Tanglewood — 2025/08/08-10

 A mix of the familiar,  the not-so-familiar, and the new is being presented tonight and Sunday, with two of the greatest string players of ouur time as soloists. In between, we can hear John Williams Film Night on Saturday. We turn once more to WCRB for the basics and the BSO page for fuller descriptions.

August 8, 2025

WCRB tells us: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/orozco-estrada-conducts-dvoraks-new-world-at-tanglewood

Friday, August 8, 2025
8:00 PM

Colombian conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Italy, makes his Tanglewood debut conducting Dvořák’s much-beloved Symphony No. 9, From the New World. The inimitable Joshua Bell, who has performed at Tanglewood every year since 1989, is the soloist in Lalo’s spirited Symphonie espagnole.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Édouard LALO Symphonie espagnole
Antonín DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.

Now for the link to the orchestra's performance detail page:

https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-8-joshua-bell?performance=2025-08-08-20%3A00

There you find links to the program notes. Among other things they note that the melody of the slow movement of the Dvořák is the composer's own invention, not a Negro spiritual.

August 9, 2025

Again we look to WCRB for the basics, as well as an interview with the composer which should be interesting reading: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/lockhart-leads-the-pops-in-john-williams-film-night

Saturday, August 9, 2025
8:00 PM

A cherished Tanglewood tradition, John Williams’ Film Night returns with a fabulous program of film music highlights specially curated by Maestro Williams himself and featuring Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. It’s a special evening of magical music that you won’t want to miss!

Boston Pops Orchestra
John Williams, curator
Keith Lockhart, conductor

Film Night!

For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.

In an interview with Brian McCreath from 2016, John Williams discusses what led him to become a composer, why conducting The Boston Pops is so special, and why he believes Star Wars resonates so profoundly with humanity. Listen with the audio player above, and follow the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (Note: The Star Wars film discussed here is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, from 2015.):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall. I'm with John Williams, and it is a great pleasure to have the chance to speak with you, John.

Need I say more?

Here's the link to the performance detail page. There are no program notes for individual pieces, but you can find those for the performer bios.

https://www.bso.org/events/boston-pops-august-9?performance=2025-08-09-20%3A00

August 10, 2025

Sunday evening brings us the afternoon concert from Taanglewood, described here by WCRB: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/yo-yo-ma-samy-rachid-and-pepins-un-monde-nouveau-at-tanglewood

Sunday, August 10, 2025
7:00 PM

Following his highly acclaimed Tanglewood debut last summer, BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid leads an exciting program featuring the American premiere of French composer Camille Pépin’s Un Monde nouveau, Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, and Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Yo-Yo Ma. It will be the first time that Ma performs this cello concerto at Tanglewood, the piece he performed with the Boston Pops in his 1971 Symphony Hall debut as a 15-year-old prodigy.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Camille PÉPIN Un Monde nouveau (American premiere)
Camille SAINT-SÄENS Cello Concerto No. 1
Felix MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, Scottish

I highly recommend going to the performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-10-yo-yo-ma?performance=2025-08-10-14%3A30 and following the link to the notes for Un monde nouveau. I wonder why they didn't program the New  World Symphony on the same evening. Of course the other program notes are also worthwhile.

It promises to be an enjoyable weekend.

Tanglewood — 2025/07/26-27

 There are two great evenings of music in store for us. (I'm sorry I missed last evening, but I had returned from several days away and it slipped my mind. If you checked it out without waiting for my preview, I'm sure you enjoyed the concert of music by Bach, Mahler, and Mendelssohn.)

July 26, 2025

This evening a world premiere awaits along with a well known symphony by Mahler.Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-04-24/a-john-williams-world-premiere-with-emmanuel-ax-at-tanglewood

Saturday, July 26, 2025
8:00 PM

Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in the world premiere of John Williams’s Piano Concerto, inspired by three legendary jazz pianists and written for soloist Emanuel Ax, part of a program that also includes the epic musical journey of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano

John WILLIAMS Piano Concerto (world premiere)
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 1

To hear a preview of John Williams's Piano Concerto with Emanuel Ax, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at the Koussevitzky Music Shed with Emanuel Ax. And Manny, thank you so much for a little of your time today. I appreciate it.

Emanuel Ax It's my pleasure to be here

The interview is interesting.

