Part of the appeal of the concerto as a genre is the way it can operate, beneath the music, on the plane of myth. These pieces are, among many other things, variations on an endlessly relevant theme: the lone individual voice cast against an enormous collective.
Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto — which received an arresting performance Thursday night at Symphony Hall — only enhances this mythic resonance. Not only do we have a dark, lamenting solo line playing out against a giant orchestral backdrop, but we have the historical figure of Shostakovich, hounded by a regime, writing music that in his own era came to be heard as a veiled repository of private emotion in a mercilessly public time.
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Nelsons has got my vote for the BSO's next Music Director...if only he were available and interested in living here. Unfortunately, he just reupped with Birmingham for at least two more years, and his soprano wife has a lovely career going in Europe...oh, and they just had a baby! But maybe he'll be ready and interested by 2015-16. As for this weekend's program: the Tchaikovsky 5th was absolutely incredible on Friday afternoon - words I frankly never thought I'd utter about this much-revisited warhorse. And as for the Shostakovich...well, just see if you can get a ticket for tonight.
I couldn't disagree more with the comment above. Just returned from the BSO Saturday night concert. The Shostakovich was indeed wonderful but in spite of Nelsons, not because of him. The Tchaikovsky 5th was messy and sloppy and Nelsons' conducting was the same. Myhusband, who is a musicologist and professor, as well as a composer, said Tchaikovsky 5th's would have sounded so much better if Levine had conducted. I frankly don't think Nelsons would be a good fit for Boston. I will go and see him in Europe but prefer someone different for Boston. I was frankly very disappointed with tonight's performance. The orchestra seemed uninterested. And I can tell you, the health insurance for the orchestra should be increased with Nelsons' baton flying around.