BSO's 2010-2011 Season
James Levine Anticipated To Lead Orchestra
By: Ariel Petrova - Apr 12, 2010
The Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2010-11 season opens on Saturday, October 2, with Bryn Terfel joining James Levine and the orchestra in an all-Wagner program, including vocal excerpts from The Flying Dutchman, Die Walküre, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnburg on a program with favorite orchestral works including the Siegfried Idyll. During the 2010-11 season, Music Director James Levine, in his seventh season with the BSO, continues the orchestra's ongoing cycle of Mahler symphonies with performances of Nos. 2, 5, and 9, and conducts the first three symphonies of American composer John Harbison to begin a new two-year cycle of the complete set.
The orchestra also reinstates its composer/conductor week by partnering with English composer/conductor Thomas Adès, who will make his BSO conducting debut in a program featuring his own violin concerto Concentric Paths and scenes from his opera The Tempest, as well as works by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. In addition to the many musical highlights of the season, the orchestra also announces the introduction of a new Friday-evening series, with an early start time of 7p.m., designed to offer patrons an option for shorter and earlier concerts that also provide a post-concert social element to an evening out at Symphony.
Two additional programs, both free to concertgoers, include a series of six pre-concert digital music seminars; and BSO 101: Are You Listening?, a new adult education series to take place on four Wednesday evenings, and designed to offer patrons insights on how to enhance their listening ability, with a special focus on music to be performed during the BSO's 2010-11 season.
2010-11 BOSTON SYMPHONY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
The year 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth, and the BSO celebrates the occasion in 3 concerts, two conducted by Levine and one conducted by Kurt Masur, featuring performances of all four of Schumann's symphonies as well as the Piano Concerto, with Nelson Friere as soloist. The BSO's 2010-11 season also features violinist Christian Tetzlaff in a program of three concertos, including the world premiere of a BSO-commissioned violin concerto by Sir Harrison Birtwistle; showcases three BSO principal players in performances throughout the season; introduces 20 new guest artists to Symphony Hall audiences; and continues a season-long celebration of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus's 40th anniversary season, with performances of major choral works by Mahler, Falla, Stravinsky, Bach, and Berlioz.
Major works to be performed during the BSO's 2010-11 season include James Levine leading Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Maasaki Suzuki in his BSO debut leading Bach's St. John Passion, Charles Dutoit conducting Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, David Robertson leading John Adams' Doctor Atomic Symphony, Susanna Mälkki leading the American premiere of Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto with Alban Gerhardt as soloist, Sir Colin Davis leading the BSO in two programs of music by Mozart, Haydn, Sibelius, and Beethoven, and Lorin Maazel returning to conduct Scriabin's The Poem of Ecstasy, on a program with works by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.
During the 2010-11 season Sakari Oramo and newly appointed BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger make their BSO conducting debuts, and podium favorites including Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, and Sir Mark Elder make welcome returns. The 2010-11 season also has an impressive lineup of piano soloists, including Evgeny Kissin, Radu Lupu, Maurizio Pollini, Lars Vogt, and Christian Zacharias, the latter to be featured as conductor and soloist in a program of two Mozart piano concertos with symphonies of Haydn to begin and end the concert.
The 2010-11 season is notable for its introduction of exciting new talents, featuring 20 soloists or conductors making their BSO or Symphony Hall debuts.
Two of the most notable performers joining the BSO for the first time are English composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès, who conducts two of his own works alongside pieces by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius March 25 and 26, and Maasaki Suzuki, founder and director of the Bach Collegium Japan, who leads the St. John Passion April 21-23. Conductor John Nelson makes his Symphony Hall debut in the 2010-11 season. Also in 2010-11 the orchestra presents an especially large number of vocalists making their BSO or Symphony Hall debuts, including sopranos Hana BlažÃková, Layla Claire, Alexandra Coku, Hila Plitmann and Kate Royal; mezzo-sopranos Karen Cargill, Ingeborg Danz, and Bernarda Fink; tenors Toby Spence and Russell Thomas; and bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann. Instrumental soloists Anthony Marwood, violin, and Nicolas Hodges, piano, also make their BSO debuts, and violinist Arabella Steinbacher makes her Symhony Hall debut.
