BSO/Classical New England — 2020/12/26

 Once again, with no effort on my part, it's Saturday; and once again WCRB is taking us back five seasons, to hear an all-Czech concert. Their BSO page informs us:

Saturday, December 26, 2020
8:00 PM

In a 2016 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, Johannes Moser is the soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto, and Ludovic Morlot conducts Smetana's "The Moldau" and Martinu's Sixth Symphony, Fantaisies symphoniques.

Encore broadcast from Jan. 23, 2016

Ludovic Morlot, conductor
Johannes Moser, cello

SMETANA “The Moldau” from Ma Vlast
MARTINŮ Fantaisies symphoniques (Symphony No. 6)
DVORÁK Cello Concerto

WCRB's Brian McCreath talks with Johannes Moser about the Dvorák Cello Concerto and his life as a concert soloist:

Listen 

Listening...

0:00

Conductor Ludovic Morlot describes the experience of stepping in on short notice to lead this BSO concert and what he learned about Czech music by performing it in Prague:

Listen 

Listening...

0:00

(Most emphasis added.)

Here, edited to remove content no longer valid, is what I wrote at that point in time:

This week it's an all-Czech program under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, who has stepped in to replace Czech conductor Jiři Bělohlávek, who had been scheduled to conduct these concerts. First on the program is Vltava (The Moldau), by Smetana. That is followed by Martinů'sFantaisies symphoniques (Symphony № 6). After intermission, Johannes Moser is soloist in Dvořák's Cello Concerto. The orchestra's performance detail page has […] the following note about two of the pieces on the program (no idea why they don't mention the Dvořák):

Seattle Symphony Orchestra Music Director and former BSO Assistant Conductor Ludovic Morlot  leads an all-Czech program featuring three different generations of composers. Smetana was the first and most important Czech nationalist composer, and the tone poem The Moldau, from his large orchestral suite My Country, is by far his most familiar piece. Bohuslav Martinů studied in Paris and adopted a more cosmopolitan style, but a Czech flavor infuses much of his work. The rich and colorful, thirty-minute Fantaisies symphoniques was commissioned for the orchestra's 75th anniversary and was premiered in 1955.

I'm not familiar with the Martinů symphony, but the others are staples of the repertory and pleasant enough to listen to. The Globe's reviewerwas pleased with the performances and even more pleased that the orchestra was playing the symphony they had commissioned over 60 years ago. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a very favorable review, including a very imaginative description if the Martinů. I had to miss the concert in order to attend a meeting I needed to be at, so I  can't add anything to the published reviews. Based on them, I'm looking forward to the broadcast on WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Saturday […]. It is also streamed over the web at [that time].

[…]

So I think this'll be worth hearing, although the Martinů may be a bit "advanced." Enjoy!

And here's the link for the review in the Intelligencer, which I neglected to include in my original post.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/07/25

This weekend there was to have been a tribute to Isaac Stern, whose centenary was this week, but the pandemic cancelled that. WCRB will present the concert of Friday August2, 2019, about which I posted as follows:

Says the orchestra's program detail page: 

Violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martinů’sMemorial to Lidice and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Martinů piece is one of the two non-standard items this weekend, and unfortunately the program detail page, as of this writing, has no link to the program note for it, so I'll be as surprised as you. According to wiki, Lidice was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 as a retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, and Martinů composed his Memorial in 1943. The composer's style is described as neoclassical.

The BSO performed the Dvořák symphony last January in Symphony Hall. My post at the time has links to favorable reviews.

There don't seem to have been any reviews of the concert last summer. Unfortunately, I don't recall the Martinů piece, but Dvořák is good, as is Bell, so it should be worth listening to, beginning at 8:00 this evening, Boston Time, on WCRB.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/02/01

The BSO had scheduled a tour to the Far East. The coronavirus panic has scuttled thos plans, but they have no concerts scheduled in Symphony Hall until February 21, with the next Saturday concert on the 22nd. So WCRB is following their usual procedure of retransmitting past concerts. This evening — and again on Monday, Feb. 10 — it is a concert from last summer at Tanglewood, specifically the concert of August 2, 2019.

Here's WCRB's summary on their BSO page:

Saturday at 8pm in an encore broadcast from the 2019 Tanglewood season, the American violinist is the soloist in Dvorák’s folk-infused Violin Concerto, and Ken-David Masur leads the BSO in the Czech composer's Symphony No. 8.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
(encore broadcast Monday, February 10)
8:00 PM
Recorded August 2, 2019
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
MARTINŮ Memorial to Lidice
DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Of course Ken-David Masur conducts all three pieces, not just the concluding symphony.

I'm having trouble accessing prior posts, but I'm confident I posted about it back then, and you can find all the usual links for Tanglewood concerts there,

As always, you can listen to it on line or on air at WCRB.

Enjoy!

