High notes BSO brings full season home to Symphony Hall
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is home. And, more importantly, you are invited to join the BSO in this homecoming.
During the height of the pandemic, thankfully, the BSO kept making music through its BSO NOW virtual performance series. Last summer, the orchestra summered, as it traditionally does, in Tanglewood. Finally, the BSO returns to a Symphony Hall full of its devotees.
The 2021-22 season comes with extensive health and safety measures (see bso.org for details) and some joyous and unique programming. Our season preview looks at a few highlights from what you eagerly expect to plenty of surprises.
John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2, Thursday & Saturday
Since its Tanglewood premiere last summer, Williams’ new concerto has caused a stir. For those who only know his work on “Star Wars” or “Jaws,” the piece shows off a somber and ambitious composer at the height of his powers. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter takes the spotlight in a program that will feature Andris Nelsons at the podium alongside Williams and works from Beethoven and Bartok. Can’t make the concert? PBS will broadcast the Tanglewood debut of Williams’ concerto on Nov. 12.
Concert for Our City: Reunited at Symphony Hall, Sunday
The BSO’s season-opening weekend features a free performance celebrating the reopening of Symphony Hall after 18 months of doors shuttered to audiences. With a hand from the Boston Pops, this community concert will be directed by four maestros: Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, Thomas Wilkins and the legendary John Williams. One more time: It’s free! (Reserve tickets at bso.org and see the performance for free online starting Oct. 14).
Victor Wooten’s “La Leccion Tres,” Oct. 28 – Oct. 31
Victor Wooten is probably the greatest electric bassist ever to live. It’s a bold and somewhat ridiculous claim, and yet … it’s probably dead on. Known for his long association with banjo master Bela Fleck, Wooten gets grand with his concerto. Thomas Wilkins, BSO’s artistic adviser for education and community engagement, leads Wooten and the orchestra through “La Leccion Tres” and works by Coleridge-Taylor and Ellington.
Mitsuko Uchida and a Julia Adolphe world premiere, Jan. 13-16
Pianist and conductor Mitsuko Uchida is the Billie Holiday and Eddie Van Halen of the classical world. A wildly expressive interpreter and an absolute virtuoso, Uchida will walk into Symphony Hall at age 73 to celebrate Beethoven piano concertos Nos. 2 and 4. Also on the program, which will be conducted by Andris Nelson, the world premiere of a BSO co-commission from Julia Adolphe, one of America’s fastest rising composers.
Ellen Reid’s “When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist,” April 7 – 9
Not yet 40, Ellen Reid is already a giant. Her opera “Prism” won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music. She wrote “When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist” for the New York Philharmonic as a commission honoring the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina will lead the program that also includes soloist Alexandre Kantorow and selections from Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.