At the BSO's performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/bso-july-26-emanuel-ax?performance=2025-07-26-20%3A00 we are treated to this synopsis by Robert Kirzinger:

A major new work by John Williams, a full-fledged Concerto for Piano and Orchestra composed for and premiered by Emanuel Ax with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at Tanglewood—it speaks for itself. This warm coming-together of artists who have a deep connection with Tanglewood, its history, and its future can only be topped by the performance itself on Saturday evening in the Shed. In this brilliant, virtuoso concerto, Williams draws on his lifelong love of the piano and some of its most individual talents: its three movements pay homage to jazz greats Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. The concerto shares the Saturday concert with Gustav Mahler’s powerful and lyrical Symphony No. 1. With its broad melodies, hints of birdsong, and its second-movement rustic dance, the symphony channels Mahler’s love of the outdoors and the countryside while also serving as a true orchestral showpiece. 

There are also full program notes for the piano concerto https://www.bso.org/works/john-williams-concerto-for-piano-and-orchestra and for the symphony https://www.bso.org/works/mahler-symphony-no-1-in-d .

It should be interesting to hear a new piece by John Williams.

July 27, 2025

As always the Sunday afternoon concert is broadcast for us on Sunday evening at 7:00, in WCRB's usual "In Concert" time slot. They describe it thus: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-04-24/lang-lang-and-the-bso-play-saint-saens-at-tanglewood

Sunday, July 27, 2025
7:00 PM

Lang Lang is the soloist in the beautifully romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saëns in a program led by Andris Nelsons that also includes Gabriela Ortiz’s exuberant La Calaca, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Lang Lang, piano

Gabriela ORTIZ La Calaca, for string orchestra
Camille SAINT-SÄENS Piano Concerto No. 2

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, Pastoral 

Again, the BSO performance detail page for the weekend has a synopsis by Robert Kirzinger, as follows:

Sunday’s concert features another outstanding pianist, Lang Lang, playing Camille Saint-Saëns’s scintillating Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the best known of the composer’s works. Saint-Saëns, a virtuoso pianist himself, played its premiere in Paris in December 1868. The concert opens with Mexican composer and 2025 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music Director Gabriela Ortiz’s La Calaca, a hypnotically rhythmic, dancing work whose title refers to the stylized, music-loving skeleton figures of Day of the Dead celebrations. Beethoven’s sunny Pastoral Symphony—complete with birdsong, a country dance, and a brief (musical) summer storm—completes the program.

At the page for this concert we find he program notes for the Ortiz work https://www.bso.org/works/ortiz-la-calaca , for the concerto https://www.bso.org/works/piano-concerto-no-2-saint-saens , and for the symphony https://www.bso.org/works/beethoven-symphony-no-6-pastoral .

All in all, it should be a very enjoyable pair of concerts.

BSO — 2024/10/12

 This week we get to hear a great concert. Here's the description from WCRB:

Saturday, October 12, 2024
8:00 PM

Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid makes his BSO subscription debut in a program featuring the glorious Symphony Hall organ: Olivier Latry, organist at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, performs Michael Gandolfi’s Ascending Light, a BSO-commissioned work composed as tribute to Armenian culture on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Camille Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony features the organ prominently in both its serene slow movement and in its majestic Finale. Hector Berlioz’s Waverley Overture evokes the romance and intrigue of Sir Walter Scott’s historical novels.

Samy Rachid, conductor
Olivier Latry, organ

BERLIOZ Waverley Overture
Michael GANDOLFI Ascending Light, for organ and orchestra
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ Symphony

In a conversation with WCRB's Brian McCreath, conductor Samy Rachid describes the foundational role the BSO played in his life as a musician, what led him to be a conductor, and how this concert was programmed. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Samy Rachid, Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony. Samy, 

I haven't read the interview yet, but it should be interesting.

Now here's what the BSO says on their performance detail page:

Samy Rachid, conductor
Olivier Latry, organ

BERLIOZ Waverley Overture
Michael GANDOLFI Ascending Light, for organ and orchestra
-Intermission-
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ Symphony

BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid makes his BSO subscription debut in a program featuring the glorious Symphony Hall organ. Olivier Latry, organist at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, premiered Michael Gandolfi’s Ascending Light here in 2015. The BSO-commissioned work was composed as tribute to Armenian culture on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Camille Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony features the organ prominently in its majestic finale. Hector Berlioz’s Waverley Overture evokes the romance and intrigue of Sir Walter Scott’s historical novels.

