PURCELL / Elgar / Holst Concert

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

For the second concert we present an all-British program to honor the land of Mr. Zander's birth. First, Purcell's Chacony in G Minor as realized by Benjamin Britten, who was an early mentor to the conductor and a significant guide to his musical development. British cellist Alexander Baillie, a quintessential, complete musician, returns yet again to Boston! Baillie's enveloping warmth and hugeness of spirit are exactly the qualities the Elgar Cello Concerto requires. With this performance, he returns for his EIGHTH concerto appearance with the BPO (he has played Dvořák, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Elgar, Bridge, Haydn C Major and Shostakovich First). And he doesn't just play the Elgar: he IS the Elgar Concerto, as you will hear and see. Concluding the program is Holst's The Planets, one of the most thrilling orchestral extravaganzas ever composed. It is a work that MUST be experienced live in the renowned acoustics of Symphony Hall. No recording has ever truly captured its sonic variety and magnificence.

-Benjamin Zander

MORE ABOUT THE CONCERT

• Listen to Alexander Baillie play Dutilleux's Tout une monde lointain
• Alexander Baillie first played with the Boston Philharmonic in May 1993. 
• Alexander Baillie has been praised for his Elgar Cello Concerto performances: "Every performance of the Cello Concerto has its individual character different shades of the same regret, melancholy and nostalgia. Alexander Baillie's thoughtful, undemonstrative, painfully honest account makes no secret of its world-weariness: this Elgar is slowly withdrawing into itself. There is more sadness than serenity in his inflexion of the first subject (always so revealing)—the fight has left him, the tone is generally reflective, the manner understated. We are a very long way from the outgoing heat and heartache of a Du Pre (EMI). He is tasteful, some would say shy, in his response to Elgar's many expressive markings"-Gramophone. Read the review here.
• Listen to an interview that Alexander Baillie gave 12 years ago when he was preparing to perform the Lutosławski Concerto for Cello and Orchestra with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Listen to Alexander Baillie talk about Benjamin Zander in the documentary "Living on one Buttock."

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Information for ticket buyers

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All dates, repertoire, venues, and artists subject to change.