BSO — 2026/04/25

 This evening the BSO gives us five pieces by Russian coposers and one by Mozart. Here's their description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/boreyko-conducts-scriabin-rimsky-korsakov-and-prokofiev-with-kissin

Saturday, April 25, 2026
8:00 PM

In his first appearance with the BSO since 2015, star pianist Evgeny Kissin performs two contrasting concertos: Mozart’s charming and poignant Concerto No. 12, and Scriabin’s rhapsodic Piano Concerto. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoly Liadov from the early 20th century.

Andrey Boreyko, conductor
Evgeny Kissin, piano

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Festival Overture
W. A. MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414 
Anatoly LIADOV Baba Yaga
LIADOV The Enchanted Lake
LIADOV Kikimora
Alexander SCRIABIN Piano Concerto

In a conversation with CRB's Brian McCreath, conductor Andrey Boreyko reveals the connections between the arrangement of the musicians of the orchestra and music from the Russian tradition, as well as the unique qualities of Scriabin's Piano Concerto and Evgeny Kissin's interpretation of it. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about 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 Andrey Boreyko, 

We also have the summary on the BSO's own performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/apr-23-25-rimsky-korsa-scriab?performance=2026-04-25-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andrey Boreyko, conductor Evgeny Kissin, piano RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Overture  MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414       intermissionLIADOV Baba Yaga  LIADOV The Enchanted Lake  LIADOV Kikimora  SCRIABIN Piano Concerto  

This exciting and unusual

 program features acclaimed soloist Evgeny Kissin performing two strongly contrasting concertos. Composed to appeal to audiences in Mozart’s new home of Vienna, the Concerto No. 12 is by turns charming and poignant, its second movement a touching tribute to his late friend Johann Christian Bach. The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto, composed more than 100 years later, is rhapsodic and Romantic. The BSO has only played Scriabin’s concerto on two prior occasions, most recently in 2001. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoli Liadov from the early 20th century.

As usual, performer bios and program notes are avsilsble when you go to the BSO page and click on the arrows.

So far there is no review in the Globe, bt the Intelligencer has a favorable one. https://classical-scene.com/2026/04/25/bso-boreyko-kissin/#comment-49107

This should be worth hearing.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/06/21

 This evening WCRB takes us back to August 11, 2024. Here's their description:

Saturday, June 21. 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, conductor James Gaffigan makes his Boston Symphony debut in a program that includes arias from Mozart’s Idomeneo and The Marriage of Figaroand Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with soprano Elena Villalón, as well as Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury. Listen to this concert using the player above.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Gaffigan, conductor
Elena Villalón, soprano

Anna CLYNE Sound and Fury
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART “Padre, germani, addio!” from Idomeneo
MOZART “Deh vieni, non tardar” from The Marriage of Figaro
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 4

This concert was originally broadcast on August 11, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

The orchestra's performance detail page has links to performer bios and program notes.

It should be a pleasant evening.

BSO — 2025/03/29

 This evening we hear two pieces, first a 20th Century orchestral composition and then the Mozart Requiem. Here's WCRB's synopsis:

Saturday, March 29, 2025
8:00 PM

The BSO and guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk explore the intersection of quiet contemplation and fervent prayers, beginning with Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa— an introspective piece exploring silence, space, and spirituality that quietly changed the shape of 20th century music. The concert concludes with Mozart’s Requiem, an era-defining orchestral and choral work.

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor 
Alexander Velinzon and Lucia Lin, violins (Pärt) 
Erin Morley, soprano
Avery Amereau, mezzo-soprano
Jack Swanson, tenor
Morris Robinson, bass
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
 James Burton, conductor

Arvo PÄRT Tabula Rasa
W.A. MOZART Requiem

In a preview of this concert, conductor Dima Slobdeniouk describes the deeply emotional power of Pärt's Tabula Rasa, as well as its way of magnifying the impact of Mozart's Requiem. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Dima Slobodeniouk, who is back with the Boston Symphony for two weeks of concerts, which is just fantastic. Dima, I'm glad you're here, and thanks for a little of your time today. I appreciate it.

Dima Slobodeniouk Hi, Brian. Great to be back.

Brian McCreath The first week of your time here is devoted to two pieces and what powerful pieces they are, Arvo Pärt's "Tabula Rasa" and Mozart's Requiem. So let's talk about this Arvo Pärt piece first. It's a powerful piece made of simplicity.