The Intelligencer has a rather noncommittal review, although the reviewer did like the conductor's take on the Saint-Saëns. The Globe review is somewhat more enthusiastic.Neither matches my delight in what I saw and heard on Friday afternoon. If you read the Intelligencer, check out the first comment from Mogulmeister. I like what he says.

I greatly enjoyed what I heard and saw, especailly before the intermission. The slender conductor, with a jacket that was closely fitted at the waist, conducted with highly energetic gestures and the music we heard corresponded to his conducting. Il was all rewarding to hear, and I recommend listening as closely as you can tp the "Waverly" Overture and "Light Ascending" Both unfold beautifully. The organ console was placed where I could have a clear view of the keyboards, which was interesting to watch. But again, you'll be able to tell when the organ is playing, especially during "Light Ascending."

So by all means, listen if you possible can, as closely as you can. The program notes on the BSO site can also be helpful for your understanding and enjoyment. I think you'll like this as much a Mogulmeister and I did.

BSO/Classical New England — 2023/12/09

My cruise prevented me from posting on November 18; my cancelled flight home and the fonsequent delay of one day kept me from saying anything on the 25th. I don't remember why I didn't put anything up last week, but finally I'm back and ready to go. Meanwhile, I hope you found the concerts without a push from me.

Now the Symphony is on hiatus while "Holiday Pops" graces Symphony Hall. We get an encore broadcast  from last winter. Here's the blurb from WCRB:

Saturday, December 9th, 2023
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the Boston Symphony for Saint-Saëns’s virtuosic Egyptian Concerto, and Israeli conductor Lahav Shani leads the BSO in his Symphony Hall debut with Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s dazzling Symphonic Dances.

Lahav Shani, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Sergei PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical
Camille SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances

This concert was originally broadcasted on February 18th, 2023 and is no longer available on demand.

Hear a preview of Saint-Saëns's Piano Concerto No. 5 with Jean-Yves Thibaudet with the audio player above, and read the transcript below:

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Sy

(The past participle of broadcast is broadcast, not "broadcasted." What's the matter with kids these days?)

I posted about it back then, and I expect the links there to work now. It looks as if I neglected to post a link to the BSO's performance detail page.Here it is, with the usual links.

This should be enjoyable.

BSO — 2023/02/18

 The newest piece from the BSO this evening was composed in 1939. As always, we start with WCRB's synopsis:

Saturday, February 18, 2023
8:00 PM

Encore broadcast on Monday, February 27

French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the Boston Symphony for Saint-Saëns’s virtuosic Egyptian Concerto, and Israeli conductor Lahav Shani leads the BSO in his Symphony Hall debut with Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s dazzling Symphonic Dances.

Lahav Shani, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances

To hear a preview of Saint-Saëns's Piano Concerto No. 5 with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, use the player above, and read the transcript below:

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Sym

The BSO's performance detail page tells us just a bit more about each piece  and provides the usual links:

Israeli conductor Lahav Shani, making his Symphony Hall debut, and elegant French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet perform Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, a brilliantly virtuosic but tuneful Romantic-era work for which Thibaudet is an ideal interpreter. Sergei Prokofiev’s delightful First Symphony was conceived as a 20th-century successor to works by Wolfgang Mozart and Joseph Haydn. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ingeniously constructed, brilliantly colorful Symphonic Dances was his last finished work. 

---

Lahav Shani, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical (15)

SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian (29)

---- Intermission----

RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances (33)

The reviews are in. The Globe likes the way all the music was performed. The Intelligencer is maybe a notch less fulsome but still quite favorable.

I misread the season preview brochure and thought that this concert was one I wasn't especially interested in, so I decided to stay home. It was nice to relax, but I'm sorry I missed the show. Interestingly (to me) the brochure from last spring said the piano concerto would be by Aram KLhachaturian, another 20th Century piece. I don't see any explanation of the change, but maybe they thought it would make the concert "too much of a muchness," and opted for the 19th Century concerto instead.

Enjoy this evening and on the 27th.

