Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Britten / Tchaikovsky / Ives / Ravel Concert & Live Stream

Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

BENJAMIN ZANDER, CONDUCTOR

ANNA FEDEROVA, PIANO

BRITTEN
FOUR SEA INTERLUDES FROM PETER GRIMES

TCHAIKOVSKY
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1  

IVES
THREE PLACES IN NEW ENGLAND

RAVEL
DAPHNIS ET CHLOE: SUITE NO. 2

The second concert comes just a few days before my 85th birthday. Instead of taking it easy, I’ve programmed what may be the most varied and demanding BPYO concert ever. Indeed, these works—from four different musical traditions—would present a huge challenge for any orchestra and any conductor.

When I was young, I had the good fortune to be a protégé of Benjamin Britten, the greatest English opera composer since Henry Purcell. Our family spent three summers in Aldeburgh, where—eight years earlier—Britten had completed his most famous opera, Peter Grimes. Throughout the opera, Britten sets to music the sounds of the very sea that I remember so well, excerpts now known as the “Four Sea Interludes.”

We are thrilled to welcome back the fine Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova, who stole our hearts with her performance of the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto in Symphony Hall, and again on the BPYO tour of Brazil in 2019. Her YouTube performance of Rachmianinov’s Second has been viewed thirty-nine million times! The Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto is in Anna’s blood and she has become the perfect advocate of great Russian art, which we honor and do not confuse with current events.

Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England is a powerfully visual work, with historic and natural imagery familiar to many in this region. It is a strangely moving piece when heard in live performances. Although we do not have pre-concert talks before BPYO concerts, I will take the time to explain the piece before we perform it, so that its greatness and message will be apparent to everyone. I didn’t love this piece at first; its profound beauties were revealed during many long conversations with my dear colleague John Heiss, who passed away in August. It is with profound respect that we will dedicate this concert to the memory of our cherished friend and teacher, who came so often to coach the BPYO with his unsurpassed understanding and legendary ear. “When Mr. Heiss walks into the room,” said one of the wind players, “we play better.”

The program concludes with one of the greatest of all musical poems about the natural world, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé Suite No. 2. Its opening depiction of sunrise may be the most stirring crescendo in all of music. Its dazzling orchestration challenges every member of Ravel’s enormous orchestra, the largest he ever wrote for.

-Benjamin Zander

This is a live concert that will be live-streamed!