The 40th Anniversary of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Since its founding in 1970 by conductor John Oliver, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus has developed an international reputation for its skill, intelligence, versatility, thrilling sound, and enthusiastic performances, through its concerts and recordings with both the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops. The all-volunteer chorus' wide-ranging repertoire encompasses works sung in English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and Czech (among other languages); their recent 40th-anniversary CD on BSO Classics gives just a small sense of their artistry.
In 2010-11 at Symphony Hall, John Oliver and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus continue their 40th-anniversary celebration by joining the BSO for performances of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex with James Levine, music from Falla's Atlà ntida with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Bach's St. John Passion with period-practice Bach specialist Maasaki Suzuki in his BSO debut, and Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette with Charles Dutoit.
The BSO at Carnegie Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Kennedy Center, March 15-19, 2011
The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director James Levine will take highlights of the BSO's 2010-11 Symphony Hall season on tour to New York, New Jersey, and Washington D.C., March 15-19, 2011. Tuesday, March 15, Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17, 2011, at 8 p.m., the orchestra presents a concentrated three-program series, in New York as part of Carnegie Hall's Great American Orchestras and Concerto Series.
The program on March 15 features Christian Tetzlaff in three major works for violin and orchestra, including the New York premiere of a new work by British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle; the second program on March 16 pairs the music of Mozart and Schoenberg, both of whom have been ardently championed by Maestro Levine as well as the evening's distinguished guest soloist, pianist Maurizio Pollini; and the final program in the Carnegie Hall series on March 17 is dedicated to the powerful and moving Symphony No. 9 of Gustav Mahler.
The BSO will then perform concerts at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on March 18, 2011, at 8 p.m., and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on March 19, 2011, at 4 p.m. The program for March 18 and 19 will include Mozart's Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, and Schumann's Symphony No. 3, Rhenish.
NEW PROGRAMS AND OPTIONS FOR CONCERTGOERS
UnderScore Fridays—a new direction in subscription options
The BSO offers a new subscription option in 2010—"UnderScore Fridays," an interactive three-concert series with a brand-new format, designed to provide patrons an option for shorter and earlier concerts that also offers a post-concert social element to an evening out at symphony. Subscribers attending "UnderScore Fridays" will hear directly from the conductor about each program, and a 7 p.m. start time for each concert will allow attendees to socialize after the performance. Subscribers to the series will be offered a complimentary beverage and hors d'oeuvres at a post-concert reception in Symphony Hall, where they will be able to interact with the artists.
The first concert, on January 24 with conductor Sir Mark Elder and pianist Lars Vogt, offers an unusual mix of seldom-heard Delius followed by one of Mozart's most familiar piano concertos and Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, one of the most inventive pieces ever to tell a story through music. On February 11, Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki's program showcases cello soloist Alban Gerhardt in the American premiere of the award-winning, Korean composer Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto, on a program with Haydn's Symphony No. 59, Fire, new to the BSO's repertoire, and the atmospheric Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius.
On March 25, the final program of the series features English composer/conductor Thomas Adès in his BSO debut, with English violinist Anthony Marwood making his BSO debut in Ades's own virtuoso violin concerto, Concentric Paths, on a program with scenes from Ades's acclaimed Shakespeare-inspired opera The Tempest and seldom-heard, Tempest-inspired music by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius.
BSO 101: Are You Listening?—A new adult education series
BSO 101: Are You Listening?, led by BSO Director of Program Publications Marc Mandel, is a Wednesday-evening series of four informal sessions designed to help concertgoers enhance their listening ability, while offering insights into the music being performed by the BSO. These sessions, free and open to all BSO ticket-holders, require no prior training to participate, and will be followed by a reception with beverages and hors d'oeuvres. The initial introductory session on Wednesday, October 27, will focus on works by Brahms, Mozart, and Haydn. The remaining sessions will focus on "Schumann as Innovator," anticipating the complete Schumann symphony cycle to be performed in late November/early December (Wednesday, November 10); illustrative music by Delius, Strauss, Scriabin, and Dvo?ák (Wednesday, January 12); and the contrasting musical vocabularies of Liszt, Sibelius, Ravel, and Berlioz (Wednesday, March 30).
Digital Music Seminars
Approximately every six weeks throughout the Symphony season, the BSO will offer pre-concert Digital Music Seminars led by Rich Bradway, the BSO's Associate Director of E-commerce and New Media. These seminars will offer an overview of the BSO's Digital Music Store and the different digital music formats available through this service; discuss the difference between a digital music subscription and the purchase of specific digital music; explain how to purchase and download digital music from the BSO's website as well as from other retail sites including iTunes, Amazon, and others; explain how to use the music after it is downloaded, whether playing it on a computer or an MP3 player or making a CD; and offer a brief overview of the BSO's other new media offerings including podcasts, WebTV, and the Classical Companion. The class schedule will be available at bso.org/digitalmusicseminars.