BSO/Classical New England — 2022/11/05

 The orchestra has gone to Japan for a concert tour, so WCRB is providing us with a rebroadcast from last spring, as noted here:

Saturday, November 5, 2022
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast of the final concert in the 2021-2022 Boston Symphony Orchestra season, BSO Principal Cellist Blaise Déjardin is center-stage in Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons conducts Richard Strauss's panoramic "An Alpine Symphony" and a selection from the composer's "Intermezzo."

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Blaise Déjardin, cello

Richard STRAUSS "Dreaming by the Fireside" from Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo
Camille SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

This concert was originally broadcast on Saturday, April 30. It is no longer available on demand.

To hear Blaise Déjardin preview the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Saint-Saëns, talk about his new book, Audition Day, and how golf and learning magic helped his cello playing, use the audio player above, and read the transcript below:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Blaise Déjardin, the Principal Cellist of the Boston Symphony. But Blaise,

At the time, I wrote as follows:

 We come now to the final concert of the BSO's 2021-22 season.[…]

If you go to WCRB's page you can read or listen to the interview.

The BSO's own performance detail page tells us more about the music:

The BSO’s own principal cello Blaise Déjardin makes his solo concerto debut with the orchestra in these concerts performing the astonishingly gifted French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1873 Cello Concerto No. 1. In one movement, this compact concerto moves from exhilarating energy to great charm and finally to impassioned, virtuosic lyricism.
The orchestral interludes from his 1924 opera Intermezzo are self-contained miniature tone poems of great dramatic effectiveness. The gorgeous “Dreaming by the Fireside” depicts a woman’s yearning for her husband, who is a musician on tour—part of the autobiographical plot of the opera. Strauss’s absolute mastery of the orchestra is put to very different use in the tone poem An Alpine Symphony, which musically illustrates nature in all its glory via the climb and descent of a mountain in the Alps.

There are also brief blurbs about each piece and a number of links, including one for the program notes which appear in the booklet given to audience members.

The Globe reviewer liked the first Strauss piece and the Saint-Saëns cello concerto, but found the Alpine Symphony too long and mostly unengaging, but found no fault with how it was performed. So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't say how they did. What I can say is I'm not surprised by the review in the Globe. I'd expect the first half to be pleasant. I've heard the Alpine Symphony a few times and I'd say it has its moments, and it's never hard to listen to.

Overall, I think it's worth tuning in or connecting.

I've subsequently found a mixed review in the Intelligencer: liked the first half, not thrilled with the "Alpensymphonie."I still recommend it overall, although I won't blame anyone who treats the second half as background music.

BSO — 2022/04/30

 We come now to the final concert of the BSO's 2021-22 season. WCRB tells us:

Saturday, April 30, and Monday, May 9, 2022
8:00 PM

Closing out the 2021-2022 Boston Symphony Orchestra season, BSO Principal Cellist Blaise Déjardin is center-stage in Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1, and Andris Nelsons conducts Richard Strauss's panoramic "An Alpine Symphony" and a selection from the composer's "Intermezzo," tonight at 8pm.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Blaise Déjardin, cello

Richard STRAUSS "Dreaming by the Fireside" from Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo
Camille SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

To hear Blaise Déjardin preview the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Saint-Saëns, talk about his new book, Audition Day, and how golf and learning magic helped his cello playing, click on the player above, and read the transcript below.

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Blaise Déjardin, the Principal Cellist of the Boston Symphony. But Blaise, you're here in the guest soloist green room with a very different role this week: soloist for the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1. Thanks for a little bit of your time today.

If you go to WCRB's page you can read or listen to the interview.

The BSO's own performance detail page tells us more about the music:

The BSO’s own principal cello Blaise Déjardin makes his solo concerto debut with the orchestra in these concerts performing the astonishingly gifted French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1873 Cello Concerto No. 1. In one movement, this compact concerto moves from exhilarating energy to great charm and finally to impassioned, virtuosic lyricism.
The orchestral interludes from his 1924 opera Intermezzo are self-contained miniature tone poems of great dramatic effectiveness. The gorgeous “Dreaming by the Fireside” depicts a woman’s yearning for her husband, who is a musician on tour—part of the autobiographical plot of the opera. Strauss’s absolute mastery of the orchestra is put to very different use in the tone poem An Alpine Symphony, which musically illustrates nature in all its glory via the climb and descent of a mountain in the Alps.

There are also brief blurbs about each piece and a number of links, including one for the program notes which appear in the booklet given to audience members.