The BSO's performance detail page doesn't say anything specific about the Mozart, but makes up for it with links to the program notes on both pieces, which should make for informative reading. There are also links to performer bios. 

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
Alexander Velinzon and Lucia Lin, violins (Pärt) 
Erin Morley, soprano
Avery Amereau, mezzo-soprano
Jack Swanson, tenor
Morris Robinson, bass
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
 James Burton, conductor

Arvo PÄRT Tabula rasa
-Intermission-
MOZART Requiem

This concert probes the intersection of quiet contemplation and fervent prayers, beginning with Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa — an introspective piece exploring silence, space, and spirituality that quietly changed the shape of 20th century music. 

The Globe review is very favorable. So far, nothing has appeared in the Intelligencer.

Sometimes unfamiliar 20th Century music can be a bit scary, since there is so much cacophony from that era, but the interview and program note remove the worry. It should be easy enough to listen to. And the Mozart Requiem is less bombastic than some 19th Century settings. So this should be a good evening of music. I'm looking forward to it.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/11/23

 I forgot to post last week  I had attended on Friday afternoon, and it was a good concert: a Mozart piano concerto and Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, "Pathétique." Catch the replay on Monday evening if you can,

Today we're getting an "encore broadcast" of the concert from last April 6, which WCRB describes as follows:

Saturday, November 23, 2024
8:00pm

The first program in the BSO’s Music for the Senses festival centers on Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire, in which the composer depicts the evolution of human consciousness. Also on the program are Anna Clyne’s Color Field, inspired in part by the vibrancy of the Mark Rothko 1961 painting Orange, Red, Yellow, Richard Wagner’s ecstatic Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and Franz Liszt’s Prometheus.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Anna CLYNE Color Field
Richard WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde
Franz LISZT Prometheus
Alexander SCRIABIN Prometheus, Poem of Fire, for piano, color organ, chorus, and orchestra

This concert was originally broadcast on April 6, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear a preview of Scriabin's Prometheus, Poem of Fire with pianist Yefim Bronfman, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

The program notes are linked at the BSO's own performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Yefim Bronfman, piano 
Anna Gawboy, lighting research
Justin Townsend, lighting designer
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
 James Burton, conductor

Anna CLYNE Color Field 
WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde
Intermission
LISZT Prometheus 
SCRIABIN Prometheus, Poem of Fire, for piano, color organ, chorus, and orchestra

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

A program of color: It opens with Anna Clyne’s Color Field, inspired in part by the vibrancy of a Mark Rothko painting. Followed by Richard Wagner’s ecstatic Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, and Franz Liszt’s Prometheus. The program closes with Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire. When Alexander Scriabin wrote Prometheus, Poem of Fire, he conceived of a “light organ” that would project colors corresponding to his music. Prometheus premiered in 1911 with future BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky, whose 150th birthday year we celebrate in 2024.

I wrote about it at the time (with several typos). Presumably the links to the reviews still work. As you can see, the reviews were hardly raves, but apart from the Wagner (which is a staple on WCRB's regular programming) this is not frequently performed music, so it may be worth listening just to experience something unfamiliar.

I'm guessing that the reason WCRB isn't giving us the live concert is that one of the pieces is accompanied by "lush projections of based on images from [Georgia] O' Keeffe's lifes and work." If I'.m right it's ironic that they decided to replace it with another concert which includes background color changes.

BSO/Classical New England — 2024/09/21

 This evening we get the last of the encore broadcasts before live BSO concerts resum at Symphony Hall.

WCRB informs us:

Saturday, September 21, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, Hilary Hahn returns to Symphony Hall and the Boston Symphony as the soloist in the Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms. The program, led by Andris Nelsons, also includes Mozart’s charming, lesser-known Symphony No. 33 and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s orchestrally imaginative Archora, inspired by the primordial energy of her Icelandic homeland.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin

Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Archora 
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Symphony No. 33
Johannes BRAHMS Violin Concerto

This concert was originally broadcast on April 20, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

To hear a preview of Brahms's Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn, as well as her reflections of her #100daysofpractice Instagram series, use the player above and read the transcript below.