Choose-Your-Own Series
The BSO offers a wide variety of concertgoing options that allow patrons to attend the concerts of their choosing while still receiving all the benefits of being a subscriber, including discounts and exchange privileges. Subscribers can create their own series with the comfort of knowing that if something comes up and they can't attend their originally scheduled concert, they can exchange their tickets for another season concert. The Choose-Your-Own series allows patrons to compose their own series, for example, a violin or piano series, a choral works series, or a series of concerts led by James Levine, to name just a few options.
BSO Classics Recordings
The BSO will soon release two new recordings, Celebrating Carter's Century, music by Elliott Carter from the 2008 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood (downloads only), as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus' 40th Anniversary Album (CD and download). Digital music downloads may be purchased individually or as quarterly and annual subscriptions at bso.org/digital. Further information about these releases, as well as a wide variety of other recording options, including the BSO Grammy Award-winning recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, is available at bso.org/digital.
WEEK BY WEEK PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BSO'S 2010-11 SEASON
James Levine leads an all-Wagner program with Bryn Terfel to open season on October 2
The season kicks off in dramatic fashion on October 2 with Opening Night at Symphony, featuring a rare concert performance—and his first Symphony Hall appearance with the BSO since its Opening Night concert in 1997—from superstar singer Bryn Terfel, who joins Levine for a powerful all-Wagner program featuring the Welsh bass-baritone in excerpts from The Flying Dutchman, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and, in a preview of his upcoming Metropolitan Opera appearances in the composer's Ring cycle, Die Walküre. Filling out the program, Levine leads the BSO in a selection of Wagner concert favorites, including the Siegfried Idyll, Flying Dutchman Overture, "Magic Fire Music," and "Ride of the Valkyries."
James Levine leads Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony, October 7-12
The following week, Maestro Levine begins the 2010–11 subscription season, which marks both the 150th anniversary of Mahler's birth and the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, with the continuation of his survey of the Mahler symphonies with the BSO. Joining him for performances of the thrilling Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, are soprano Layla Claire, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Maestro Levine's first BSO performances of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, with its famous Adagietto, follow October 14–16. February 24-March 1, Mr. Levine conducts the orchestra in Mahler's final completed symphony, the Ninth, which he previously led with the BSO in 2007. Levine's affinity for Mahler, coupled with the thrilling sound of the Boston Symphony Orchestra both in full cry and in music of utmost delicacy, consistently brings Symphony Hall audiences to their feet. In past seasons with the orchestra, Maestro Levine has led Mahler's First, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth symphonies, as well as the symphonic song-cycle Das Lied von der Erde.
James Levine leads Mahler Symphony No. 5 and Harbison Symphony No. 3, October 14-16
Mahler's Fifth shares the October 14–16 concerts with Harbison's Symphony No. 3, which marks the beginning of a two-season survey of the composer's symphonies, three of which will be performed in 2010–11. The cycle will culminate in 2011–2012 with the world premiere of Harbison's Sixth Symphony, newly commissioned by the BSO. A longtime faculty member at MIT and at Tanglewood, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Boston-based John Harbison is one of today's most significant composers. His Symphony No. 1, a BSO Centennial Commission, was premiered by Seiji Ozawa and the BSO in 1984; the Symphony No. 5, a BSO 125th Anniversary Commission, was introduced by James Levine and the BSO in 2008. It was also Maestro Levine, a longtime champion of Harbison's music, who in 1999 led the world premiere of his acclaimed opera, The Great Gatsby, at the Metropolitan Opera. Other BSO commissions have included his Cello Concerto, Darkbloom Overture, and Requiem.
New BSO Assistant Conductor Marcelo Lehninger makes his BSO debut, October 20-26
In the third week of the subscription season, October 20–26, renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman will join new BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger, making his BSO debut and continuing the orchestra's long line of talented young assistant conductors, for Beethoven's Violin Concerto. The program also includes Barber's Overture to The School for Scandal and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.
