BSO — 2023/11/11

 Sorry I missed last week.

Here's WCRB's synopsis of this week's concert:

Saturday, November 11, 2023
8:00pm

Encore broadcast on Monday, November 20

Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu leads the BSO in Peter Lieberson’s Drala, inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist term describing life-source, as well as Schumann’s brooding and majestic Symphony No. 4. Leonidas Kavakos returns to Symphony Hall to perform Alban Berg’s final finished piece, the Violin Concerto, written in response to the death of Alma Mahler's daughter.

Hannu Lintu, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Peter LIEBERSON Drala
Alban BERG Violin Concerto
Robert SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

Leonidas Kavakos appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment

In a preview conversation, Hannu Lintu describes the connections among the three pieces on this program, the story behind Berg's Violin Concerto, with its dedication to Manon Gropius and the meaning behind the Bach chorale embedded in its last movement, and why his Finnish musical background draws him to Schumann's Fourth Symphony. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Meanwhile, the BSO's performance detail page gives us this (along with links to the program notes):

Hannu Lintu, conductor 
Leonidas Kavakos, violin 

LIEBERSON Drala
BERG Violin Concerto
Intermission
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4

How do you see the world? Drala, a BSO commission by American composer Peter Lieberson, premiered in 1986 and takes its title from a Tibetan Buddhist term. The word “drala” has many meanings, one of which relates to deepening and expanding one’s perception of the world. Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu leads the BSO and frequent guest Leonidas Kavakos in Alban Berg’s final finished piece; quoting poignantly from Bach, this haunting 1935 Violin Concerto was written in response to the death of a friend’s daughter. In closing, Robert Schumann’s majestic Symphony No. 4, which draws inspiration from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in its use of recurring musical themes to tie together the work’s four movements.

The Globe reviewer didn't like the first piece but seems to have enjoyed the rest.

The Intelligencer's reviewer loved the first piece, but was unhappy with the Schumann.

Based on all that, I'm not expecting to enjoy "Drala." In general, I don't care for Berg, but the violin concerto may be less bad than some of his stuff. So for me, the best part will come after intermission, with the Schumann symphony. See what you think, f you listen.

BSO — 2010/03/19-20: Review — 2010/03/25-27; -04/1-3: Preview

Listen if you can to this evening's (Boston Time) BSO concert on WCRB. It starts at 8:00 with Mendelssohn's Overture and Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream." After intermission, they perform Rossini's "Stabat Mater." Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is the conductor. In the Rossini the singers are soprano Albina Shagimuratova, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Eric Cutler, and bass Alfred Walker, along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The women of the chorus and the female soloists also sing in the Mendelssohn.

I was there on Friday, and I found the Mendelssohn given a light and lively performance, befitting the subject matter. It only got really loud during the Wedding March. In the Rossini, louder volumes prevailed for the most part, as is appropriate with such an emotional text. The tenor's voice seemed a little thin and the mezzo did not always project well, but it was a satisfying performance overall, and well worth hearing, in my opinion.

Here's the Boston Globe' review of the Thursday evening performance.


Now for the "Preview" part.

Next week, Music Director James Levine is scheduled to be on the podium for Debussy's "Jeux — Poème Dansé," the world premiere of Lieberson's "Songs of Love and Sorrow" to texts by Pablo Neruda, and, after the intermission, Schubert's Symphony in C, D.944, "The Great." Bass-baritone Gerald Finley will sing the Lieberson songs with the Orchestra.

The BSO program notes tell us that Lieberson's "Songs" "originated as a response to [his wife, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's] death from cancer in 2006 — the year after she performed his "Neruda Songs" with the BSO. The "Neruda Songs" had been a co-commission of the BSO; and the new "Songs of Love and Sorrow" are a BSO commission.

Then on April 1-3, they will perform Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah" with Christine Brewer, Stephanie Blythe, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Shenyang.

I expect to be at the concert on March 25, which will include the actual world premiere of the Lieberson piece. You can hear the broadcast premiere on the 27th. "Elijah" was also part of my subscription series, and I really like it and wish I could be there. But it's during Holy Week (also Passover), and I'll be in church rather than Symphony Hall. So I exchanged my ticket for one to the March 19 Mendelssohn/Rossini concert