The Globe reviewer liked the first Strauss piece and the Saint-Saëns cello concerto, but found the Alpine Symphony too long and mostly unengaging, but found no fault with how it was performed. So far, there is no review in the Intelligencer.

I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't say how they did. What I can say is I'm not surprised by the review in the Globe. I'd expect the first half to be pleasant. I've heard the Alpine Symphony a few times and I'd say it has its moments, and it's never hard to listen to.

Overall, I think it's worth tuning in or connecting.

I haven"t looked to see what WCRB will give us between now and the opening of the BSO season at Tanglewood, but I won't be surprised if it's mostly repeats of recent concerts. The BSO begins at Tanglewood on July 8, and will give concerts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as in pre-Covid years. So keep tuned.

BSO/Classical New England — 2021/02/06

 This evening WCRB rebroadcasts the BSO concert of March 19, 2016. Here's the description from WCRB:

Saturday at 8pm, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performs the Violin Concerto by John Williams with soloist Gil Shaham, and Stéphane Denève conducts Jennifer Higdon's Blue Cathedral and the Symphony No. 3, the "Organ" Symphony, by Saint-Saëns.

Saturday, February 6, 2021
8:00 PM

Stéphane Denève, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin

HIGDON blue cathedral
WILLIAMS Violin Concerto
SAINT-SAENS Symphony No. 3, "Organ"

This concert is no longer available on demand.

Stéphane Denève describes the connections between the first two pieces in the concert and reveals the way a single note in Saint-Saëns's "Organ" Symphony carries that theme into the second half (transcript below):

 

Gil Shaham previews the Violin Concerto by John Williams and describes the process of learning the piece with the composer (transcript below):

There are transcripts of the interviews on that page, and they are interesting to read.

Here, edited, is what I wrote back then:

This week's BSO concert provides some interesting music. The orchestra's performance detail page […] gives this description:

French conductor Stéphane Denève, a frequent BSO guest in recent seasons, leads this diverse program including John Williams's Violin Concerto, a soaring and heartfelt work that has been championed by Gil Shaham-and which he recorded with John Williams and the BSO. Opening the program is music by another American composer, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon, whose colorful, atmospheric tone poem Blue Cathedral is her most frequently performed orchestral work. Closing the program and featuring the grand Symphony Hall organ is the sonorous, ultimately uplifting Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns.

(Most emphasis added.)

The Globe review finds nothing to dislike. So far, the Boston Musical Intelligencer hasn't published a review. If they do, I'll note it.

I was there on Thursday evening and found it all okay. The first piece, "Blue Cathedral," is pretty well described in the program notes, and it was nice to be able to follow it as it unfolded. I noticed that the four horn players had the glasses with water in them, which they were to play by dipping a finger in the water and rubbing the rim. (You can try this at home.) They didn't actually play them until toward the end, as it got quiet, but even the quiet music drowned them out for a while. Eventually they were faintly audible for five or ten seconds. Other musicians then started playing the chinese bells. The whole effect was charming. The Williams violin concerto didn't remind me of his movie music. Gil Shaham seemed to do a very nice job with it, but the piece itself isn't something I feel I need to hear again (although I'll give it another hearing during the broadcast — it isn't unpleasant). In the Saint-Saëns I had never actually noticed the organ before it enters loudly in the final movement. But this time I heard it quietly accompanying some of the softer parts earlier in the piece. Listen carefully, and you may hear it too. The sound is just a bit different from the woodwinds.

The place to listen is WCRB via radio or web at 8:00 p.m. EST (Boston Time)[…].

The BMInt did publish a favorable review. In the absence of program notes, its description of the pieces, along with WCRB's interviews, will give some sense of what's happening.

Perhaps the music isn't the greatest of all time, but it should be good listening, and the unifying theme may give some additional meaning to it.