David Robertson leads John Adams's Doctor Atomic Symphony, October 8-November 2
David Robertson, Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and one of the outstanding American conductors active today, will guest conduct the BSO October 28–November 2 in an eclectic selection of music spanning from 1880 to the present. The program features Brahms's Tragic Overture, Bartók's Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 with English pianist Nicolas Hodges, and John Adams's Doctor Atomic Symphony, which is dedicated to Mr. Robertson, who gave the premiere of the work and was responsible for urging Adams to create the symphonic arrangement of music from his recent opera.
Maestro Frühbeck leads program of Brahms and Falla, November 4-9
Longtime collaborator and frequent guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns to the BSO November 4–9 and conducts the orchestra, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and three talented vocal soloists in the rarely performed Suite from Atlà ntida by Manuel de Falla, a composer of whom Maestro Frühbeck de Burgos is a tireless, convincing advocate and unparalleled interpreter. The suite arranges music from the massive "scenic cantata" on the subject of Atlantis, which Falla worked on for 18 years but died before finishing. Rich, dramatic, and brilliantly atmospheric, the music of Atlà ntida displays Falla's unique genius. Also on the program is Brahms's exhilarating Symphony No. 2, which ends in one of the most spirited climaxes in the entire standard repertoire.
Christian Zacharias, as conductor and pianist, November 11-13
For the November 11–13 program, German conductor and pianist Christian Zacharias is on the podium and at the keyboard for a concert of Classical masterpieces by Haydn and Mozart. Mr. Zacharias, a noted interpreter on the piano, launched his conducting career in 1992 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and has since gained recognition for his conducting around the world. He conducts Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 80 and 95, and he will lead Mozart's Piano Concertos No. 15 and 16 from the keyboard.
Kurt Masur leads all-Schumann program in 200th anniversary year, November 18-20
The BSO's celebration of the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth begins the following week, as Kurt Masur, one of the world's most decorated conductors, leads the BSO in an all-Schumann program that also features Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire, who has received universal acclaim for his performances of the composer's music. Mr. Freire will appear as soloist in Schumann's Piano Concerto, a perennial audience favorite, which is flanked on the program by the First and Fourth Symphonies. The Symphony No. 1, Spring, was Schumann's first orchestral work and was sketched in just four days. The Fourth Symphony is actually the second symphony the composer wrote, though it was published last after substantial revision; its four movements are played with no breaks in between to form a single large-scale structure.
James Levine conducts Schumann, Harbison, Wagner, and Mozart, November 26-December 4
The spotlight continues to shine on Schumann for the next two weeks of concerts, November 26–30 and December 2–4, as Maestro Levine returns to the podium and conducts Schumann's Second and Third Symphonies on programs that also continue the orchestra's exploration of Harbison's symphonic music as well as featuring works by Mozart and Wagner. Schumann's Symphony No. 3, Rhenish, shares the November 26–30 program with Harbison's Symphony No. 1 and Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. The December 2–4 program presents Schumann's Second Symphony alongside Harbison's Symphony No. 2 and Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, with Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider as soloist. Schumann's unique combination of lyricism and Romantic fervor places his music among the most appealing and exciting works of the symphonic repertoire, and Levine's inclusion of music by Mozart, Wagner, and Harbison makes for exciting contrasts and a fascinating examination of shared aesthetic ideals.
James Levine leads Oedipus Rex and Bluebeard's Castle, January 6-8, 2011
For the January 6–8 program, Levine leads the BSO in two unique 20th-century masterpieces that are not easily classified. Somewhere between opera and oratorio, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex is a theatrical, brilliantly orchestrated piece based on Sophocles' play. Levine and the BSO are joined by men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano, Russell Thomas, tenor, Matthew Plenk, tenor, Albert Dohmen, baritone, Raymond Aceto, bass, and Örs Kisfaludy, narrator. Ms. DeYoung and Mr. Dohmen do double duty and sing the only two roles in Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, a blisteringly intense one-act operatic psychodrama.
Sir Mark Elder conducts Debussy, Delius, Mozart, and Strauss, January 13-18
English conductor Sir Mark Elder and German pianist Lars Vogt join the BSO January 13–18 for a program of Debussy, Delius, Mozart, and Richard Strauss. Delius's Paris: A Nocturne (The Song of a Great City) and Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks are both tone poems, though they speak different musical languages, and Colin Matthews' orchestral arrangements of selected Preludes by Debussy are of the same temperament despite being a series of miniatures; these free-spirited works share the bill with the more traditional but endlessly elegant Piano Concerto No. 21 by Mozart. The Friday performance in this series initiates the BSO's new series "UnderScore Fridays," with the works by Delius, Mozart, and Strauss in a concert starting at 7 p.m. with comments by the conductor, and followed by a post-concert reception.