Tanglewood — 2019/08/02-04

Most of this week's music from Tanglewood is squarely within the standard repertory of the 19th and early 20th Centuries some of it familiar, some not so much so. It seems that Maestro Nelsons has completed his work there for the summer, and the orchestra will have guest conductors for the remainder of the season. Now for the particulars.


Friday, August 2, 2019. Says the orchestra's program detail page: 

Violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martinů’sMemorial to Lidice and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Martinů piece is one of the two non-standard items this weekend, and unfortunately the program detail page, as of this writing, has no link to the program note for it, so I'll be as surprised as you. According to wiki, Lidice was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 as a retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, and Martinů composed his Memorial in 1943. The composer's style is described as neoclassical.

The BSO performed the Dvořák symphony last January in Symphony Hall. My post at the time has links to favorable reviews.


Saturday, August 3, 2019. The performance detail page tells us:

Conductor Asher Fisch returns to Tanglewood, and is joined by violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth for the American premiere Avner Dorman’s BSO-commissioned Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, written in celebration of Mr. Zukerman’s 70th birthday; the program also includes the overture to Schumann’s Genoveva, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish, and Beethoven’s Romance No. 1 in G for violin and orchestra, featuring Mr. Zukerman.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, no links to the program notes for the new music, only the piece we're most likely to know: the Mendelssohn symphony. I always enjoy the Beethoven Romance, and the Schumann should be good.


Sunday, August 4, 2019. The performance detail page is the epitome of concision: 

Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk and the BSO for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a program with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.

(Emphasis added.)

These are works from 1909 and 1899. The BSO gave the Rach 3 on April 25-30 with Nelsons conducting and Daniil Trifonov as soloist.


Broadcasts/ webstreams on WCRB are, as usual, at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7:00 on Sunday. Enjoy!

BSO/Classical New England — 2017/04/08

This week the orchestra isn't playing in Symphony Hall (or anywhere else that I can see on their website). So WCRB is giving us a rerun of a concert from 15 months ago. Here's the description on their Upcoming BSO Broadcasts page, where you can also see the broadcast/webstream schedule for the rest of the season:

Saturday, April 8
Johannes Moser is the soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto, part of an All-Czech program that also includes "The Moldau," from Smetana's My Country, and Martinu's Fantaisies symphoniques (Symphony No. 6), all conducted by Ludovic Morlot, in a concert recorded on January 23, 2016.
Ludovic Morlot, conductor
Johannes Moser, cello
SMETANA “The Moldau” from Ma Vlast
MARTINU Fantaisies symphoniques (Symphony No. 6)
DVORAK Cello Concerto

Of course, I posted about it at the time of the performance. Unfortunately, I neglected to include a link to the review in BMInt. Here it is.

Anyway, this should be worth tuning in or listening on line on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Boston Time. It doesn't look as if they're planning to play it again on Monday the 17th.

BTW, while I was looking up the BMInt review of this week's rebroadcast, I noticed that there is an extensive, and fascinating to me, discussion about conducting in the comments on the review of last week's concert.

BSO — 2016/01/21-23

This week it's an all-Czech program under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, who has stepped in to replace Czech conductor Jiři Bělohlávek, who had been scheduled to conduct these concerts. First on the program is Vltava (The Moldau), by Smetana. That is followed by Martinů's Fantaisies symphoniques (Symphony № 6). After intermission, Johannes Moser is soloist in Dvořák's Cello Concerto. The orchestra's performance detail page has all the usual links to background information, which is well worth reading and listening to. It also has the following note about two of the pieces on the program (no idea why they don't mention the Dvořák):

Seattle Symphony Orchestra Music Director and former BSO Assistant Conductor Ludovic Morlot  leads an all-Czech program featuring three different generations of composers. Smetana was the first and most important Czech nationalist composer, and the tone poem The Moldau, from his large orchestral suite My Country, is by far his most familiar piece. Bohuslav Martinů studied in Paris and adopted a more cosmopolitan style, but a Czech flavor infuses much of his work. The rich and colorful, thirty-minute Fantaisies symphoniques was commissioned for the orchestra's 75th anniversary and was premiered in 1955.

I'm not familiar with the Martinů symphony, but the others are staples of the repertory and pleasant enough to listen to. The Globe's reviewer was pleased with the performances and even more pleased that the orchestra was playing the symphony they had commissioned over 60 years ago. The Boston Musical Intelligencer gives a very favorable review, including a very imaginative description if the Martinů. I had to miss the concert in order to attend a meeting I needed to be at, so I  can't add anything to the published reviews. Based on them, I'm looking forward to the broadcast on WCRB at 8:00 p.m. Saturday (to be rebroadcast on Monday, February 1, also at 8:00). It is also streamed over the web at those times.

WCRB also has their own Boston Symphony page with the broadcast/streaming schedule for the remainder of the season as well as links to their podcast, "The Answered Question," and on-demand access to a year's worth of previous BSO concerts. This week's podcast includes interviews with both the conductor and the soloist in the concert.

So I think this'll be worth hearing, although the Martinů may be a bit "advanced." Enjoy!