links to information about many other offerings on the station. […]
Both symphonies are staples of the orchestral repertoire, so the program should be enjoyable listening (withe the Haydn somewhat more to my taste).

Enjoy.

Since the original broadcast was opening night of the season, there were no reviews when I previewed the show. Subsequently, this one was published in the Boston Musical Intelligencer — noting several aspects of the performance which the reviewer found unsatisfying. The Globe reviewer, on the other hand, was pleased.

It should be enjoyable.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/05/08

 WCRB "fast forwards" from January, 2017, to March. Maybe they're expecting live concerts to resume this fall, so they don't have to go week by week. Anyway, here's the synopsis:

Saturday at 8pm, in a 2017 concert at Symphony Hall, Bernard Haitink leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's Symphony No. 60, Debussy's transportive "Three Nocturnes," and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Saturday, May 8, 2021
8:00 PM

Bernard Haitink, conductor
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

HAYDN Symphony No. 60, Il Distratto
DEBUSSY Three Nocturnes
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

Encore broadcast from March 18, 2017

In a 2016 conversation at Tanglewood, WCRB's Ron Della Chiesa talks with Lawrence Wolfe, Assistant Principal Bass of the BSO and Principal Bass of the Boston Pops, about joining the orchestra as the youngest member at the time, how he chose double bass as his instrument, and the excitement Andris Nelsons brought to the BSO:

Listen 

Listening...

0:00

As you see, there is also an interview you can listen to, or, if you prefer, you can read the transcript.

Here's what I wrote back then (edited):

This week we enjoy a concert of music from before the 20th Century. I'll let the orchestra's performance detail page describe it:

BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink leads the first BSO performances in thirty years of Joseph Haydn's 1774 Symphony No. 60, The Distracted, which was fashioned in six movements from music Haydn wrote for a play by that name. The women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are a provocative, wordless presence in the "Sirens" movement of Debussy's three-movement orchestral suite Nocturnes. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, premiered at the end of 1813, has been an audience favorite ever since. Wagner called it "the apotheosis of the dance"; its entrancing second-movement Allegretto, one of the most familiar movements in Beethoven's symphonies, was encored in its first performances.

(Some emphasis added.)

As usual, that page also has links to various informational material.

The reviews are favorable. The Globe's reviewer saw some room for improvement in the Haydn, but was otherwise pleased. The review by the musicologist at the Boston Musical Intelligencer nitpicks over a couple of details in the Debussy and suggests that the finale of the Beethoven was too fast, but in general is approving.

Both reviews note the immediate standing ovation for the Beethoven, but it's normal. Beethoven wrote a real crowd-pleaser with a guaranteed applause-catching finale. It would have been remarkable if the audience members hadn't given that ovation. I was quite happy with the whole thing. The Haydn was fun. Although I generally don't care for the French Impressionists, the "Nocturnes" were serene and the typical dissonances of the style were not annoying. The Beethoven 7th was performed just last spring, and normally that would be enough to set me off on my "don't keep playing the warhorses at the expense of other deserving rarely heard compositions" rant. But for Haitink I'll make an exception. It was definitely worth hearing, especially since fourth chair horn player Jason Snider did the "bullfrog" low notes in the 3rd movement perfectly every time.

So by all means listen in the the broadcast or webstream over WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time this evening […]. This concert's a keeper.[…]

There you have it. Enjoy.