BSO/Classical New England — 2020/09/12

Tonight's encore performance is of a concert originally given earlier this year, on January 11. Here's what I wrote at the time (edited to remove material no longer relevant):

This evening the BSO gives us a Francophile's delight (unless your taste in French music runs more to Marc-Antoine Charpentier or Hector Berlioz): a French conductor, a French organist, and three French composers. Details and links are to be found, appropriately, on the orchestra's performance detail page, where we read:

French conductor Alain Altinoglu, who first conducted the BSO in spring 2017, returns with an all-French program featuring the debut of the outstanding French organist Thierry Escaich in two works showcasing the Symphony Hall organ. Francis Poulenc described his ambitious 1938 Organ Concerto as being close in intent to his religious music. The concerto was given its American premiere by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops with organist E. Power Biggs in 1941 in Symphony Hall. Closing the program is Camille Saint-Saëns’ popular, exuberant Symphony No. 3, which features the organ as a solo and orchestral instrument. Altinoglu also leads his own orchestral suite of music from Claude Debussy’s uniquely gorgeous and probing operatic masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Thursday concert was part of my subscription, but it was a cold night at the end of a cold snap, and Debussy and Poulenc aren't my favorite composers, and I've heard  the Saint-Saëns several times,so I decided to stay home. The rave reviews in the Globe and the Intelligencer tell me that I made a big mistake and that we should all be listening when WCRB broadcasts and streams it … this evening at 8:00 EST. … Check out their website for links to more about the concert, as well as other programming.

It certainly seems worth listening to.

BSO — 2020/01/11

This evening the BSO gives us a Francophile's delight (unless your taste in French music runs more to Marc-Antoine Charpentier or Hector Berlioz): a French conductor, a French organist, and three French composers. Details and links are to be found, appropriately, on the orchestra's performance detail page, where we read:

French conductor Alain Altinoglu, who first conducted the BSO in spring 2017, returns with an all-French program featuring the debut of the outstanding French organist Thierry Escaich in two works showcasing the Symphony Hall organ. Francis Poulenc described his ambitious 1938 Organ Concerto as being close in intent to his religious music. The concerto was given its American premiere by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops with organist E. Power Biggs in 1941 in Symphony Hall. Closing the program is Camille Saint-Saëns’ popular, exuberant Symphony No. 3, which features the organ as a solo and orchestral instrument. Altinoglu also leads his own orchestral suite of music from Claude Debussy’s uniquely gorgeous and probing operatic masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Thursday concert was part of my subscription, but it was a cold night at the end of a cold snap, and Debussy and Poulenc aren't my favorite composers, and I've heard  the Saint-Saëns several times,so I decided to stay home. The rave reviews in the Globe and the Intelligencer tell me that I made a big mistake and that we should all be listening when WCRB broadcasts and streams it live this evening at 8:00 EST. This week they are promising the usual encore broadcast/webstream, on January 20. Check out their website for links to more about the concert, as well as other programming.

Tanglewood — 2016/08/19-21

Friday, August 19.  Here's how the BSO's performance detail page — with its usual links — describes the program:

Menahem Pressler-longtime pianist of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio-joins maestro Charles Dutoit and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Friday, August 19, at 8 p.m., for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488, notable for its intimate, chamber-musical character and heightened lyricism. Mr. Dutoit-Tanglewood's 2016 season Koussevitzky Artist-opens the program with Mozart's overture to The Marriage of Figaro. The second half of the program is Rossini's Stabat Mater, the most significant of the composer's late works. This performance of the 1841 choral masterpiece features soprano Simona Saturova (Tanglewood debut), mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato (Tanglewood debut), tenor Pavol Breslik, bass Riccardo Zanellato (Tanglewood debut), and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

(Some emphasis added.)

You can't go wrong with one of Mozart's late piano concertos; the curtain-raiser is good; and Rossini's "Stabat Mater" is not to be missed. By all means, read the program note from the performance detaio page if you're unfamiliar with it or the "Stabat Mater" in general, and preview the text. To whet your appetite for the it, here's an excerpt from a rehearsal last year by the Paris Orchestra with tenor Paolo Fanale. Tonight's tenor was to have Metropolitan Opera star been Matthew Polenzani, but from the bio it seems that Pavol Breslik should be a more than adequate replacement. Much as I like Verdi (see tomorrow's program), if I could only hear one of this weekend's concerts, this would be it.

James Markey, who is scheduled to give the preliminary remarks for this evening's "Underscore Friday," is the orchestra's bass trombonist. He's fairly young and joined the orchestra only a few years ago.


