BSO 2018/19 Season - Concert Previews

Listen to the Concert Preview! Any opportunity to hear the final three symphonies of Mozart played by the BSO in a single program-in this instance under the distinguished baton of Christoph von Dohnányi-is a special event. Virtually defining their genre at the peak of the Classical era, the composer's last three symphonies were written within the span of a few weeks in the summer of 1787. Scholars have never pinpointed what may have triggered their composition-perhaps a projected concert series that never took place-but Mozart covered an enormous amount of expressive and technical ground, elevating the symphony (along with Haydn) far beyond the glorified, serenade-like status it had previously held. For Viennese audiences who came of age immediately after Mozart's early death in 1791-i.e., Beethoven's generation-these three works and just a handful of others kept Mozart's name and spirit alive, inspiring composers like Beethoven and Schubert to greater heights. They remain Mozart's most frequently performed symphonies, by far.

Download the Program Notes! Any opportunity to hear the final three symphonies of Mozart played by the BSO in a single program-in this instance under the distinguished baton of Christoph von Dohnányi-is a special event. Virtually defining their genre at the peak of the Classical era, the composer's last three symphonies were written within the span of a few weeks in the summer of 1787. Scholars have never pinpointed what may have triggered their composition-perhaps a projected concert series that never took place-but Mozart covered an enormous amount of expressive and technical ground, elevating the symphony (along with Haydn) far beyond the glorified, serenade-like status it had previously held. For Viennese audiences who came of age immediately after Mozart's early death in 1791-i.e., Beethoven's generation-these three works and just a handful of others kept Mozart's name and spirit alive, inspiring composers like Beethoven and Schubert to greater heights. They remain Mozart's most frequently performed symphonies, by far.

Download the Program Notes! Revered German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads the BSO in two consecutive weeks of programs this season. The first features beloved pianist Emanuel Ax in two works-Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat, composed in early 1784 as the first of the dozen piano concertos dating from the height of his popularity in Vienna; and Richard Strauss's Burleske, a sparkling, classically stylish early work composed when he was twenty-one. The program opens with the lovely Sextet for strings from Strauss's final opera, Capriccio, and ends with Mozart's Haffner Symphony, which began life as a serenade composed for the Haffner family in 1782, then was turned by Mozart into a symphony introduced in Vienna the following year.

Listen to the Concert Preview! Revered German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads the BSO in two consecutive weeks of programs this season. The first features beloved pianist Emanuel Ax in two works-Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat, composed in early 1784 as the first of the dozen piano concertos dating from the height of his popularity in Vienna; and Richard Strauss's Burleske, a sparkling, classically stylish early work composed when he was twenty-one. The program opens with the lovely Sextet for strings from Strauss's final opera, Capriccio, and ends with Mozart's Haffner Symphony, which began life as a serenade composed for the Haffner family in 1782, then was turned by Mozart into a symphony introduced in Vienna the following year.

Listen in to the Concert Preview! For his second week of concerts, Charles Dutoit leads the BSO in what is sure to be one of the season's most important events-the first BSO performances of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski's moving opera King Roger. Set in 12th-century Sicily and loosely based on Euripides' The Bacchae, King Roger has long been championed by Maestro Dutoit, who led the Paris, New York, Japanese, and Canadian premieres of this rarely heard work, which, even beyond the conflict between Christianity and paganism built into the libretto, more broadly addresses the universal struggles between paganism and intellect, intellect and wisdom, darkness and light. Featuring an internationally heralded cast headed by star Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who makes his BSO subscription series debut in the title role, these performances will be sung in Polish with English supertitles.

Download the Program Notes! For his second week of concerts, Charles Dutoit leads the BSO in what is sure to be one of the season's most important events-the first BSO performances of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski's moving opera King Roger. Set in 12th-century Sicily and loosely based on Euripides' The Bacchae, King Roger has long been championed by Maestro Dutoit, who led the Paris, New York, Japanese, and Canadian premieres of this rarely heard work, which, even beyond the conflict between Christianity and paganism built into the libretto, more broadly addresses the universal struggles between paganism and intellect, intellect and wisdom, darkness and light. Featuring an internationally heralded cast headed by star Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who makes his BSO subscription series debut in the title role, these performances will be sung in Polish with English supertitles.

Listen in to the Concert Preview! Continuing his recent multi-season "residency" with the BSO for two weeks of concerts this season, Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit leads German violinist Julia Fischer in the great Brahms Violin Concerto, composed in 1878 for Brahms's lifelong friend, the virtuoso violinist-teacher Joseph Joachim. Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks is named for the Washington, D.C., estate of its commissioners; its premiere took place there under the baton of Nadia Boulanger. This brief, objective, consummately neoclassical chamber concerto is a "concerto" in the sense that each section is treated as a solo participant. Debussy's Images is at the other end of the spectrum, a richly orchestrated, richly illustrative triptych drawing on an English jig, idealized Spanish music, and a subtle, evocative Spring Round.

