BSO — 2022/04/16

This is one I'd certainly want to hear if I weren't going to be in church for our Easter Vigil. Bell plays Beethoven. Who could ask for anything more. You can bet I'll be listening to the repeat on the 25th. WCRB gives us the basics as well as an interview with the conductor on their page:

Saturday, April 16, and Monday, April 25, 2022
8:00 PM

Tonight at 8pm, the American violinist returns to the Boston Symphony as the soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and Alan Gilbert conducts the world premiere of a work by Bernard Rands and Debussy’s "La Mer."

Alan Gilbert, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Bernard RANDS Symphonic Fantasy (world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Claude DEBUSSY La Mer
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto

To hear a preview of the concert with conductor Alan Gilbert, use the player above, or read the transcript below.

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Alan Gilbert, who is back here in Boston to lead the BSO in a program, a fascinating program of three very different pieces. But I don't know, maybe not as different as I'm thinking. Alan, thanks for a little bit of your time today.

The BSO goes a bit more in depth about each piece, with a link to the program notes on their program detail page. The program note includes a sort of description by Bernard Rands of his piece. I don't know what to expect after reading all about it, but I'm hoping it will be okay. IMO the Debussy is okay, but lots ogf people think it's great. And the Beethoven is one of the greatest of all time, IMO, and having Joshua Bell solo makes it not-to-be-missed.

The review in the Intelligencer is quite favorable and give reason to hope that the Rands piece will be okay. The Globe reviewer was noncommittal about the Rands and was very happy with the rest.

So it looks like good listening this evening and on April 25. (And if you don't like the Rands, it's only 20 minutes until the good stuff.) Enjoy.

BSO — 2014/04/03-08

A world premiere is being given in Symphony Hall this week, The actual premiere was on Thursday, and I was there. The Saturday broadcast (and webstream) is the "broadcast premiere." It's worth listening to, IMO. First, Robert Spano leads the orchestra in two of the three Nocturnes by Debussy. Then Jonathan Biss joins them for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Bernard Rands — a piece commissioned by the BSO and composed with Mr. Biss in mind. After intermission the orchestra will play Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Here's a link to the BSO's performance detail page, where you'll find the usual links to performer bios, podcasts, and program notes. Their description follows:

Robert Spano leads the orchestra's final world premiere of 2013-14, Bernard Rands's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, a BSO commission composed for the probing American pianist Jonathan Biss. Claude Debussy's Nuages and Fêtes are two contrasting movements from the impressionistic orchestral Nocturnes. Rachmaninoff wrote his colorful final work, Symphonic Dances, in 1940 for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

As noted above, I was there on Thursday, and as the new piece was being played, I had the thought that this was something that could well enter the standard repertory* — it is pleasant to listen to, even if not as melodious as the music of the baroque, classical, and romantic eras; it avoids the unpleasant dissonances and general incoherence (as I hear it) of many recent compositions. The Globe's reviewer liked it as well, and gives a fuller description of what it's like than I could. On the other hand, the Boston Musical Intelligencer's reviewer was disappointed in the Rands piece, as well as the first of the two Nocturnes, only waxing enthusiastic for the Rachmaninoff.

You can judge for yourself. The WCRB/Classical New England broadcast/webstream begins at 8:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time, with a rebroadcast/stream at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, April 14. Their BSO page has links to interviews with the composer and the conductor, as well as a video of Jonathan Biss playing Schumann in the station's studio.

On Monday, April 7, the rebroadcast will be last week's program of Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

*During the intermission, I encountered Robert Kirzinger, one of the program annotators for the BSO, and expressed my opinion that the Rands work could become a standard. He replied that it might be helped in that direction by the fact that it's already scheduled to be performed in three more places, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Toronto, and a third which he couldn't call to mind at the moment. Since Maestro Spano directs the Atlanta Symphony I suggested Atlanta as the third. He said that would make sense, but he didn't say that was it. Maybe Atlanta will be a fourth.