Saturday, August 20.  Saturday the first two acts of Aida by Verdi. The performance detail page, unsurprisingly, gives additional details:

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons returns for two performances with the orchestra August 20 and 21. For the first performance, he leads the first two acts from Verdi's magnificent opera of star-crossed love in ancient Egypt, Aida, on Saturday, August 20, at 8 p.m. Maestro Nelsons and the orchestra are joined by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and a cast of vocal soloists, including soprano Kristine Opolais in the demanding title role, mezzo-soprano Violeta Urmana (BSO and Tanglewood debuts) as Amneris, tenor Andrea Carè (BSO and Tanglewood debuts) as the male lead and love interest Radamès, baritone Franco Vassallo (BSO and Tanglewood debuts) as Amonasro, and bass Kwangchul Youn (Tanglewood debut) as Ramfis.

(Some emphasis added.)

I like the music of the first two acts of "Aida" better than that of the remainder of the opera. The biggest highlight, IMO is the Triumphal March in the second act. Strangely, the program notes suggest a different program, consisting of the chorus "Va, pensiero" from Verdi's opera Nabucco followed by the Triumphal Scene from "Aida." We'll find out on Saturday which it is. The two acts of "Aida" make for a long concert, the chorus and Triumphal scene, for a short one. Considering that the brochure printed months ago lists the longer program, it seems to me that the scaled down program represents the more recent thinking. Either way, it will be some really good music.


Sunday, August 21.  The Sunday concert is a reprise of some of the music performed during last winters "Shakespeare Festival" at Symphony Hall The performance detail page informs us:

On Sunday, August 21, at 2:30 p.m., Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in a program that includes three works inspired by Shakespeare and honors the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death. The overture to Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict(based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing) opens the program, followed by American composer George Tsontakis's Sonnets, a Shakespeare-inspired tone poem for English horn and orchestra commissioned by the BSO and featuring BSO English horn player Robert Sheena. The Mr. Sheena and the BSO gave the world premiere of Sonnetsearlier this year at Symphony Hall. Croatian pianist Dejan Lazić, making his BSO and Tanglewood debuts, joins Mr. Nelsons and the orchestra as soloist in Saint-Saens's Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, and the program closes with a suite from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, one of the composer's most familiar and popular pieces.

Gates open at Noon.

(Some emphasis added)

Here's what I wrote about the Tsontakis "Sonnets" back in February:

The Tsontakis Sonnets at a few points made me think of bits of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, which I guess means that the musical style is fairly accessible. You won't mistake it for Haydn, but you won't run screaming from the auditorium, or wherever you radio or computer speakers are located. In each sonnet, the music is softer at the beginning, corresponding to the first quatrian, and it intensifies for the second, and more so for the third. The it calms down for the final couplet. Glancing at the texts in the program notes, I could see some connection between the music and the theme of the sonnet. The BSO has posted a video of a bit of the second sonnet. It gives as good an impression of the piece as you can in a short time.

My review also included links to other reviews, and the program notes give a full description as well as the texts of the sonnets which inspired the music. The rest of the program is decent stuff, I supppose — I especially like the Berlioz while the Prokofiev seems popular. I don't recall the piano concerto, but I'm confident it'll be okay.


The Friday and Saturday concerts can be heard via WCRB radio or web at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and the Sunday program will be aired and streamed at 7:00, p.m. (not live at 2:30). Their home page, in addition to the link for listening over the web, gives information about other special programming which may be of interest. Their BSO page, in addition to listing the works to be played, gives similar information about the remaining Tanglewood concert broadcasts and various other interesting items and links.

Enjoy.

Tanglewood — 2016/07/08-10

Tanglewood resumes this weekend, with the usual schedule of major concerts Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon. This year WCRB has decided to record the Sunday concert and broadcast and stream it in the evening. So we have three evenings each weekend of music from Tanglewood.

Friday, July 8.  The opening night concert features Joshua Bell. Here's the BSO performance detail page's description:

The Boston Symphony Orchestra opens its 2016 Tanglewood season on Friday, July 8, at 8 p.m., with an Opening Night at Tanglewood program featuring music by Ravel, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev, led by Canadian conductor Jacques Lacombe. The performance features American violinist and Tanglewood favorite Joshua Bell as soloist in Saint-Saëns's romantic Violin Concerto No. 3. Mr. Lacombe opens the program with Ravel's raucous and colorfully Spanish-flavored Alborada del gracioso, and closes it with Prokofiev's popular Symphony No. 5, a work composed in just one month in 1944 and given its American premiere in 1945 by Serge Koussevitzky and the BSO.

