Giancarlo Guerrero conducts Tchaikovsky and Bernstein

Continuing this season’s centennial celebration of the great Leonard Bernstein, Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero returns to lead the BSO in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, Kaddish, which is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy. The Jewish “Kaddish” is the prayer chanted for the dead, a hymn of praise to God’s name. Originally commissioned by the BSO for its 75th anniversary in 1955-56 but only finished in November 1963, this emotional, almost theatrical score was premiered under Bernstein’s direction by the Israel Philharmonic. The BSO gave its only performances of the full score in early 1964 under Charles Munch. Opening the program is Tchaikovsky’s masterful Pathétique Symphony, one of the composer’s last works, full of intensely beautiful music, ending with a slow, quiet, and poignant finale.