| |
|
|
Plus the Emerson Quartet, and more Mahler from Zander
BY DAVID WEININGER
|
|
|
|
|
Sir Colin Davis was once a frequent visitor here, having served as the BSO’s principal guest conductor during the 1970s, during which time he recorded an excellent account of the Sibelius symphonies with the orchestra. But after his rather short stint ended, he all but disappeared. He’ll make his long-overdue return visit next week, his first residency here in nearly 20 years. So what kept him away? According to the 76-year-old conductor, things simply got busy. "Well, you know, I got a job in Bavaria," he laughs over the phone from his home in London. He’s referring to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, of which he was music director from 1983 to 1992 "And I had a family and couldn’t be away more, and trips to America were rather difficult." He retains "lots of good memories" from his time in Boston, though when asked if he’s excited finally to be returning, he dryly notes, "I’m a bit too old for excitement. I might be a little apprehensive, though," and laughs again. The two symphonies he’ll conduct here — Haydn’s No. 72 (in its first BSO performance) and Elgar’s No. 2 — represent both old and new strengths of Davis’s. His recordings of Haydn’s "London" symphonies, made in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, remain among the best available versions of these wise and witty masterpieces. They’re "big band" Haydn, performances that use a full modern orchestra to excellent effect. Those recordings "were made before the outbreak of historical performance," Davis explains, adding that, "when I was a young man we were much freer about these things." And he’s no convert to the authenticity craze now: "Well, I might be heretical, but I don’t feel heretical. Music is music to me. Don’t fog the issue by looking things up in books," he deadpans. Elgar, on the other hand, is a more recent passion, and Davis has recently recorded all three of the composer’s symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra on its own LSO Live label. "I finally felt, I suppose, equal to these immense pieces," he says, adding that he finds the Second "a fine, grand piece, fantastically written. There’s a real ‘big band’ piece for you!" He chose it largely because he found it had been played less often in Boston than the more popular First, though he’s confident that "people who get to know it will think just as highly of it as the First." But the composer with whom Davis’s name is probably most often linked is Berlioz. In this, the great French radical’s bicentennial year, Davis has already led a mini-festival of his works in New York, and his recent Berlioz recordings on LSO Live have just been reissued in a budget-priced box set for the occasion. Davis recorded all this music earlier in his career, and if the remakes don’t have quite the same passion and thrill of discovery as the older versions, they have a wisdom and polish accrued over four decades of experience with music that was deeply unpopular when he started to conduct it in the late 1950s. Though now viewed as perhaps the greatest Berlioz conductor alive, Davis plays down his own importance in the revival. "It’s always satisfying when you’re convinced something is worth the trouble. To help make Berlioz better known — that is a great honor." He isn’t sure how his performing has changed over time, but says he now thinks the composer is "a much bigger man than I originally thought," citing his mammoth opera Les Troyens in particular. "It’s one of the greatest works we have," he says, adding with typical English cheek, "I’m not sure that the French see it that way. But they’ll come around." Sir Colin Davis conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall on November 20 and 22 at 8 p.m. and November 21 at 1:30. Tickets are $26 to $95; call (617) 266-1200.
MORE HAPPY RETURNS: Visits by the Emerson String Quartet seem to be an annual affair, yet we never seem to tire of their energetic, precise music making. After playing nothing but Beethoven for their last two visits, they shake things up a bit this time by bringing Mendelssohn, Debussy, and Shostakovich (the Ninth Quartet). That’s a FleetBoston Celebrity Series concert at Jordan Hall on November 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $41 to $51; call (617) 482-6661. And Mahler from Benjamin Zander is always welcome; he and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra continue their "Mahler Journey" with three performances of the Kindertotenlieder song cycle and the Fourth Symphony. They’ll have help from two excellent singers: mezzo-soprano Mitsuko Shirai in the cycle and soprano Heidi Grant Murphy in the symphony. That’s on November 20 at 7:30 and November 23 at 3 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, and November 22 at 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall. Tickets range from $15 to $63; call (617) 236-0999.
|
