BSO/Classical New England — 2026/03/29

 For whatever reason, WCRB is giving us an "encore broadcast" instead of tonight's concert from Symphony Hall. Here's their blurb: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2024-10-31/revolucion-diamantina-with-the-crossing-giancarlo-guerrero-alban-gerhardt

WCRB

Classical Music on WCRB

JS Bach: Complete Keyboard ConcAll StreamsSaturday, March 28, 2026

8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, hear acclaimed Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz's ballet score Revolución diamantina, exploring the powerful, feminist “Glitter Revolution” campaign in Mexico that highlighted the epidemic of violence against women. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wonderfully depicts love’s passion and an infernal whirlwind in his tone poem Francesca da Rimini, and Alban Gerhardt is soloist in the composer’s charming Variations on a Rococo Theme.

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Alban Gerhardt, cello
The Crossing 
 Donald Nally, Artistic Director

Gabriela ORTIZ Revolución diamantina
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini

This concert was originally broadcast on March 1, 2025.

In a preview of this concert, conductor Giancarlo Guerrero describes Gabriela Ortiz's Revolución diamantina, how Tchaikovksy's music relates to it, and what he's looking forward to in his new position as Music Director of the Sarasota Orchestra next season. Listen with the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Giancarlo Guerrero, who's back

 

Speculation is that Renee Fleming's cpntract doesn't allow her performance to be broadcast. In any event, it's not being broadcast. I posted about the concert we'll be getting last year, so you can "Read all about it.

Enjoy.

BSO — 2026/03/21

 FYI https://classical-scene.com/2026/03/06/andris-nelsons-to-retire/#comment-48715

This evening WCRB broadcasts a concert of music by Schumann and Tchaikovsky. Here's their description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/the-romance-of-schumann-with-yunchan-lim-and-the-bso

Saturday, March 21, 2026
8:00 PM

In a program that embodies the heightened emotions of the Romantic spirit, 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition winner Yunchan Lim returns to Symphony Hall for Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, followed by Tchaikovsky’s musical interpretation of a Lord Byron drama, the “Manfred” Symphony.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yunchan Lim, piano

Robert SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred

The BSO's performance detail page tells us more, and if you go to the page itself and click on the arrows, you can access program notes and performer bios. https://www.bso.org/events/mar-19-22-schumann-tchaikovsk?performance=2026-03-21-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Yunchan Lim, piano SCHUMANN Piano Concerto       intermissionTCHAIKOVSKY Manfred  

Vaulted to worldwide prominence as the youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yunchan Lim returns to Symphony Hall for Robert Schumann’s lyrical, introspective Piano Concerto, written for his wife Clara, one of the most admired pianists of the 19th century. Inspired throughout his life by literary sources, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his Manfred — actually a four-movement symphony — based on Lord Byron’s Gothic verse play of the same name about a nihilistic nobleman wandering the Alps in search of meaning.

The Globe has a review/news story https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/20/arts/bso-andris-nelsons-heros-welcome-symphony-hall/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results which praises the performance. There is also an admiring review in the Intelligencer https://classical-scene.com/2026/03/20/champions-cross-symphony-hall/ which does not ignore the context.

Even without the added drama, this seems to be a concert well worth listening to.

BSO — 2025/10/18

Something new and something old. Herre's what WCRB says: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-09-10/john-adamss-violin-concerto-with-bso-artist-in-residence-augustin-hadelich 

Saturday, October 18, 2025
8:00 PM

In the first of a season of collaborations with the Boston Symphony, Augustin Hadelich is the soloist in one of the most dynamic and fascinating concertos of our time. Afterwards, Andris Nelsons conducts Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, a meditation on fate and a richly melodic cornerstone of the symphonic repertoire.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

John ADAMS Violin Concerto
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

In a conversation with CRB's Brian McCreath, Augustin Hadelich describes the challenges of music by John Adams, as well as the rewards of the composer's Violin Concerto, and he looks ahead to the other concerto he'll perform with the BSO this season, Thomas Adès's Concentric Paths. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

I found the interview interesting to read, giving the performer's reaction to the music he'll be playing.

 Now for the BSO's performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/oct-16-18-adams-tchaikovsky?performance=2025-10-18-20%3A00

Andris Nelsons, conductor Augustin Hadelich, violin John ADAMS Violin Concerto       intermission TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5  

The BSO’s 2025-26 artist in residence Augustin Hadelich brings his passion and flair to John Adams’ Violin Concerto. Composed in 1993, the piece is a rhythmically vital and harmonically rich concerto that won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is a meditation on fate; though Tchaikovsky himself wavered in his assessment of the work, its passionate themes, rich orchestral colors, and triumphant finale have cemented it as a cornerstone of the symphonic repertoire.

