Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Maestro Andris Nelsons leads the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in an accomplished program including Tania León, Ravel, and Stravinsky

• By drediman
• January 30, 2024
• No Comments

Last night, the Boston Symphony Orchestra returned to New York to play the first of two concerts at Carnegie Hall. Led by maestro Andris Nelsons — who recently announced the extension of his music directorship on a rolling evergreen basis — the storied ensemble played an accomplished, deliberately-paced program comprised of works by Tania León, Ravel, and Stravinsky (tonight, Nelsons and the Boston forces will be performing a concert version of Shostakovach’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsenk).

The program commenced with León‘s Stride. Based on the legacy of the U.S. Suffrage Movement, the piece was originally commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its revelatory Project 19 programming (a series which upheld the works of female composers) and subsequently won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Music. It’s a fascinating piece whose discordant parts only gradually find their way in, which Nelsons navigated with a firm grasp of the work’s overall shape.

Then came Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand headlined by International Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho. There’s no getting away from the fact that the piece is an extravagant orchestral showpiece that all but begs for bombastic treatment. On the piano, the young star soloist responded both with thrillingly grand gestures, as well as abundant color and rich musicality — with Nelsons and the orchestra similarly following suite — making for a wonderfully balanced and complete performance of the work.

The program ended with a monolithic performance of Stravinsky’s seminal The Rite of Spring. Fresh off of just having experienced the Philadelphia Orchestra’s freshly nuanced rendition of Pétrouchka last week, it was a particular treat to bask in yet another iconic Stravinsky ballet score. Happily, Nelsons and his ensemble did not disappoint, thickly drawing out the work’s abundant orchestral details, all the while steadily maintaining its unmistakable rhythmic momentum and savage drama.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Classical Music
Carnegie Hall
Approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes (with an intermission)
Through January 30