Word: bso
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...symphonies, often pointed to as the first flowering of Beethoven’s full Romanticism, are suffused with an emotional variety and exuberance that often gets suffocated under the reverence bestowed upon them as artistic milestones. An institution as well established as the BSO and a conductor as august as Levine could easily compound the problem, but they proved to be far too skillful to fall into such a trap. They chose to take on a role—not that of the priestly stewards of sacred sound, but almost that of a preternaturally talented youth orchestra playing...
...Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) performed Beethoven’s Third (“Eroica”) and Fourth Symphonies under James Levine on February 19 with an ironically self-possessed mood of adolescent naïveté. Cleverly and convincingly, the BSO managed to make the Beethoven symphonies come alive with a sense of artistic honesty and real intensity of spirit...
...emotional gamut spanned by the “Eroica” gave it the flavor of a show piece, but that never cheapened it—in fact, the extra swagger affected by the BSO is really something missing from other interpretations. Sterling solo and ensemble work in the wind section stood out in the third movement, as in the symphony as a whole. Even in the dolorous intensity of the second movement, the emphasis on the starkness of the horns turned Beethoven’s exploration of grief into more of a public ritual of loss than an introverted...
...BSO, like all orchestras, works hard to expose new audiences to the world of classical music, repertory concerts continue to play a disproportionate role in drawing first-time listeners. As the music world tries to balance the demands of sustaining the canon with its mission to discover and promote new works in the classical tradition, it becomes all the more pressing that repertory concerts speak with the same immediacy and freshness as “new music” performances if there is to be any audience left...
Luisi and de la Salle’s debuts with the BSO speak to the orchestra’s enduring ability to attract exciting talent, as well as its willingness to forsake substance-laden masterpieces for works whose value lies in pure virtuosity and amusement. Mahler symphonies and Tchaikovsky concertos are unquestionably more epic in scale and impact than any of the pieces programmed on Saturday, but a little bit of fun—especially in the tradition-heavy Symphony Hall—never hurt anyone...