Benjamin-Zander

Concert and Album Reviews: Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra plays Britten, Tchaikovsky, Ives, and Ravel — Isabelle Faust plays Britten

March 7, 2024
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Conductor Benjamin Zander put the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra to challenging work at Symphony Hall, while, on record, Isabelle Faust delivers a vital, urgent, and engrossing traversal of the Britten Violin Concerto.

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Concert Review: The Boston Philharmonic Performs Ravel, Berg, and Mahler

February 29, 2024
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The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra was violinist Liza Ferschtman’s equal partner for much of the performance, imbuing Alban Berg’s dense orchestral writing with warmth and shapeliness

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Classical Album & Streaming Reviews: “Spanish Impressions,” Boston Philharmonic Orchestra & Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in Concert

November 22, 2023
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An admiring review of the latest disc from Hermitage Trio and praise for Boston Philharmonic and Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra concerts earlier this month at Symphony Hall.

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Concert Preview: The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s 45th Season Opener

October 18, 2023
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The concert, which along with the Elgar Violin Concerto also includes Rossini’s William Tell Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, promises to be a momentous occasion for the ensemble.

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Classical CD and Livestream Reviews: Mahler 2, Two Ways

May 9, 2023
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In both performances tempos are fleet but not rushed. The big moments – from the hellish apex of the first movement’s development to the screaming climax of the Scherzo and the cathartic resolution of the finale – pack heavy punches.

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Classical Concert Review: Boston Philharmonic Plays Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”

April 17, 2023
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Few conductors in Boston have a feel for late Mahler the way Benjamin Zander does.

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Classical Critic’s Notebook: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2

October 20, 2022
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Whatever Rachmaninoff’s conflicted feelings about writing symphonies were, there’s nothing ambiguous about the content of his Second Symphony. From start to finish, it’s a marvel of melodic freshness and brilliant instrumentation.

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Classical Music Preview: Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2022-23 Season

October 12, 2022
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The season-long celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Benjamin Zander’s debut as a conductor, which gets underway later this month when the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) returns to the stage, doesn’t stint on festive spirit.

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Classical Concert Review: Boston Philharmonic Orchestra plays Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8

October 16, 2021
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This was an epic performance of an epic piece, steeped in Brucknerian character.

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Classical Music Preview: Catching Up and Looking Ahead with Benjamin Zander on the BPO/BPYO Season

October 9, 2021
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For Benjamin Zander and his musicians – as for all of us – it was a strange, even desperate, several months.

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