Joshua Bell made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1989 at age 21, and has returned to the festival every summer since. Jacques Lacombe made his BSO debut at Tanglewood during the 2014 season, and returns this summer for the third year in a row.

(Some emphasis added.)

The page also has links to audio previews and program notes, with performer bios available by clicking the thumbnail pictures.

None of the pieces is on my favorites list, but it should all be nice to listen to. Prokofiev can be a bit modern, but he's no Stravinsky, and he gave us  "Peter and the Wolf,"so I think it'll be worth hearing


Saturday, July 9.  Here's the description from the BSO's program detail page:

Jacques Lacombe returns to lead a second consecutive program with the BSO. Debussy's revolutionary symphonic poem  Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun and Ravel's atmospheric and beautiful  Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2, two quintessential French impressionist works that are specialties of the orchestra, open the program. For the second half, Mr. Lacombe and the BSO are joined by soprano  Nadine Sierra and tenor  Jean-Francis Monvoisin, both making their BSO and Tanglewood debuts, as well as baritone  Stephen Powell and the  Tanglewood Festival Chorus, for the drama and the spectacle of Orff's rousing  Carmina burana.

Seiji Ozawa, following advice from his doctor to postpone any plans to travel abroad at this time, has had to cancel his Tanglewood appearances this summer due to lack of physical strength.

At the end of Maestro Ozawa's month-long stay in Europe (where he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin and the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland in Paris) this past April, due to overwork Ozawa developed a fever which resulted in weight loss. Upon his return to Japan, Ozawa continued with another demanding period of work, which further weakened his immune system. After thorough discussions with his doctors, family, and all concerned, Maestro Ozawa has decided to follow his doctors' advice and during the next few months primarily focus on recovering his physical strength. Ozawa, therefore, has had to reschedule his performance activities for this summer, which has unfortunately resulted in cancellation of his concerts at Tanglewood. We wish Seiji a speedy recovery and look forward to his return visit to Tanglewood in future seasons.

Quote from Seiji Ozawa
"I am very very sad and sorry that I will have to miss this summer's Tanglewood. I miss the Ground of Tanglewood and all my old colleagues and friends. Missing being in our house in West Stockbridge and playing tennis there. I am concentrating on eating and I am gaining more body strength now. I am so much looking forward to returning to Tanglewood SOON. My young colleagues, music students of Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland will be there with you. They are so concentrated on playing Chamber music and Ensemble. I hope you will all enjoy their music-making as much as I enjoy."

Quote from Mark Volpe, BSO Managing Director
"I know that Seiji is very disappointed not to be able to join us this summer at Tanglewood, as he was so very much looking forward to returning to the festival and working with his beloved Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center, introducing us all to his treasured Swiss Academy, and reconnecting with the many audience members who have supported him so passionately over the years. All of us at the BSO will miss Seiji's presence this summer, but we understand that he has to follow his doctors' advice to take the time needed to recover his strength after a busy work schedule in Europe and Japan in April and early May. We wish Seiji a speedy recovery and look forward to his return to Tanglewood in future seasons."

(Some emphasis added.)

The program detail page has the usual links to background information. I hadn't realized that Seiji Ozawa was scheduled to conduct. It's too bad his health isn't up to the trip.

French impressionism isn't my favorite cup of tea, and I have little use for Orff's setting of the mediæval Carmina Burana, but the works are much liked by others, so don't let me be a wet blanket on the Tanglewood lawn. I'm just happy I won't be missing something a really, really, really want to hear when my brother calls from Tokyo at 9:00.


Sunday, July 10.  The Boston Pops will give a concert at Tanglewood on Sunday afternoon but WCRB won't be giving it to us (I'd guess because of contractual problems with the soloist). Instead, as the station's BSO page informs us:

Sunday, July 10, 7pm

Film Night, from Symphony Hall!

In a special encore broadcast from Symphony Hall, Laureate Conductor John Williams and Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart team up to lead a program of cinematic magic, with music from unforgettable films across the decades!

The Friday and Saturday concerts can be heard via WCRB radio or web at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time. That home page, in addition to the link to listen over the web, gives information about other special programming which may be of interest. Their BSO page, in addition to the description of the Sunday encore concert posted above, gives similar information about the remaining Tanglewood concert broadcasts and various other interesting items and links.