BSO 2018/19 Season - Concert Previews

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès talks with Brian Bell about the Ades Piano Concerto, and other works on the March 7-9, 2019 program

Dvořák wrote the piece in 1876-77 in response to the deaths of three of his children, using the traditional Medieval Latin poem on the subject of Mary's sorrow over Christ's death. Dvořák's poignant and dramatic setting expresses a heartfelt, personal experience of grief via the four solo roles, and its universality through the power of the chorus and orchestra. The BSO has only performed this work in its entirety on two previous occasions: under Seiji Ozawa in 1980, and in a single performance in Louisville, Kentucky, led by Arthur Nikisch in 1891. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

Dvořák wrote the piece in 1876-77 in response to the deaths of three of his children, using the traditional Medieval Latin poem on the subject of Mary's sorrow over Christ's death. Dvořák's poignant and dramatic setting expresses a heartfelt, personal experience of grief via the four solo roles, and its universality through the power of the chorus and orchestra. The BSO has only performed this work in its entirety on two previous occasions: under Seiji Ozawa in 1980, and in a single performance in Louisville, Kentucky, led by Arthur Nikisch in 1891.

Debussy's immensely colorful "Nocturnes" is an 1899 masterpiece of musical Impressionism. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons speaks about the programs of February 21-23, 2019, which feature the Debussy Nocturnes.

Andris Nelsons and the BSO continue their recent tradition of performing opera in concert with Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica ("Sister Angelica"), one of the three short operas composed in the 1910s and known collectively as Il trittico ("Triptych"). The story centers on the title character, who is living in a convent to repent a past sin, having a son out of wedlock. Acclaimed soprano Kristine Opolais sings the role of Sister Angelica in this concert performance. Opening the program is a work almost contemporary with Puccini's, Lili Boulanger's short tone poem D'un Soir triste ("A somber evening"), one of few purely orchestral works completed by this young genius before her untimely death in 1918 at age 24. Also on the program is Debussy's immensely colorful Nocturnes, an 1899 masterpiece of musical Impressionism.

A quick look at Tchaikovsky's emotionally intense and magnificently orchestrated Fourth Symphony. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

Tchaikovsky's emotionally intense and magnificently orchestrated Fourth Symphony, completed in 1878, represents the culmination of a traumatic period in the composer's life. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

A introduction to Antonín Dvořák's "Stabat Mater", the first major religious work by the great Czech composer, who was a pious Catholic. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

Andris Nelsons and the BSO are joined by the firebrand Chinese pianist Yuja Wang for Schumann's Piano Concerto, a work blending the composer's unique Romantic lyricism and brilliance. The concerto began as a single-movement Fantasia written for his wife Clara, who was considered one of the great virtuosos of the age. Bruckner's magisterial Symphony No. 9, a work left just short of completion at the composer's death in 1896, shows the continuing influence of Wagner in its harmonic language and scope, with the particular Austrian grace and gift for counterpoint for which Bruckner was known.

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons talks with Brian Bell about the Bruckner Ninth Symphony, being performed on February 14-16, 2019.

Bruckner's magisterial Symphony No. 9, a work left just short of completion at the composer's death in 1896, shows the continuing influence of Wagner in its harmonic language and scope, with the particular Austrian grace and gift for counterpoint for which Bruckner was known.Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

A quick looks at Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica ("Sister Angelica"), one of the three short operas composed in the 1910s and known collectively as Il trittico ("Triptych"). Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

A preveiw of Debussy's immensely colorful Nocturnes, an 1899 masterpiece of musical Impressionism. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

Violinist Lisa Batiashvili chats with Brian Bell about the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1, which she is performing February 7-12, 2019.