Benjamin-Zander
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.
Read MoreFew conductors in Boston have a feel for late Mahler the way Benjamin Zander does.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreThis was an epic performance of an epic piece, steeped in Brucknerian character.
Read MoreFor Benjamin Zander and his musicians – as for all of us – it was a strange, even desperate, several months.
Read MoreThe Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s first appearance of the season presented canonical selections without a hint of complacency or apathy.
Read MoreViolinist Liza Ferschtman and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto lacked nothing for momentum and spirit.
Read MoreThere was nothing sleepy or commonplace about the ensemble’s performance of favorites by Mozart, Brahms, and Bartók.
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Classical Critic’s Notebook: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2
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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