BSO/Classical New England — 2019/08/31

We're between BSO seasons again. The first Saturday concert of the 2019-2020 Symphony Hall Season is scheduled for September 21, so today and for the following two Saturdays, WCRB will be giving us "encore broadcasts" of concerts from last season. The website tells us what they'll present on September 7 and 14, but I can't find anything about this evening. I wonder if somebody at the station failed to notice that they also had a Saturday left in August after the Tanglewood season finale.

I guess we just have to tune in at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and find out. I hope it will be good.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/23-25

This weekend is the end of the BSO's season at Tanglewood. It has become the tradition to close on Sunday with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. They could certainly do worse.


Friday, August 23, 2019.  The program presents more or less familiar music with two musicians who are new to me and, I suppose, most audiences. The BSO performance detail page explains:

BSO Assistant Conductor Yu-An Chang makes his BSO debut on Friday, August 23, leading Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schubert’s Symphony No. 2, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, featuring Conrad Tao. 

 

Pianist Ingrid Fliter had been scheduled to perform Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Friday, August 23 at the Koussevitzky Music Shed. Replacing Ms. Fliter in the Ravel concerto will be Conrad Tao who will make his Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood debuts. There are no other changes to the program.

(Some emphasis added.) 
Ravel isn't my favorite composer, but not too tough to take, so this concert should be a good one. It should be a comfortable debut for the new conductor.


Saturday, August 24, 2019.  The BSO takes the evening off, but many of its members (other than section principals) are also members of the Boston Pops and will be performing as such. The performance detail page tells us:

Long established as one of Tanglewood’s most anticipated and beloved evenings, John Williams’ Film Night returns on Saturday, August 24, with George and Roberta Berry Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams introducing the festive evening, which features the Boston Pops and conductor David Newman performing a program celebrating the music of Hollywood and more.

(Some emphasis added.)

Film buffs and Williams fans will especially enjoy this one.


Sunday, August 24, 2019.  Not only is the Beethoven Ninth the season closer, in recent years, it has also been the custom to preceded it with another, much briefer, piece. This year the opener is a choral work by Schoenberg. The performance detail page gives a link to the program notes, which make the connection to the "Ode for Joy" clear. We also have this overall synopsis:

With vocal soloists Nicole Cabell, J’Nai Bridges, Nicholas Phan, and Morris Robinson and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, returning guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the BSO in the orchestra’s traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Sunday, August 25. The concert opens with Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth) for unaccompanied chorus, also featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden will be conducted by James Burton.

(Some emphasis added.)


Listen to it all over the facilities of WCRB* at 8:00 p.m. EDST on Friday and Saturday and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. It should be a good series of concerts.

* I can't get the WCRB website to open for me to provide the link, but you can find it in any of my earlier posts about BSO concerts.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/16-18

Friday evening's concert will not be broadcast. It's "Star Wars: A New Hope" with the Boston Pops playing the score while the movie is being shown. Whether for copyright reasons or because they think it just wouldn't work without the visual, WCRB will give us instead an "encore broadcast" from the 2018 Tanglewood season.


Friday, August 16, 2019.   We can listen to the concert of Friday , July 27, 2018. As the performance detail page told us back then:

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena leads the BSO in a program that begins with the Four Sea Interludes from Britten's opera Peter Grimes, a work of particular significance to Bernstein, who conducted the first American performances of the opera at Tanglewood in 1946 and also led the Four Sea Interludes to open the last concert he ever conducted, on August 19, 1990 in the Shed. Following the Britten, Garrick Ohlsson joins the orchestra as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271, and the concert concludes with Brahms's marvelously energetic and compact Symphony No. 3.

(Some emphasis added.)
As you'll recall, in 2018 they were celebrating the centennial of Bernstein's birth.


Saturday, August 17, 2019.  See the performhttps://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0ance detail page for the usual links. Here's the rushed synopsis:

François-Xavier Roth makes his Tanglewood debut conducting joining pianist Kirill Gerstein for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on a program with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2.

(Emphasis added.)

Maestro Roth has conducted the BSO enough that it came as a surprise to read that this is his Tanglewood debut.

Unfortunately for me, the Schumann comes during my brother's call from Japan.


Sunday, August 18, 2019.  We get to enjoy more Schumann and Brahms under the baton of Maestro Roth on Sunday. See the performance detail page, which provides this tidbit:

François-Xavier Roth is joined by Yo-Yo Ma for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, on a program with Brahms’s Serenade No. 1 and Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra, featuring members of the BSO horn section.

