BSO — 2026/09/26

 I'm sorry I didn't post about last week's concert. I hope you thought to tune in anyway

Two pieces are on the program for this evening's concert from Symphony Hall.WCRB gives us the basics: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-09-08/nelsons-theboston-symphony-orchestra-and-mahlers-seventh

Saturday, September 26, 2026
8:00 PM

The Russian-born Sofia Gubaidulina was composing her Prologue, a BSO co-commission with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, when she passed away in 2025. Eminent Russian composer Elena Firsova has completed it for performance. Also on the program is Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, the only Mahler symphony Andris Nelsons has yet to conduct with the BSO.

Andris Nelsons, conductor 

Sofia GUBAIDULINA/Elena FIRSOVA Prologue for orchestra (Posthumous world premiere; BSO co-commission)
Gustav MAHLER Symphony No. 7

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2026-2027 season on their site.

In an interview with CRB's Brian McCreath, BSO Concertmaster Nathan Cole describes how he and the orchestra prepare for a world premiere, especially when it expresses the unique musical voice of composer Sofia Gubaidulina, as well as the particular complications of performing Mahler's Symphony No. 7. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Nathan Cole, the Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony.

Now we turrn to the BSO's own page for additional information: https://www.bso.org/events/sep-24-26-mahler-symphony-7?performance=2026-09-26-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor GUBAIDULINA/Elena FIRSOVA Prolog for orchestra (world premiere; BSO co-commission)  MAHLER Symphony No. 7  

One of the great composers of the past century, the Russian-born Sofia Gubaidulina infused her intricate, penetrating music with deep spirituality. A frequent collaborator with the BSO and Andris Nelsons, she was composing her Prolog, a BSO co-commission with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, when she died; the eminent Russian composer Elena Firsova has completed it for performance. Gustav Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, an intense orchestral journey with moments of sardonic humor, begins somberly and ends in glorious triumph. The Seventh is the only Mahler symphony Andris Nelsons has yet to conduct with the BSO.  

Commission Support

GUBAIDULINA/Elena FIRSOVA Prolog for orchestra 
Prolog for orchestra was co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director through the generous support of the New Works Fund established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, Gewandhauskapellmeister.

See, especially, the program notes accessible via the arrows which follow the titles. I've skimmed them, and it seems the Gubaidulina/Firsova could be challenging The Mahler should be more conventional.

There is an extensive review in the Intelligencer https://classical-scene.com/2026/09/25/gubaidulinas-mahler/ , but none in the Globe.

Worth hearing, I think.

BSO — 2026/05/02

 This evening's concert is the last of the season. WCRB gives us the basics; https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/slobodeniouk-and-beethovens-ninth-with-the-bso-and-tfc

Saturday, May 2, 2026
8:00 PM

1. For the final concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 season, Dima Slobodeniouk conducts the BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in John Adams’ spaciously pulsating Harmonium and, with four stellar soloists, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and its “Ode to Joy.”.

   Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
   Andrea Carroll, soprano 
   Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano 
   Andrew Haji, tenor 
   Morris Robinson, bass 
   Tanglewood Festival Chorus 
   Jean-Sébastien Vallée, guest choral conductor

   John ADAMS Harmonium
   Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

The BSO performance detail page https://www.bso.org/events/apr-30-may-3-adams-beethoven?performance=2026-05-02-20:00 gives access to performer bios as well as program notes when you click on the arrows next to the names of the performers or the pieces. There we also read the following:

Boston Symphony Orchestra Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor Andrea Carroll, soprano Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano Andrew Haji, tenor Morris Robinson, bass Tanglewood Festival Chorus Jean-Sébastien Vallée, guest choral conductorJohn ADAMS Harmonium       intermissionBEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9*  

*Performed in German with English supertitles

Returning for his second BSO program this season, Dima Slobodeniouk leads one of the American composer John Adams’ first major works, Harmonium for chorus and orchestra. Written in 1981 for the San Francisco Symphony, this grand, half-hour work sets a poem by John Donne and two by Emily Dickinson in gradually unfolding, majestic textures. With its slowly evolving harmonic fields and rhythmic energy, Harmonium marked the future Pulitzer Prize winner and composer of the operas Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China as an important and original voice in American music. Beethoven's larger-than-life, ecstatic Symphony No. 9 closes the season. 

I suppose we all know what to expect with the Beethoven, but the Adams will be new to me, so I found the program note worth reading.

The review in the Intelligencer is very descriptive. https://classical-scene.com/2026/05/01/brisk-symphony/

I recommend listening.

BSO — 2026/04/25

 This evening the BSO gives us five pieces by Russian coposers and one by Mozart. Here's their description: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2026-01-08/boreyko-conducts-scriabin-rimsky-korsakov-and-prokofiev-with-kissin

Saturday, April 25, 2026
8:00 PM

In his first appearance with the BSO since 2015, star pianist Evgeny Kissin performs two contrasting concertos: Mozart’s charming and poignant Concerto No. 12, and Scriabin’s rhapsodic Piano Concerto. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoly Liadov from the early 20th century.

Andrey Boreyko, conductor
Evgeny Kissin, piano

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Festival Overture
W. A. MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414 
Anatoly LIADOV Baba Yaga
LIADOV The Enchanted Lake
LIADOV Kikimora
Alexander SCRIABIN Piano Concerto

In a conversation with CRB's Brian McCreath, conductor Andrey Boreyko reveals the connections between the arrangement of the musicians of the orchestra and music from the Russian tradition, as well as the unique qualities of Scriabin's Piano Concerto and Evgeny Kissin's interpretation of it. To listen, use the player above, and read the transcript below.

Learn more about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-2026 season on their site.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Andrey Boreyko, 

We also have the summary on the BSO's own performance detail page: https://www.bso.org/events/apr-23-25-rimsky-korsa-scriab?performance=2026-04-25-20:00

Boston Symphony Orchestra Andrey Boreyko, conductor Evgeny Kissin, piano RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Overture  MOZART Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414       intermissionLIADOV Baba Yaga  LIADOV The Enchanted Lake  LIADOV Kikimora  SCRIABIN Piano Concerto  

This exciting and unusual

 program features acclaimed soloist Evgeny Kissin performing two strongly contrasting concertos. Composed to appeal to audiences in Mozart’s new home of Vienna, the Concerto No. 12 is by turns charming and poignant, its second movement a touching tribute to his late friend Johann Christian Bach. The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto, composed more than 100 years later, is rhapsodic and Romantic. The BSO has only played Scriabin’s concerto on two prior occasions, most recently in 2001. Andrey Boreyko leads this sparkling, Russian-leaning program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliantly colorful Russian Easter Overture and featuring three atmospheric tone poems by Anatoli Liadov from the early 20th century.

As usual, performer bios and program notes are avsilsble when you go to the BSO page and click on the arrows.

So far there is no review in the Globe, bt the Intelligencer has a favorable one. https://classical-scene.com/2026/04/25/bso-boreyko-kissin/#comment-49107

This should be worth hearing.

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.