By clicking on the name of a performer, you can get their bio, and clicking on the name of a piece gets a link to the program note. (Why do they have to make it so complicated?) Or you can go the the full webpage and click away. The note on the Adams might be especially useful as preparation.

I can't find a review in the Globe, but here's an interesting one in the Intelligencer. https://www.classical-scene.com/2025/10/18/horizontally-symphony/ The reviewer liked the show.

It will be interesting to find out what the Adams concerto acrually turns out to be.

Tanglewood — 2025/08/16-17

 A fairly standard couple of concerts remain for our listening pleasure this weekend. I'm sorry I got distracted and didn't post about the Friday offering.

August 16, 2025

Three front rank nineteenth century composers provided the music for this evening's program. Here's WCRB's description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/handlers-boston-symphony-debut-with-hadelich-at-tanglewood

Saturday, August 16, 2025

8:00 PM

BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler makes her Tanglewood and BSO debuts, conducting three major works from the Western classical tradition: Brahms’s Tragic Overture, Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with GRAMMY-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich.

Anna Handler, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

Johannes BRAHMS Tragic Overture
Robert SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto

See details of Augustin Hadelich's performances as the BSO's Artist-in-Residence during the 2025-2026 season.

To hear a preview of this program with conductor Anna Handler, use the player above.

The WCRB page has an audio interview with the conductor which could be interesting. There is no transcript, though.

The BSO's performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-16-augustin-hadelich?performance=2025-08-16-20%3A00 has the usual links to performer bios and program notes.

August 17, 2025

Tomorrow's concert, which we can hear at 7:00 p.m., Boston Time, gives us music by and about Sibelius along with a piano concerto. WCRB's synopsis follows: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2025-05-27/thibaudet-and-liszts-second-piano-concerto-at-tanglewood

Sunday, August 17, 2025
7:00 PM

Superstar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins Dima Slobodeniouk in the Berkshires to perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on a program that also features two works by Sibelius and Threnody, an homage to the Finnish composer, written by William Grant Still.

Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

William Grant STILL Threnody (In Memory of Jan Sibelius) 
Franz LISZT Piano Concerto No. 2
Jean SIBELIUS Valse triste 
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3

For links to the performer bios and program notes, go to the BSO's performance detail page:

https://www.bso.org/events/bso-august-17-jean-yves-thibau?performance=2025-08-17-14%3A30

These should be two very enjoyable evenings.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/06/14

 WCRB treats us to another concert from last summer at Tanglewood. Herewith their description:

Saturday, June 14, 2025
8:00 PM

In an encore broadcast, BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid leads the orchestra for the first time in an all-Russian program that begins with Svetlanov’s emotional “Dawn in the Field,'' followed by Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto, with soloist Midori, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, a piece celebrating victory through strife.

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Samy Rachid, conductor
Midori, violin

Evgeny SVETLANOV Dawn in the Field
Sergei PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

This concert was originally broadcast on August 16, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

The BSO's performance detail page has just the facts, but it also gives links to the program notes for each piece, which could prove interesting.

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Samy Rachid, conductor 
Midori, violin

SVETLANOV Dawn in the Field 
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
-Intermission-
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

It should be good listening.

BSO/Classical New England — 2025/05/31-25

 As we await the start of the BSO's Tanglewod Season this year, WCRB continues with encore broadcasts from last summer's season. Here's their synopsis of the concert they're revisiting this evening:

Saturday, May 31, 2025
8:00 PM

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in Khachaturian’s vibrant, colorful Piano Concerto, part of a program that also includes Tania León's Pulitzer prize-winning Stride and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the “Pathétique.”

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Tania LEÓN STRIDE
Aram KHACHATURIAN Piano Concerto
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

This concert was originally broadcast on July 27, 2024, and is no longer available on demand.

For further information, including links to the program notes for each piece you can visit the performance detail page:

Tanglewood

Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox/Stockbridge, MA 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 
Andris Nelsons, conductor 
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Tania LEÓN Stride 
KHACHATURIAN Piano Concerto
-Intermission-
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

In tribute to Serge Koussevitzky’s legacy, Andris Nelsons and the BSO dedicate this concert series to the trailblazer. In the spirit of Koussevitzky’s passion for promoting contemporary music and composers, this concert features Tania León's STRIDE, a Pulitzer prize-winning work of resilience and surprise. 

Jean-Yves Thibaudet also joins for Khachaturian’s vibrant, colorful Piano Concerto, and the concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s moving, yearning Pathétique Symphony.

The Tchaikovsky is a staple of the orchestral repertoire. I don't have a clear memory of the other works, but I think the concert should be worth hearing.

