The Boston Symphony Orchestra faces a leadership transition and administrative tension as it prepares for its upcoming season, according to reporting by WBUR. Executives chose not to renew the contract of music director Andris Nelsons beyond next summer without consulting the orchestra’s musicians, creating a cloud of uncertainty over Symphony Hall that will likely persist until a new music director is chosen.
Boston Symphony Orchestra Season Openers and Guest Artists
Despite the administrative conflict, the BSO’s fall season features high-profile performances, beginning with a one-night-only concert featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing the Elgar Cello Concerto, alongside conductor Andris Nelsons leading Arturs Maskats’s “Tango” and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, according to WBUR. Subsequent fall programs include Kent Nagano conducting the world premiere of Tod Machover’s “already and not yet,” alongside works by Mendelssohn and the American premiere of Alex Nante’s “Ein fest Burg,” as reported by WBUR.
Additional BSO highlights reported by WBUR include:
- Franz Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation,” conducted by Philippe Jordan (Nov. 5-7).
- A BSO commission responding to Haydn featuring composer Osvaldo Golijov, playwright David Henry Hwang, and lyricist Leah Hager Cohen, led by Eric Jacobsen with bass-baritone Davóne Tines and kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor (Nov. 12-14).
- Andris Nelsons leading Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony and Richard Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben” (Sept. 25-27).
- Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 featuring soprano Nikola Hillebrand, paired with Debussy’s “Nocturnes” performed with the Lorelei Ensemble (Oct. 2-4).
- Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” conducted by Nelsons, with choral direction by Anthony Blake Clark and tenor Klaus Florian Vogt (Oct. 9-11).
Greater Boston Classical Performances Outside Symphony Hall
Classical music audiences across the Boston area will find programming outside of Symphony Hall this season as well. Steven Lipsitt leads his ensemble at the United Parish Church in Brookline and Faneuil Hall, opening with Mendelssohn’s “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” violinist Lucia Lin performing Barber’s Violin Concerto, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, according to WBUR.
Area schools and conservatories will also host numerous free and accessible classical programs throughout the autumn months, supplementing the major orchestral schedules across Greater Boston, as noted by WBUR.
Worth a look