(Emphasis added.)

I'm especially looking forward to this one. The horn piece should be fun, and I actually like Brahm's serenades, which I wasn't aware of until James Levine led a performance of the delightful Serenade No. 2 in Symphony Hall a number of years back.


Don't forget, WCRB transmits the Friday and Saturday concerts at 8:00 p.m. EDST, and the Sunday at 7:00. See their website for the link to listen over the internet and for other material.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/09-11

I got distracted and missed posting about Friday until just when the concert was about to begin. I hope you heard it. It seemed to me that in a couple of spots, Kavakos was interpolating some of his own material, especially at the transition from the second to the third movements of the Beethoven, but at a couple of other points in the concerto as well. So far no reviews have appeared in the usual places to confirm or contradict my impression.


Saturday, August 10, 2019.  Tonight it's late romantic music, with a conductor I've never heard of making his BSO debut and a respected but not quite famous pianist. The program detail page gives us "Just the facts:"

The 2019 Tanglewood season will also see the BSO and Tanglewood debut of Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, who leads the orchestra on Saturday, August 10, in Carreño’s Margaritena, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Nikolai Lugansky, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.

(Some emphasis added.)

I'm not sure what the "also" refers to, but this has the appearance of a cut and paste job by an overworked staff which hasn't had the customary time to prepare the page. But the links can give you information about the conductor — click on the thumbnail photo — and the "Margariteña," which is not about the drink — check the full program notes link. IT sounds as if the piece should be quite listenable. I'm looking forward to hearing it. Fortunately, the Brahms should come during my brother's phone call from Japan.

Sunday, August 11, 2019. This time, the program detail page doesn't even have a "just the facts" synopsis. Still, the links give you what you need to know. Thomas Adès conducts Three Places in New England, by Charles Ives, followed by Beethoven's Piano Concerto № 4, with one Inon Barnatan as soloist. (See the performer bio.) After intermission, Adès and the orchestra will play Symphony № 6, "Pastoral," also by Beethoven himself.

I no longer find Ives as cacophonous as I used to, so I'm actually looking forward to hearing "Three Pieces in New England," perhaps with program notes at hand to help me follow the music. Of course, the Beethoven pieces are not to be missed.


Remember, WCRB broadcasts and streams the Saturday concert at 8:00 p.m., Boston Time, and the Sunday concert by tape delay at 7:00 p.m. Check out their website for the other material they have.

Enjoy the concerts!

August 9, 2019

Yikes! I just remembered there's a concert tonight. And it's a must listen. https://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/100176/

Leonidas Kavakos joins the BSO as conductor and violinist on Friday, August 9, for a program including Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Danny Kim.

Tanglewood — 2019/08/02-04

Most of this week's music from Tanglewood is squarely within the standard repertory of the 19th and early 20th Centuries some of it familiar, some not so much so. It seems that Maestro Nelsons has completed his work there for the summer, and the orchestra will have guest conductors for the remainder of the season. Now for the particulars.


Friday, August 2, 2019. Says the orchestra's program detail page: 

Violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martinů’sMemorial to Lidice and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. At this UnderScore Friday performance, patrons will hear comments about the program from BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky.

(Some emphasis added.)

The Martinů piece is one of the two non-standard items this weekend, and unfortunately the program detail page, as of this writing, has no link to the program note for it, so I'll be as surprised as you. According to wiki, Lidice was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 as a retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, and Martinů composed his Memorial in 1943. The composer's style is described as neoclassical.

The BSO performed the Dvořák symphony last January in Symphony Hall. My post at the time has links to favorable reviews.


Saturday, August 3, 2019. The performance detail page tells us:

Conductor Asher Fisch returns to Tanglewood, and is joined by violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth for the American premiere Avner Dorman’s BSO-commissioned Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, written in celebration of Mr. Zukerman’s 70th birthday; the program also includes the overture to Schumann’s Genoveva, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish, and Beethoven’s Romance No. 1 in G for violin and orchestra, featuring Mr. Zukerman.

(Some emphasis added.)

Again, no links to the program notes for the new music, only the piece we're most likely to know: the Mendelssohn symphony. I always enjoy the Beethoven Romance, and the Schumann should be good.


Sunday, August 4, 2019. The performance detail page is the epitome of concision: 

Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk and the BSO for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a program with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.

(Emphasis added.)

These are works from 1909 and 1899. The BSO gave the Rach 3 on April 25-30 with Nelsons conducting and Daniil Trifonov as soloist.