BSO — 2025/03/15

 This evening the BSO starts with a staple of the repertoire and finishes with two less familiar pieces, as WCRB tells us:

Saturday, March 15, 2025
8:00 PM

Guest conductor Teddy Abrams leads the BSO and soloist Ray Chen in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the first work the composer completed after his separation from his disastrous marriage. 120 years later, Michael Tilson Thomas lovingly set three of Walt Whitman poems about longing and belonging for baritone and orchestra. Leonard Bernstein’s star-crossed lovers closes the program in an iconic love letter to New York.

Teddy Abrams, conductor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Ray Chen, violin

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
Michael TILSON THOMAS Whitman Songs
Leonard BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

In a preview of this program, Teddy Abrams describes his close relationship with Michael Tilson Thomas, the thematic threads that weave through these three pieces of music, and ideas about the role of orchestras in the lives of the cities in which they perform. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Teddy Abrams, who is here in Boston

The orchestra's own performance detail page adds one factoid and gets the verb correct (plural) in the final sentence:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Teddy Abrams, conductor
Ray Chen, violin
Dashon Burton, baritone

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
-Intermission-
Michael TILSON THOMAS Whitman Songs
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Ray Chen plays Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto, the first work the composer completed after his separation from his disastrous marriage and a piece he almost dedicated to his student – and likely lover and inspiration, Iosif Kotek. 120 years later, Michael Tilson Thomas lovingly set three of Walt Whitman poems about longing and belonging for baritone and orchestra. Leonard Bernstein’s star-crossed lovers close the program in an iconic love letter to New York and love itself.

Regrettably, this week they refuse to share the program notes.

The review in the Globe is scathing about the violinist and his antics, but generally favorable with regard to the post-intermission music. The Intelligencer, OTOH, found no problem with the violinist's performance, and, apart from balance problems in the first Whitman Song, was happy with how they all did.

Of course, you don't get to see the goings-on; hearing should be worthwhile.

BSO — 2025/03/01

 The Boston Symphony begins with a new piece and then gives us two infrequently peerformed pieces by Tchaikovsky. Here's what WCRB says about the concert:

8:00 PM

Acclaimed Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz wrote her ballet score Revolución diamantina with Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza. The piece explores the powerful, feminist “Glitter Revolution” campaign in Mexico to highlight the epidemic of violence against women. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wonderfully depicts love’s passion and an infernal whirlwind in his tone poem Francesca da Rimini, and Alban Gerhardt is soloist in the composer’s charming Variations on a Rococo Theme.

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Alban Gerhardt, cello
The Crossing 
 Donald Nally, Artistic Director

Gabriela ORTIZ Revolución diamantina
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini

In a preview of this concert, conductor Giancarlo Guerrero describes Gabriela Ortiz's Revolución diamantina, how Tchaikovksy's music relates to it, and what he's looking forward to in his new position as Music Director of the Sarasota Orchestra next season. Listen with the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Giancarlo Guerrero, who's back with the Boston Symphony, and another fascinating program, just like others that you have led in the past. Giancarlo, thanks a lot for your time today.

The orchestra's performance detail page expresses it a little differently:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor 
Alban Gerhardt, cello 
The Crossing 
 Donald Nally, Artistic Director

Gabriela ORTIZ Revolución diamantina
-Intermission-
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini

Acclaimed Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, known for her vibrant instrumental colors and skill with dramatic narrative, wrote her ballet score Revolución diamantina with Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza. The recording of the piece won this year’s Grammy Awards for best classical compendium, best orchestral performance, and best contemporary classical composition. Ortiz explores the powerful Mexican feminist “Glitter Revolution” campaign to highlight an epidemic of violence against women. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wonderfully depicts love’s passion and an infernal whirlwind in his tone poem Francesca da Rimini, inspired by a historic injustice recounted in Dante’s Inferno. Murdered by her husband, Francesca suffers in the second level of hell for her lustfulness, buffeted by an eternal storm. As a contrast, Alban Gerhardt is soloist in the composer’s charming Variations on a Rococo Theme.

This week, they're linking the program notes so you can "read all about it."

There is an approving review in the Globe  — except for the cellist, whom the reviewer finds "bland." On the other hand, the reviewer in the Intelligencer was satisfied with the cellist but a bit disappointed in the conductor's approach to Francesca da Rimini.

I'm a bit curious to hear "Revolución diamantina," but I'm not expecting to find it especially beautiful. I remember the spaghetti sauce commercial where the Italian lady approves of the store-bought sauce, saying "You gotta try new things." The Tchaikovsky should be pleasant. You can hear as much or as little as you want beginning at 8:00 p.m.* Boston Time this evening and on March 10 over WCRB.

*  or at 9:00, (which should be during intermission) if you choose to skip the "Revolución."