BSO 2018/19 Season - Concert Previews

Mahler composed his Fifth Symphony in 1901-02. His first completely instrumental symphony since No. 1, it marked a new, highly individual, and influential approach to writing for orchestra that would carry through the remainder of Mahler's symphonies. The Fifth includes the famous and moving Adagietto movement for strings and harp. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

The BSO and Andris Nelsons give the American premiere of Latvian composer Andris Dzenītis's orchestral work "Māra", a BSO co-commission with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. This is one of two works being performed by the BSO this season to mark the 100th anniversary of Latvian independence (declared November 18, 1918). Dzenītis calls his new work, which is dedicated to Andris Nelsons and takes its title from a goddess in Latvian mythology, "the musical encoding of my personal understanding of what it means to be Latvian."

Opening the November 8-13 series is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, to be recorded live as part of Andris Nelsons and the BSO's multi-season exploration of the composer's symphonies. Shostakovich wrote this symphony while he was still a student, and it immediately established him as one of Russia's leading artistic figures. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

The BSO and Andris Nelsons give the American premiere of Latvian composer Andris Dzenītis's orchestral work "Māra", a BSO co-commission with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. This is one of two works being performed by the BSO this season to mark the 100th anniversary of Latvian independence (declared November 18, 1918). Dzenītis calls his new work, which is dedicated to Andris Nelsons and takes its title from a goddess in Latvian mythology, "the musical encoding of my personal understanding of what it means to be Latvian." Opening the program is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, to be recorded live as part of Andris Nelsons and the BSO's multi-season exploration of the composer's symphonies. Shostakovich wrote this symphony while he was still a student, and it immediately established him as one of Russia's leading artistic figures. Completing the program is Act II of Tchaikovsky's vibrant, beloved ballet score "The Nutcracker", which includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the famous series of exotic national dances well-known from the popular Nutcracker Suite.

In this London-oriented program, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in the American premiere of the first of several BSO co-commissions this season, English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's Remembering: In Memoriam Evan Scofield. Evan, son of the great jazz guitarist and Turnage collaborator John Scofield, died of cancer at age twenty-five. The piece was co-commissioned by the BSO with the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. Opening the program is Haydn's Symphony No. 93, one of the first of the group of bold, innovative symphonies he wrote for performance in London during his visits there in the early 1790s. The English composer Edward Elgar's tour-de-force of orchestral and expressive imagination, the Enigma Variations, is a series of widely varied portraits of his friends via transformations of a common musical theme.

Completing the program November 8-13, is Act II of "Tchaikovsky"'s vibrant, beloved ballet score "The Nutcracker", which includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the famous series of exotic national dances well-known from the popular Nutcracker Suite. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 1 while he was still a student, and it immediately established him as one of Russia's leading artistic figures. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

The BSO and Andris Nelsons give the American premiere of Latvian composer Andris Dzenītis's orchestral work "Māra", a BSO co-commission with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. This is one of two works being performed by the BSO this season to mark the 100th anniversary of Latvian independence (declared November 18, 1918). Dzenītis calls his new work, which is dedicated to Andris Nelsons and takes its title from a goddess in Latvian mythology, "the musical encoding of my personal understanding of what it means to be Latvian." Opening the program is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, to be recorded live as part of Andris Nelsons and the BSO's multi-season exploration of the composer's symphonies. Shostakovich wrote this symphony while he was still a student, and it immediately established him as one of Russia's leading artistic figures. Completing the program is Act II of Tchaikovsky's vibrant, beloved ballet score "The Nutcracker", which includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the famous series of exotic national dances well-known from the popular Nutcracker Suite.

Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, a longtime collaborator of Andris Nelsons, returns to Symphony Hall as soloist in a concerto composed for him, the Viennese composer HK Gruber's Aerial. Featuring piccolo trumpet and cow's horn as well as standard trumpet, the concerto makes full use of Hardenberger's considerable virtuosity and expressive range. Mahler composed his Fifth Symphony in 1901-02. His first completely instrumental symphony since No. 1, it marked a new, highly individual, and influential approach to writing for orchestra that would carry through the remainder of Mahler's symphonies. The Fifth includes the famous and moving Adagietto movement for strings and harp.

The English composer Edward Elgar's tour-de-force of orchestral and expressive imagination, the "Enigma" Variations, is a series of widely varied portraits of his friends via transformations of a common musical theme. It’s on the program November 1-6 Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

A quick look at Haydn's Symphony No. 93, one of the first of the group of bold, innovative symphonies he wrote for performance in London during his visits there in the early 1790s. Performed November 1-6 at Symphony Hall. Produced by Anthony Princiotti.

In this London-oriented program, Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in the American premiere of the first of several BSO co-commissions this season, English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's Remembering: In Memoriam Evan Scofield. Evan, son of the great jazz guitarist and Turnage collaborator John Scofield, died of cancer at age twenty-five. The piece was co-commissioned by the BSO with the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. Opening the program is Haydn's Symphony No. 93, one of the first of the group of bold, innovative symphonies he wrote for performance in London during his visits there in the early 1790s. The English composer Edward Elgar's tour-de-force of orchestral and expressive imagination, the Enigma Variations, is a series of widely varied portraits of his friends via transformations of a common musical theme.

Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage chats with Brian Bell about his “Remembering: In Memoriam Evan Scofield”, receiving its’ American premiere on November 1, 3, and 6, 2018. English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's "Remembering: In Memoriam Evan Scofield"- Evan, son of the great jazz guitarist and Turnage collaborator John Scofield, died of cancer at age twenty-five.

The English composer Edward Elgar's tour-de-force of orchestral and expressive imagination, the "Enigma" Variations, is on the program November 1-6. Video produced by Anthony Princiotti

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Mahler's all-embracing. ninety-minute Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, along with Chinese soprano Ying Fang and Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink. The third movement is a setting of "Urlicht," a poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a source of texts for many of Mahler's songs, and the vast finale includes a setting for chorus and soprano of verses from Klopstock's poem "Resurrection."