Boston Symphony Orchestra
This weekend’s soloist, Joshua Bell, is a performer who perhaps best approximates Leonard Bernstein’s charismatic personality in performance: a fully engaged interpreter, he does not shy away from physically expressing the emotional content of what he’s playing.
On the whole, then, there’s quite a bit to look forward to in orchestral performances this coming season.
One can’t really go wrong with any of the individual concerts, but below are a few highlights released between August 1st and September 2nd. All are available for purchase on the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s website.
The classical music season promises to start out strong, with performances from A Far Cry, Itzhak Perlman, and the Claremont Trio.
It’s rather melancholy to think that this incarnation of the TMCO will never perform again as an ensemble. Such is the nature, though, of Tanglewood and many summer music festivals.
Here is Tanglewood live and uncensored, as it were, with music often thrillingly brought to life by some of the hallowed legends of the BSO’s storied past: Koussevitzky, Monteux, Munch, Leinsdorf, Ozawa, Bernstein, Previn -— the list goes on and on.
After several years of frustrating cancellations and artistic challenges, Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra seemed to be saying that there’s still much to celebrate. And they were right.
The overall prognosis for the Boston Symphony Orchestra is good. While there remains room for growth and improvement both artistically and financially, the Orchestra has the advantage of a solid musical reputation and a strong core of patrons who support its mission.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is a piece the BSO trots out with greater regularity of late than most orchestras (as Tanglewood aficionados are aware, it’s been the traditional summer closer each August for about a decade now) and, while such familiarity may not exactly breed complacency, it certainly runs the risk of so doing.
Concert Review: Yo-Yo Ma Elevates a Dispiriting Boston Symphony Orchestra Opening Night