BSO/Classical New England — 2024/09/07

This week's encore broadcast is one I didn't post about because I was still getting home from my Rhine Cruise #MyVikingCruise. I'll try to find the BSO performance detail page and reviews for you. Here's what WCRB says: 

Saturday, September 7, 2024
8:00pm

In an encore broadcast, BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee leads Henri Tomasi’s sultry, atmospheric Saxophone Concerto with soloist Steven Banks in his BSO debut. The piece is bookended by César Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit, or "The Accursed Huntsman," and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, both exploring the power of fate.

Earl Lee, conductor
Steven Banks, saxophone

César FRANCK Le Chasseur maudit
Henri TOMASI Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

This concert was originally broadcast on November 25, 2023, and is no longer available on demand.

In a conversation with WCRB's Brian McCreath, Steven Banks describes the qualities that make Tomasi's Saxophone Concerto unique among concertos for the instrument, as well as what it takes to cover the full range of saxophone repertoire, and Earl Lee talks about his experiences conducting Franck's Le Chasseur maudit and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath from WCRB, at Symphony Hall with BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee and saxophonist Steven Banks. It's so good

The interview is worth reading or listening to.

The BSO performance detail page, in addition to the links to performer bios and program notes on each piece, gives us the following synopsis:

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA 

Earl Lee, conductor 
Steven Banks, saxophone

FRANCK Le Chasseur maudit 
TOMASI Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Intermission
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

French composer César Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit — “The Cursed Hunter” — is based on a ballad about a man commits the grave sin of hunting on the Sabbath and is doomed to be eternally chased by demons. BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee leads the sultry, atmospheric 1949 Saxophone Concerto by French composer Henri Tomasi; making his BSO debut, American Steven Banks is one of today’s leading classical saxophone performers. The program closes with the emotional turmoil of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, which opens with the famous “fate” motif, and sweetened by the composer’s great gift for beautiful melody.

Neither the Globe nor the Musical Intelligencer carried a review, so all I can say is it should be worth listening to. The Franck piece gets played occasionally on the radio, and it's not bad. Of course the Tchaikovsky is a staple of the repertoire, and from the interview, it seems the Tomasi should be interesting. So enjoy.

BSO — 2012/01/19-24 Info and Reviews

This week's scheduled conductor, Ricardo Chailly, bowed out because of health reasons. Giancarlo Guerrero takes over conducting duties for "The Rite of Spring," by Stravinsky, which concludes the concert. But the orchestra threw out the pieces originally scheduled for before the intermission, and chose instead to play four pieces without a conductor — two for the brass section and percussion, one for woodwinds and horns, and one just for strings. The BSO website lists them as follows:

The Boston Symphony Orchestra itself will be showcased on the first half of the BSO program of January 19-24, originally to have been conducted by Riccardo Chailly, when it performs-without a conductor-music for brass, for winds, and for strings: Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and the "Procession du Vendredi-saint" ("Good Friday Procession") from French composer Henri Tomasi's Fanfares liturgiques for brass and percussion; Richard Strauss's Serenade in E-flat, Op. 7, for winds; and Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C for Strings, Op. 48. Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero will then step in for Riccardo Chailly on the second half of the program to lead Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, which was originally scheduled to conclude these concerts. The works on the first half of the program will be introduced by members of the BSO's brass, wind, and string sections.

Visit this page for links to additional information.

I was there on Thursday, and found it all pretty good. They kept together pretty well without a conductor, I thought, and the pieces before intermission were worth hearing. Of course, we know the Copland and Tchaikovsky. Tomasi was  born in 1901, so he's a contemporary of Copland. Someone near me remarked that his piece for a procession is similar to Respighi's piece in "The Pines of Rome" depicting the march of Roman Legion on the Appian Way. "The Rite of Spring"  is no longer really shocking, and I thought it was done cleanly. The Boston Globe reviewer had some criticism of a couple of details, but was overall favorable.

Listening opportunities on Saturday and Sunday are as usual.