Concert Review: Call Her Madeleine

Renée Fleming returns to Strauss at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

She's not done yet: soprano Renée Fleming. Photo by Andrew Eccles.

The soprano Renée Fleming remains a legitimate superstar. So it caused particular turmoil in the operatic world last year when she announced that the performances as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier would be her last...in that role. Last night at Carnegie Hall, Ms. Fleming returned to Strauss as another heroine, the Countess Madeleine in the composer's final opera, Capriccio.

Concert Review: The Flight of the Intruder

Andris Nelsons conducts the Mahler Fifth.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Håkan Hardenberger (left) with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo © 2017 Boston Symphony Orchestra by Dominick Reuter.

It's amazing what a century can do.

On Monday night, Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Carnegie Hall to play two pieces. The first was Aerial, a 1999 trumpet concerto by Austrian enfant terrible HK Gruber.  It was paired with the Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler. However, a hundred years ago, Mahler's music was considered just as radical as Mr. Gruber's work.

Concert Review: They Might Not Be Giants

Yo-Yo Ma tilts windmills with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Stop that you'll only encourage him: Yo-Yo Ma (with cello) and Andris Nelsons (on podium) and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Stu Rosner for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra played its third and final Carnegie Hall concert on Friday night. This venerable orchestra has found its passion and spark again under the baton of music director Andris Nelsons. As an ensemble, it is moving forward in a bold and forthright manner. And yet, some of its past tendencies appeared in this concert, resulting in a curios evening of variable quality.

Concert Review: The Coming of the Great Darkness

Andris Nelsons and the BSO arrive at Carnegie Hall
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Harvesters of sorrow: Andris Nelsons (left) and Jean-Yves Thibaudet (seated, right)  collaborate on The Age of Anxiety.
Photo from the March 23 concert at Symphony Hall © 2018 The Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is flourishing under the leadership of music director Andris Nelsons. Ensemble and music director arrived at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night for the first of three concerts this week, fulfilling their yearly obligation to visit that historic stage and offering New Yorkers a sample of the interesting new directions pursued by this brave and ambitious conductor.

Follies on the Roof

Tosca star, conductor take the act to Tanglewood.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jump they say: Karita Mattila in a promotional shot for the Met's old production of Tosca.
Image © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera

Those wanting to see the original conductor and soprano scheduled for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Tosca should head to Tanglewood in Lenox, MA. on August 26. Conductor Andris Nelsons and his wife Kristine Opolais will perform Act II of the opera in a special opera gala at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's annual summer festival.

Summer Festival Preview: Tanglewood

Another summer under the trees offers gods, rainbows and Mahler.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Koussevitsky Concert Shed at Tanglewood, guarded by a really big tree.
Photo courtesy the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Whisper the name "Tanglewood" and you will tickle the conscience of the novice classical music-goer, and fire the memories of those who have walked its grassy paths and visited the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Located on a sprawling estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, this is the Cadillac of summer festivals, offering symphonies, chamber music and opera to a throng of devotees who make the pilgrimage again and again.

Concert Review: He's Only Just Begun

Berlioz, George Benjamin and Ravel with the BSO at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hector Berlioz (center) and his muse Harriet Smithson as depicted on the poster for
the 1942 French film Symphonie-fantastique.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra concluded their three-concert stand at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night with a concert featuring the New York premiere of a major work by George Benjamin, flanked by the French music of Maurice Ravel and Hector Berlioz. Although this concert used smaller orchestral forces than Tuesday's all-out assault, this was by far the most expansive and ambitious of the three subscription programs that they had chosen to import from their 2016-17 offerings at their Huntington Avenue home.

Concert Review: The Priest of Beethoven

The BSO plays Schuller, Mozart and Beethoven's Eroica.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Andris Nelsons in flight.
Photo by Marco Borggreve for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Night Two of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's three concerts at Carnegie Hall this week featured music from three centuries, as music director Andris Nelsons showed his ease with different eras and styles of classical music.

Concert Review: A Certain Sense of Drama

Andris Nelsons and the BSO take Leningrad.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Andris Nelsons at the helm of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Marco Borggreve © 2016 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Andris Nelsons is in his third year at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the fiery Latvian conductor has been nothing but good for this august ensemble. On Tuesday night, Mr. Nelsons led the first of three Carnegie Hall concerts this week. He opened his New York run with an ambitious pairing: a new concerto by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina and the longest symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich: the Seventh.

The Night of the Holy Bail

Andris Nelsons is out of Bayreuth's new Parsifal.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Andris Nelsons at the helm of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo © 2016 the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

According to reports published today by The New York Times and the Boston Globe, Andris Nelsons, the fiery Latvian conductor who is the still-new music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has exited from his commitment to open the 2016 Bayreuth Festival and its new production of Wagner's Parsifal.

Concert Review: Meet the Door Busters

Andris Nelsons and the BSO on Black Friday.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Sale of the Century: Andris Nelsons (left) and Yefim Bronfman storm through Bartók.
Photo by Winslow Townson for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The day after Thanksgiving is dreaded by most Americans as when bargain-hunters swarm the shopping centers in search of material goods to stuff under trees. However, Symphony Hall in Boston offers an oasis in all this commerce with an annual post-Thanksgiving performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Concert Review: The Prodigal and the Exile

The BSO ends its epic stand at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Prince Alexander (Nikolai Cherkasov) prepares for battle in a scene from Alexander Nevsky.
Photo © 1938 Mosfilm.