Hear more from Hilary Hahn, with Jeremy Siegel, on GBH's Morning Edition.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Hilary Hahn

And here is the synopsis from the BSO's performance detail page:

Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Hilary Hahn, violin

Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Archora
MOZART Symphony No. 33
Intermission
BRAHMS Violin Concerto

Thursday evening's performance by Hilary Hahn is supported by the Roberta M. Strang Memorial Fund.
Thursday evening’s concert is in memory of Eric N. Birch, supported by Sandra O. Moose.
Friday afternoon's concert is supported by the Plimpton Shattuck Fund.
Saturday evening’s performance by Hilary Hahn is supported by Jerry Nelson
Support for this program has been provided, in part, by the E. Nakamichi Foundation

Opening the program is Wolfgang Mozart’s charming Symphony No. 33, followed by Anna Thorvaldsdottir's monumental work Archora, a recording of which was named among the best of 2023 by the Boston Globe, New York Times, and NPR. Closing the program, international star Hilary Hahn is soloist in one of the greatest works in the repertoire: Brahms’s Violin Concerto. Brahms composed this rich, lyrical work in 1878 for, and with the advice of, his friend Joseph Joachim, a towering virtuoso of the age.

I posted about it at the time and concluded "The program wasn't part of my subscription, so I can't give you any personal impressions. The review in the Globe was favorable and gives an encouraging overview of the Thorvaldsdottir piece. The Intelligencer is also favorable, with a more detailed description of the Thorvaldsdottir.

"All in all, this semms like a concert worth hearing."

Tanglewood — 2024/08/09-11

 We can hear three more concerts from Tanglewood this weekend.

First let's see WCRB's summary of tonight's:

Friday, August 9, 2024
8:00 PM

Kirill Gerstein is the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s passionate and technically daunting Piano Concerto No. 3, and Alan Gilbert leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s exhilarating - and timeless - The Rite of Spring.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano

Sergei RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Igor STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

Learn about Kirill Gerstein's recent release, Music in Time of War.

For further information we turn to the BSO performance detail page:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Alan Gilbert, conductor 
Kirill Gerstein, piano

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
-Intermission-
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

Fri, Aug 9, 2024, 8:00pm EDT

Although they don't give the usual blurb, the program notes and performer bios are linked.

I think I'll listen to the Red Sox game instead. I'm not really interested in hearing the Rachmaninoff again, and I find the Stravinsky unenjoyable the story as well as the "music." But maybe you're not familiar with them. If so, by all means give a liusten and see what you think. And of course my opinion doesn't matter if you already have your own.

Saturday pairs Stavinsky with Sibelius. Per WCRB:

Saturday, August 10 , 2024
8:00 PM

In her Boston Symphony debut, conductor Dalia Stasevska leads a program that includes Sibelius’s Canzonetta and Symphony No. 5, as well as Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, with soloist Leila Josefowicz.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin

Jean SIBELIUS (arr. STRAVINKSY) Canzonetta
Igor STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

Here's what the BSO gives us:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Dalia Stasevska, conductor 
Leila Josefowicz, violin

SIBELIUS (arr. STRAVINSKY) Canzonetta 
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto 
-Intermission-
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

Dalia Stasevska’s performance is supported in part by the Finlandia Foundation National.

Sat, Aug 10, 2024, 8:00pm EDT

I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the Sibelius symphony. Sibelius and Stravinsky lived at the same time, but Sibelius' music is much more taditional. I dont know the Canzonetta and it will be interestin to hear what it'slike in the hands of Stravinsky. The program note about the violin concerto has me interested to hear it; and of course I'm looking forward to the Sibelius symphony.

Here's WCRB's synopsis of the Sunday concert:

Sunday, August 11, 2024
7:00 PM

Conductor James Gaffigan makes his Boston Symphony debut in a program that includes arias from Mozart’s Idomeneo and The Marriage of Figaro and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with soprano Elena Villalón, as well as Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Gaffigan, conductor
Elena Villalón, soprano

Anna CLYNE Sound and Fury
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART “Padre, germani, addio!” from Idomeneo
MOZART “Deh vieni, non tardar” from The Marriage of Figaro
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 4

 In addition to the links to program notes and performer bios, the BSO's performance detail page gives the basics thus:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA

Boston Symphony Orchestra

James Gaffigan, conductor

Elena Villalón, soprano

          Anna CLYNE Sound and Fury

          MOZART "Padre, germani, addio!" from Idomeneo

          MOZART “Deh vieni, non tardar” from The Marriage of Figaro

          -Intermission-

          MAHLER Symphony No. 4

 This should be good. I'm not sure quite what to expect from the Clyne, but the rest is definitely worth listening to.