Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, in concert with conductor Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 12. Winslow Townsend photograph
The review energy for this week’s column went entirely to last week’s BSO performances, which I was delighted to review for Classical Voice North America. Please read it there, along with reports from all over the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Yo-Yo played both Shostakovich concertos together, in four sold-out concerts, continuing the BSO Shostakovich project. That would be interesting enough in itself, but the Thursday performance, just a day after the Gaza War started, became a flash-mob of emotion.
Yo-Yo, the great empath, was crying before the end of the last movement of the Second. Other orchestra members were overcome. This was before intermission, and there was reason to wonder if the soloist could continue.
He could of course, and did. And a repeat performance Saturday was sober, deeply professional, even down to Yo-Yo’s broken string, just measures before the end of the evening. But the opening night experience was unforgettable, almost violating in its extremes. I began the review noting that Plato wanted to ban all poets for invoking overly strong emotions, and perhaps we should ban musicians for the same reason.
Speaking of cellists, Johannes Moser may actually out-emo Yo-Yo. With respect to both. What fluid, organic technique he has, just like Yo-Yo, that ability to lean back a make the cello appear to disappear into the performer. Moser played with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, Oct. 8 in Rockport: L. Boulanger, Hamelin, Franck, Debussy.
Arneis, Skylark, NewGal, Camerata: Chamber Music, October 2023
Writerly colleague, composer and longtime UMass Boston professor David Patterson has an evening of his music Oct. 20 in the university recital hall, mainly choral works presented by the UMass Boston Chamber Singers (David Giessow).
Three well-known soloists (Thibaudet, Batiashvili, G. Capuçon) play Haydn, Ravel and F. Mendelssohn in Jordan Hall Oct. 20, part of the Celebrity Series. The Criers play trios the next afternoon in JP: Waley-Cohen, Fisher, Wallen, Cras. Program repeats Oct. 22 at Pickman Hall.
New Gal is back at Pickman Oct. 21, performing alongside works of visual artist L’Merchie Frazier, with Borromeo 4tet joining Sarah Bob and others in music of Iyer, DBR, Alberga, Adams, Montgomery and Hailstork.
The Boston Camerata tours with American spirituals, Black and White, from 19c. texts. Starts Oct. 21 at Trinity Copley, Oct. 22 at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, 23rd at Emmanuel Church. Good luck getting into John Zorn at 70, second edition, with his New Masada Quartet, at the Gardner Oct. 22. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Russian music Oct. 22 at Shalin Liu Performance Center; soprano Erika Baikoff joins for Glinka, Rach and Balikirev songs.
Skylark Vocal Ensemble tries some new rep with “A Night at the Theatre,” performing Oct. 27–29 in Weston, Falmouth and Newburyport. Matthew Guard’s ensemble has a new recording out as well, Sauntering Songs, with Juventas New Music Ensemble. Violinist Julia Glenn and pianist Mika Sasaki play music of Chasalow, Auerbach, Grieg, Brindamour, Messiaen, Enescu and Coleridge-Taylor Oct. 27 at Brandeis. Arneis Quartet welcomes flutist Vanessa Holroyd for music of Haydn, Tower and Bacewicz Oct. 29 at First Church Boston. Mia Chung dedicates the Park Street Church piano with music of Scarlatti, Beethoven (Waldstein) and Rachmaninov Oct. 29 (free).
Janice Weber’s sturdy South Coast Chamber Music Series returns to Marion/South Dartmouth Oct. 28/29, with music of Wiancko, Bacewicz, Beethoven (Ghost) and Foote. Weber has programmed this Foote quintet before, and it’s worth hearing again. SCCMS doubles up on the 28th, joining the long-running Arts in the Village series in Rehoboth this year that evening. Newport Classical has a nice season, beginning Oct. 6 with violinist Chad Hoopes and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. Worcester Chamber Music Society has a season built on variety, beginning Sept. 29/Oct. 1 in Harvard and Worcester, then again Oct. 22/26 in Gilbertville/Worcester. Like the looks of both: second set of programs features GLF, Price, Walker, Mozart.