Under the baton of new music director Andris Nelsons, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has, this week, treated Carnegie Hall to some of the most exciting performances of this still young concert season. On Thursday night, conductor and players went for the throat with a thrilling one-two program of Prokofiev’s Aleksandr Nevsky and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, a daunting program for any orchestra worth their salt.

Opera Review: The Revenge Business

Christine Goerke’s Elektra rocks Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

So her brother's an axe murderer:: Christine Goerke (in red) sings Elektra in concert
 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra thundering behind her.
Photo by Stu Rosner © 2015 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Strauss’ Elektra is a 100-minute roller coaster, an opera where bigger-than-life mythological characters race through a collapsing house intent on murdering each other with a bloody axe. On Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall, it was the perfect concert vehicle for the rejuvinated Boston Symphony Orchestra, their sophomore music director Andris Nelsons and its leading lady: soprano Christine Goerke.

Concert Review: Happiness is the Road

The Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The most happy fella: Andris Nelsons.
Photo © 2014 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra returned to Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night, opening a three concert stand under the baton of their vibrant nnew music director Andris Nelsons. Tuesday’s program featured new music from composer Sebastian Currier and then this orchestra’s strength: square-shouldered and unpretentious performances of Beethoven and Brahms.

Concert Review: Of Strings and Broken Puppets

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Andris Nelsons led the BSO at Carnegie Hall.
Photo courtesy the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra continued their three-night stand at Carnegie Hall Thursday night with a program featuring Beethoven's Violin Concerto bookended by watershed works from the pen of Dmitri Shostakovich. Mr. Nelsons' stamp on this orchestra is beginning to make itself heard: a painstaking attention to orchestral detail and an almost intimate podium style that makes himself and his baton part of the working ensemble and not merely its music director.

Concert Review: Listening to Inner Voices

Andris Nelsons conducts the BSO at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

New Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Andris Nelsons.
Photo by Marco Borggreve. © 2014 The Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has a new music director. Andris Nelsons has appeared at Carnegie Hall with that storied ensemble before, but Wednesday night marked the Latvian conductor's first New York performance with the BSO in his first season occupying the post. For the first night of three programmed concerts, Mr. Nelsons chose a program emphasizing the inner monologue of the creative mind, playing works by Mozart, Gunther Schuller and Richard Strauss that delved deep into the psyches of their respective creators.

Concert Review: The Dust Buster

The Vienna Philharmonic plays Haydn and Brahms.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Statue of Liberty play: Andris Nelsons.
Photo by Stu Rosner © 2013 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Vienna Philharmonic is known for its unique orchestral sound, idiosyncratic choice of instruments and general conservatism in its choice of repertory. On Thursday night, the famed orchestra returned to Carnegie Hall for the first of three concerts wrapping up this year's Vienna: City of Dreams Festival. The program was one to bring joy to the average concert-goer, an unadventurous combination of Haydn and Brahms.

Swinging Door Nixes Tanglewood Trip

Conductor Andris Nelsons cancels BSO commitment due to severe concussion.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Newly minted BSO music director Andris Nelsons was whacked in the head by a door
and will not conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Saturday at Tanglewood.

Strange news coming out of the Boston Symphony Orchestra press office today. According to a pair of statements issued this afternoon, the orchestra's new music director Andris Nelsons will not be leading the Verdi Requiem at Tanglewood on Saturday night, due to a swnging door.

White Smoke Over Huntington Avenue

Andris Nelsons to take over Boston Symphony Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Andris Nelsons is the new Music Director at the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Stu Rosner © 2011 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

There's a new sheriff in Boston.

The board of the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced today that Andris Nelsons will be the ensemble's new Music Director, filling a vacancy at one of America's "big five" orchestras. The post has been empty since James Levine's resignation in 2011.

Concert Review: Double Reed Gonzo

Andris Nelsons conducts the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Andris Nelsons. Photo by Marco Borggreve © 2012 AndrisNelsons.com

Before delving into today's review of the New York Philharmonic's concert of Thursday, February 7th, let us take a moment to consider...the oboe.

Image © Musicians Friend Catalogue.

Approximately two feet in length, this black double reed instrument is the softest and most difficult to play of all the woodwinds. Its unique, plaintive tone quality requires very fine breath control and the ability to blend expertly with other instruments and yet stand out as a solo voice when needed.

On Thursday night, New York Philharmonic principal oboist Liang Wang played a key role in all three works on the program. The concert, conducted by Latvian maestro Andris Nelsons, featured three works: Antonín Dvořák's orchestral fairy tale The Noon-Day Witch, Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto, and finally Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra which gave Mr. Wang and most of his fellow musicians a turn in the limelight.

The program opened with the Dvořák, a work added to the orchestra's repertory by music director Alan Gilbert in 2011. Mr. Nelsons conducted with broad, bold strokes, capturing the rustic spirit of this music without resorting to vulgarity. Mr. Wang represented the playful voice of the child whose mischief comes to a terrible mortal end at the hands of the titular witch. Powerful playing from the brass marked the child's end, and the work was spurred to a massive rhythmic climax.