Boston Symphony Orchestra
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.
As the BSO searches for its new music director, Mr. Salonen’s name is sure to come up. While he’s probably a long-shot candidate, any orchestra that has him on their podium for a week or two a season should count itself lucky.
If a few of his tempos, particularly in the opening movement, weren’t among the liveliest on record, there was a gravitas and underlying conviction to Mr. von Dohnányi’s interpretation of “A German Requiem” that were wholly appropriate to the piece and its appearance on a program that was presented during Holy Week.
April is an unusually excellent month for Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts — a promisng match up of programs and conductors.
The concert’s other purely orchestral work, Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony (no. 3), came after intermission and offered Mr. Valcuha the opportunity to demonstrate his command of large-scale symphonic structure. Let’s just say he flexed some pretty impressive muscle.
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