Lorin Maazel makes welcome return after 2009-10 appearances, January 20-25
After leading the BSO in highly successful concerts in the fall of 2009, conductor Lorin Maazel returns to the orchestra January 20–25 for a program of extroverted Russian works—a genre for which Maazel has always been known. Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 3 joins two 20th-century pieces by Stravinsky and Scriabin, both of which employ exotic orchestration: The Song of the Nightingale, from Stravinsky's opera of the same name, and The Poem of Ecstasy, Scriabin's exultant tone poem.
Christoph von Dohnányi conducts Ligeti, Mozart, and Dvorák, January 27-February 1
Two BSO principal musicians are featured January 27–February 1 as eminent German maestro Christoph von Dohnányi conducts Ligeti's Double Concerto for flute and oboe with Elizabeth Rowe, flute, and John Ferrillo, oboe. Maestro Dohnányi conducted the world premiere of the piece in 1972, and he has a direct link to the composer, whom he counted as a personal friend. This program also features the young German violinist Arabella Steinbacher, who makes her Tanglewood debut in 2010, in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, as well as Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 7, the darkest of his final three works in the genre.
Sakari Oramo and Radu Lupu collaborate on music of Beethoven, February 3-8
|
Joining the BSO February 3–8 are an exciting young conductor and a reigning master of the piano in Finnish maestro Sakari Oramo and Romanian pianist Radu Lupu. Mr. Lupu brings his unique, probing style to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, while Mr. Oramo explores two great Russian composers with Mussorgsky's showpiece Night on Bald Mountain and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 6, written in the wake of World War II.
Susanna Mälkki leads American premiere of work by Unsuk Chin, February 10-12
Another young Finnish conductor joins the BSO February 10–12 for a program that spans approximately 240 years. Susanna Mälkki, who stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Yuri Temirkanov in 2009, leads the BSO and cellist Alban Gerhardt in contemporary composer and former Ligeti student Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto, which was written specifically for Mr. Gerhardt, and Dvo?ák's Silent Woods for cello and orchestra. Ms. Mälkki also conducts Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 and Haydn's Symphony No. 59, Fire.
James Levine leads Mahler's Ninth Symphony, February 23-March 1
The 2010–11 season's installment of the ongoing Mahler cycle wraps up February 23–March 1 as Maestro Levine returns to conduct the Symphony No. 9, one of the most emotionally affecting works in the repertoire. This program is also the first of three that travel to New York for performances at Carnegie Hall; Mahler's Ninth receives its Carnegie performance March 17.
Christian Tetzlaff performs world premiere of work by Birtwistle, March 3-8
In a tour de force program March 38, outstanding violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins Maestro Levine for a concert of three works for violin and orchestra. The centerpiece of the program is the world premiere of a new BSO commission from English composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle, one of the world's greatest living composers. Surrounding the new piece in these performances are Mozart's Rondo in C for violin and orchestra and Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2. This program is given a repeat performance at Carnegie Hall March 15.
Maurizio Pollini joins James Levine in music of Mozart and Schoenberg, March 10-12
Another of the world's leading soloists joins James Levine and the BSO March 10–12 for a program of Schoenberg and Mozart, two of the music director's most beloved composers. Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini, who has been dazzling American audiences since 1968, performs one concerto by each composer—Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and Schoenberg's only concerto for the instrument. Maestro Levine also leads the BSO in a symphonic work by each composer, opening the concert with Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra and closing it with Mozart's Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, the last symphony he wrote and one of his greatest masterpieces. This program, the third of the New York-bound concerts, receives it Carnegie Hall performance March 16.
Thomas Adès leads his own music, March 25-26
After returning from New York, the BSO launches into a revival of its composer-conductor week as Thomas Adès—talented English composer, conductor, and pianist—makes his BSO conducting debut with two of his own works and pieces by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. Central to the program are scenes from Mr. Adès's Shakespeare-inspired opera The Tempest, which was premiered at Covent Garden to great acclaim in 2004, and his violin concerto Concentric Paths, with Anthony Marwood, for whom it was written, making his BSO debut as soloist. The other works on the program, which expands upon the theme of The Tempest, are Tchaikovsky's symphonic poem The Tempest, and the Prelude and Suite
No. 1 from Sibelius's incidental music to The Tempest.