Download the Program Notes! Continuing his recent multi-season "residency" with the BSO for two weeks of concerts this season, Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit leads German violinist Julia Fischer in the great Brahms Violin Concerto, composed in 1878 for Brahms's lifelong friend, the virtuoso violinist-teacher Joseph Joachim. Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks is named for the Washington, D.C., estate of its commissioners; its premiere took place there under the baton of Nadia Boulanger. This brief, objective, consummately neoclassical chamber concerto is a "concerto" in the sense that each section is treated as a solo participant. Debussy's Images is at the other end of the spectrum, a richly orchestrated, richly illustrative triptych drawing on an English jig, idealized Spanish music, and a subtle, evocative Spring Round.

View the Program Notes for this series! French conductor Stéphane Denève returns for this program of works all premiered in Paris in the early 1920s. Canadian violinist James Ehnes is soloist in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, which begins with an amazingly long-breathed, lyrical melody, and also features a brilliantly exciting scherzo. Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Poulenc's Les Biches were both composed for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Stravinsky's score reworks music mostly from the Baroque era for an effect both contemporary and out of time; Les Biches was completely au courant, a light and frothy tableau of a swank party in the south of France. Milhaud's seminal, lively ballet score Creation of the World is an important mainstream example of Paris composers' fascination with American jazz in the years after World War I.

Listen in to the Concert Preview! French conductor Stéphane Denève returns for this program of works all premiered in Paris in the early 1920s. Canadian violinist James Ehnes is soloist in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, which begins with an amazingly long-breathed, lyrical melody, and also features a brilliantly exciting scherzo. Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Poulenc's Les Biches were both composed for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Stravinsky's score reworks music mostly from the Baroque era for an effect both contemporary and out of time; Les Biches was completely au courant, a light and frothy tableau of a swank party in the south of France. Milhaud's seminal, lively ballet score Creation of the World is an important mainstream example of Paris composers' fascination with American jazz in the years after World War I.

Listen in to the Concert Preview! The BSO and estimable French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard for a new work written for Aimard: Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Responses: Of sweet disorder and the carefully careless, a BSO co-commission receiving its American premiere at these concerts. The work's subtitle references an essay collection by the British architect/historian Robert Maxwell, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Princeton University.

View the Program Notes for this series! The BSO and estimable French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard for a new work written for Aimard: Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Responses: Of sweet disorder and the carefully careless, a BSO co-commission receiving its American premiere at these concerts. The work's subtitle references an essay collection by the British architect/historian Robert Maxwell, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Princeton University.

View the Program Notes for this series! Israeli conductor Asher Fisch makes his BSO subscription series debut with this diverse program. Opening the concert is the Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman's Astrolatry, a 2012 work inspired by the stars and constellations. These will be the first BSO performances of any music by Dorman, who is a former Tanglewood Music Center Composition Fellow. Lithuanian-born violinist Julian Rachlin returns to Symphony Hall for Serge Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, a 1930s masterpiece with a breathtakingly beautiful slow movement. Robert Schumann's robust Symphony No. 1, composed in his so-called "symphonic year" of 1841, is one of his most energetic and optimistic scores.

Listen in to the Concert Preview! Israeli conductor Asher Fisch makes his BSO subscription series debut with this diverse program. Opening the concert is the Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman's Astrolatry, a 2012 work inspired by the stars and constellations. These will be the first BSO performances of any music by Dorman, who is a former Tanglewood Music Center Composition Fellow. Lithuanian-born violinist Julian Rachlin returns to Symphony Hall for Serge Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, a 1930s masterpiece with a breathtakingly beautiful slow movement. Robert Schumann's robust Symphony No. 1, composed in his so-called "symphonic year" of 1841, is one of his most energetic and optimistic scores.

View the Program Notes for this series! Born in the Ossetian region of the Caucasus and making his BSO debut in these concerts, Tugan Sokhiev is music director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He is joined by the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, also making his BSO debut, for Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1, a single-movement, fantasia-like work by turns fiery and charming. Opening the program is Hector Berlioz's Le Corsaire Overture, which, as was often the composer's practice, took shape from earlier sketches. The title is an incidental reference to James Fenimore Cooper's The Red Rover ("Le Corsaire rouge"). Rimsky Korsakov's orchestral masterpiece, the "symphonic suite" Scheherezade, masterfully spins out its Arabian Nights-inspired tableaux via transformations of an immediately recognizable musical motif. The work features a major solo violin part usually played by the orchestra's concertmaster.