Broadcasts/ webstreams on WCRB are, as usual, at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7:00 on Sunday. Enjoy!

Tanglewood — 2019/07/05-07 — Correction

Egad! I thought WCRB would give us all the major weekend concerts from Tanglewood. But no! This evening we're not getting today's concert, but one from last summer.

Sunday night at 7, Gil Shaham is the soloist in Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, and Juanjo Mena leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mozart's emotionally riveting Symphony No. 40.

Sunday, July 7, 2019
7:00 PM

Recorded July 29, 2018

Juanjo Mena, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin

HAYDN Symphony No. 88
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
MOZART Symphony No. 40

Sorry for misleading you.

Tanglewood — 2019/07/05-07

The Boston Symphony begins its Tanglewood Season this weekend. WCRB will broadcast and stream the Friday and Saturday concerts live at 8:00 p.m. each day and the Sunday concert by tape delay at 7:00 p.m. I don't know about the Tower piece, but the rest looks pretty mainstream. Enjoy!


Friday, July 5, 2019.  Opening night features Mozart and Mahler. Here's the synopsis from the orchestra's own program detail page:

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its Opening Night concert of the season with Tanglewood favorite Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, on a program with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

(Emphasis added.)

As regular readers of these blogposts know, the performance detail page has links to further information including program notes, audio previews, performer bios (click the thumbnail photos), and related media. There are also links to additional material on the WCRB homepage, as well as the button to listen "live" over the internet.

The Mahler Symphony was performed in Symphony Hall on November 17, 2018. My post at the time was highly abbreviated, so if you want reviews, you'll need to do your own digging in the Globe and the Musical Intelligencer. The piano concerto was given, with a different soloist and conductor, on January 26 of this year. My blogpost about the concert doesn't have anything to say about the Mozart, but it does have links to reviews.


Saturday, July 6, 2019.  On Saturday there are three pieces which were not performed in Symphony Hall during the past season. Again, the performance detail page gives some links and summarizes:

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program opening with Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, followed by the BSO’s first Tanglewood performance of André Previn’s Violin Concerto, Anne-Sophie, featuring the dedicatee of the work, Anne-Sophie Mutter, as soloist; this program ends with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.

(Some emphasis added.)


Sunday, July 7, 2019.  Sunday brings a "guest appearance" by the Boston Pops. The performance detail page gives some details about the performance, although the Pops performs so many pieces that they don't list them all.

Join the Boston Pops for the first of three programs this summer, celebrating the art of John Williams. Drawing from her recent recording “Across the Stars,” the great violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performs selections from Mr. Williams’ iconic scores, in brilliant new arrangements created especially for her. The program includes music from Star Wars, Dracula and Harry Potter, as well as the haunting melodies of Memoirs of a Geisha.

(Some emphasis added.)

What the synopsis doesn't mention is that David Newman shares podium duties with Maestro Williams.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/29

No concert, live or prerecorded, this week. WCRB invites us:

Saturday night at 8, join WCRB's Brian McCreath for a look forward to this year's program at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
8:00 PM

Next week, the Tanglewood Season begins. Friday and Saturday concerts will be broadcast and streamed live, and the Sunday afternoon concerts will be transmitted by "tape delay" on Sunday evenings.

BSO/Classical New England — 2019/06/22

A bit earlier than usual, but Saturday looks busy, so here's the preview.

This week's encore broadcast/stream is the concert of January 12. It's Harbison, Mozart, and Vaughan Williams, in that order. The program detail page (which see for links to the usual background information) puts it thus:

English conductor Sir Andrew Davis and the BSO are joined by Italian pianist Alessio Bax in his BSO debut for one of Mozart's stormiest works, his C minor piano concerto, No. 24, one of the unsurpassed series of concertos from the height of his Vienna popularity. Opening the concert is Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's 1986 Symphony No. 2, the four movements of which are called "Dawn," "Daylight," "Dusk," and "Darkness"-keys to its evolving expressive and musical character. This is one of several Harbison works being performed this year to mark the 80th birthday year of a composer closely associated with the BSO. Steeped in the musical tradition of England, Vaughan Williams's Fifth Symphony was composed at the beginning of World War II but maintains an optimistic and affirmative outlook.

(Emphasis added.)

I posted at the time, with links to reviews and a comment that the Harbison may be "challenging."

You can hear it over WCRB Saturday, June 22, and Monday, July 1, at 8:00 p.m.