Evgeny Kissin performs music of Scriabin and Grieg, March 31-April 2
Virtuosic piano music comes to Symphony Hall March 31–April 2, as Evgeny Kissin brings his dazzling piano wizardry to bear on Scriabin and Grieg's piano concertos. Conductor John Nelson will lead the orchestra and also conduct two purely orchestral works, the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 and Orpheus, by the most legendary of all piano virtuosi, Franz Liszt.
Sir Colin Davis leads two program, including Sibelius's Third Symphony, April 6-16
Renowned English conductor Sir Colin Davis brings his extensive experience and impeccable taste to the BSO for two weeks in April, performing music that lies at the core of his repertoire. April 6–12, Sir Colin Davis leads a program of Classical gems by Mozart and Haydn, throwing into sharp relief the similarities and differences between the two kindred composers' works. Another of the BSO's principal musicians, William R. Hudgins, is featured as soloist in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, and the orchestra explores one symphony each by Mozart (No. 32), and Haydn (No. 97). The following week's program, April 14–16, focuses on the music of a composer Maestro Davis has long championed, Jean Sibelius. Sharing the bill with that composer's Symphony No. 3 and Tapiola is Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, with American pianist Jonathan Biss at the keyboard.
Maasaki Suzuki makes BSO debut leading Bach's St. John Passion, April 21-23
Lovers of Bach receive a rare treat April 21–23 when leading conductor and Bach expert Maasaki Suzuki, founder and director of the Bach Collegium Japan, leads the BSO and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Bach's St. John Passion. Maestro Suzuki combines erudite scholarship with passionate performance to create truly compelling realizations of the Baroque master's greatest works. Soloists on this program are Hana BlažÃková, soprano, Ingeborg Danz, mezzo-soprano, Christoph Prégardien, tenor, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann, bass-baritone.
Simon Trp?eski performs Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2, April 28-30
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns for his second subscription concert of the season April 28–30, leading the BSO in a rare performance of the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart by the late-Romantic German composer Max Reger. On the program with Reger's lush, expansive orchestral work are Ravel's ever-popular Bolero and Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Macedonian pianist Simon Trp?eski in his BSO debut as soloist.
Charles Dutoit closes BSO 2010-11 season with Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, May 4-7
The BSO's 2010–11 season comes to a close with the Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit leading the great French composer Hector Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, a powerful "dramatic symphony" based on Shakespeare. A too-rarely performed masterpiece, Berlioz's work features in this performance Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, tenor, Laurent Naouri, baritone, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
TICKET INFORMATION
Subscriptions for the BSO's 2010-2011 season are available by calling the BSO Subscription Office at 888-266-7575 or online through the BSO's website www.bso.orgSingle tickets, priced from
$29 to $118, with Open Rehearsals priced at $20 each (general admission), go on sale August 9. Regular-season Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as Friday afternoons, are priced from $29 to $103; concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons are priced from $31 to $118. Tickets may be purchased by phone through SymphonyCharge (617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200), online through the BSO's website www.bso.org or in person at the Symphony Hall Box Office (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston). There is a $5.50 service fee for all tickets purchased online or by phone through SymphonyCharge.
RADIO BROADCASTS, STREAMING, PODCASTS, AND "CLASSICAL COMPANION"
The Boston Symphony Orchestra's extensive website, www.bso.org
is the largest and most-visited orchestral website in the country, receiving 7.5 million visitors annually and generating more than $54 million in revenue since its launch in 1996. The BSO's website offers fans information and music beyond the concert hall, providing interactive new media that includes "Classical Companion," an interactive supplement of special BSO concerts that provides interviews with composers and performers, archival images, and video and sound clips. BSO Concert Preview Podcasts, focusing on each of the programs of the BSO's 2010-2011 season, are available through www.bso.org and on iTunes.
BSO concerts are broadcast regularly by 99.5 All-Classical, a service of WGBH. Saturday-evening concerts can be heard live on 99.5 FM, on HD radio at 89.7 HD2, and online at 995allclassical.org http://995allclassical.org Broadcasts begin with exclusive features and interviews at 7 p.m, followed by the concert at 8 p.m.
All programs and artists are subject to change. For current program information, dial 617-CONCERT (266-2378). For further information, call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is online at www.bso.org
.