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 — 2022/11/12

 This evening's BSO rebroadcast is summarized as follows by WCRB:

Saturday, November 12, 2022
8:00 PM

The Latvian violinist is the soloist in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in works by Pärt and Stravinsky, as well as Saariaho’s "Saarikoski Songs," with soprano Anu Komsi.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin
Anu Komsi, soprano

Arvo PÄRT Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1
Kaija SAARIAHO Saarikoski Songs (world premiere of orchestral version; BSO co-commission)
Igor STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

This concert was originally broadcast on February 26, 2022 and is no longer available on demand.

Hear Baiba Skride describe the challenges of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the audio player above (transcript below):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Baiba Skride, who is back here in the United States once again after a nice trip to Tanglewood last summer. Baiba, thank you for a little bit o

The audio of the interview is about eleven minutes long.

The BSO performance detail page for the concert is still available, and includes a link to the program notes for all the pieces in the concert.

I wrote about it back when it was performed in February, and I have no new information. Rereading what I write has slightly jogged my vague memory, and I still think it's not must hear music, but I'll want to hear the opening piece. After that I'll probably leave the radio on, but not pay careful attention.

BSO — 2022/02/26

 This evening's concert has four pieces. Here's the summary from WCRB, where you can hear it this evening and again in a little over a week:

Saturday, February 26, and Monday, March 7, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8pm, the Latvian violinist is the soloist in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in works by Pärt and Stravinsky, as well as Saariaho’s "Saarikoski Songs," soprano Anu Komsi.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin
Anu Komsi, soprano

Arvo PÄRT Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1
Kaija SAARIAHO Saarikoski Songs (world premiere of orchestral version; BSO co-commission)
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

To hear Baiba Skride describe the challenges of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, click on the player above (transcript below).

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Baiba Skride

You may well want to check out the program notes on the BSO's performance page. Regrettably, it does not give the texts of the poems in the Saariaho piece. They were in the program booklet, and I found them helpful. But the program notes on all four works are worth reading if you listen. There is also this overall description of the program:

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons is joined by his compatriot, violinist Baiba Skride, for Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, which was written in the late 1940s but only premiered in 1955, after Stalin’s death helped relax the constraints on artistic expression in the USSR. The concerto contains a version of the composer’s musical “signature,” suggesting that was a work of powerful personal importance. It was composed for and dedicated to David Oistrakh. Opening the program is the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s poignant homage to Shostakovich’s great friend, the English composer Benjamin Britten. 
Finnish soprano Anu Komsi makes her BSO debut in the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s own orchestrations of her song cycle on poems of the great 20th century Finnish poet Pentti Saarikoski. Saariaho wrote the original piano and voice versions of these songs for Anu Komsi. The Suite from Stravinsky’s 1909 ballet score The Firebird closes the program. The composer’s astonishingly imaginative orchestration perfectly captured the magical atmosphere of this Russian legend, and the Ballets Russes premiere in Paris swept the composer to worldwide fame.

You'll note that the Saariaho work is getting the world premiere of the orchestral version and the soprano her BSO debut at this week's concerts.

There are tepid reviews in the Globe and in the Intelligencer, the latter being especially critical of the playing of the violin concerto.

I was there on Thursday. The opening piece was calm and inoffensive. The violin concerto was less bombastic than most Shostakovich orchestral works, with two slow movements. I almost dozed off. After intermission, I found the first three of Saariaho's poem settings unattractive, while the final two seemed to fit the mood of the texts and were interesting to hear. Overall, though, I thought the singer handled the difficult "music" very admirably. She deserved the loud applause she got. The "Firebird" suite is Stravinsky at his most lyrical (most of it), and I enjoyed it, even if the critics weren't thrilled.

I can't give the concert a warm recommendation for general audiences. I do recommend the first piece, by Aarvo Pärt, though. If you like modern music, you might want to stick around for the rest.