This weekend’s eclectic Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts included two selections from celebrated Russia composers Thomas de Hartmann (from what is now Ukraine) and Modest Mussorgsky. The night commenced with a piece by the 31-year-old British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason. The Violin Concerto, Opus 66 by de Hartmann with Joshua Bell would have been worth the price of admission alone.
Assistant Conductor Anna Handler made her Symphony Hall subscription series debut with these performances (her BSO debut was at Tanglewood this past summer) as her colleague Jonathan Heyward (who was slated to assume the helm) is nursing a shoulder injury. Handler did not disappoint. Seemingly she has held the baton on this stage for countless seasons. Exuberantly she involved her entire body into her communicative lexicon. At times she held the music tight in her left fist. At other moments she let it soar to uncharted heights, her arms animated and spread wide the way an umpire would wave a runner safe at home plate. Her vigorous, infectious style drew smiles from the orchestra and three standing ovations from the audience as she led the BSO through thrilling climbs and whispered descents. She personified the evening’s performance with such vivid articulation that I realized if I were deaf, I would still be able to “hear” the music through her vivacious movements. At the end of the night, my wife looked at me and said, “She must be exhausted.” I concur, but she was not tired enough to share the accolades as she physically moved to each part of the stage to honor each section of the orchestra, her hand on her heart beneath a smile of sheer gratitude.
But before Handler had assumed the rostrum, Mason introduced the evenings first offering. She had written Imagined Forest for the 2021 BBC Proms and the Royal Liverpool Orchestra. As the program notes state, “it was inspired by the intricate, nature-based installation work of Berlin artist Clare Celeste.” In her opening remarks, Handler encouraged the packed hall to envision this 14-minute excursion as “a journey into the forest of your imagination.” And so, what follows, is my attempt to put this meditative-trek into words. A horn, two harps, and strings lulled the listener into daybreak, intimating birdcalls and a laggard sunrise where all nature came alive with anticipation and self-realization, not unlike Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: I. Morning Mood. Soft, sublime textures burst into vibrant, expressive swells only to return to the contemplative. The timpani evoked an undercurrent of nature rumbling to life as a bubbling marimba quickened the pulse. This was promptly joined by the strings that took wing and meandered (at times) into unexpected territory, suggesting that nature — and the life it induces — charts her own course, sometimes along a random path. But there is nothing random about this music. It is cinematic. In his second year as Concertmaster, Nathan Cole drew lush tones from his instrument, in turn drawing listeners into an equally unforeseen ending.
After a standing ovation, Handler and Mason returned to the stage holding hands aloft as a sign of victory — and a triumph it was! I look forward to a lifetime of work by this promising protégé.
Typically, the “feature” at a classical music concert comes after the intermission. Although Mussorgsky was spectacular (and we’ll get to this celebrated Russian composer in a moment), clearly the night belonged to guest violinist Joshua Bell and his accompaniment from the BSO with de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto just prior to intermission. Ever the master craftsman, Bell was elegant as he drew the music from his instrument with intense precision and passion blending with the BSO meticulously. He seemed to summon the score through his fingers as well as his facial expressions: his attack deft and pristine. Combined, Bell and the BSO evoked a romantic ambiance that was hypnotic. They moved in unison like seasoned dancers, not an easy feat with an orchestra that fills the stage!
When Bell wasn’t playing during the first movement (Largo—Vivace—Andante con moto—Allegro risoluto—Largo assai), the BSO solidified the fact that they are one of the best orchestras on the planet laying a measured foundation before erupting into what can only be described as an eastern European fanfare. It was majestic and jubilant. Bell returned with rapid fingering cementing himself as the Jimi Hendrix of the violin. His ability to invoke each note from his instrument with silken dexterity enabled the audience to savor every one of them. It sat on the heart the way each sumptuous bite of an entrée from a five-star restaurant envelopes the palate.
The second movement confirmed that Bell is a musician who has total command of his instrument. At times he would carry the melody while exploring every millimeter of his fingerboard hitting notes that were all but imperceptible. Bell never lost sight of Handler’s direction or the movement of the orchestra, at times looking over his shoulder in rapt anticipation of how the Andante would unfurl. As a musician myself, I was enamored with both his fingering (envious of his flawless vibrato) as well as his elegant and expressive bowing technique, pulling the bow away from the instrument with a smooth, fluid movement that led one to wonder if he was conjuring notes midair. I wish my hands possessed the strength of Bell’s left pinky finger which fluttered notes with the same pulse of a songbird’s throat. The entire amble through de Hartmann reached its pinnacle with the Finale: Vivace. The BSO was in full throttle delivering a robust, expressive performance, tearing through the score with unbridled passion intimating a Russian Kalinka. Flawlessly coordinated plucking by the entire string section provided the footing over which Bell danced like a conquering Cossack. Ending in a rousing flourish, it brought the audience to their feet. Bell remained for an encore — one of Chopin’s Nocturnes that sent breathless patrons into the foyer for intermission.
And yet the BSO’s performance of Pictures assembled form and color into a unified visceral and cerebral aesthetic. Art evokes a range of dialectical emotions. At some moments it soothes. At other times it flusters. Mussorgsky seizes this range of feeling in variegated movements. Playful and contemplative by turns, the BSO’s interpretation revealed its 101-year tradition with the Ravel orchestration…though at least once they offered Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s more Russian sounding version. Like all art, this is an assemblage of music meant to be experienced with the nerves as well as the ears (or eyes, as the form dictates). The booklet for the evening included some of the works on which Mussorgsky based this collection. It would have been interesting (albeit a bit gauche) to see the paintings that inspired the composer on display (at least the known ones) alongside the stately Symphony Hall organ pipes to cleave sight and sound into a cohesive experience. Regardless, this collection runs the gamut of emotion: a juxtaposition of the sensuous and the comical, the mathematical and the organic, the complex and the simple, horns and strings, timpani and harp. Much like the Boston Pops annual Independence Day concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, the only thing missing at the close of this pièce de résistance were fireworks following the herculean, climactic finish.
Handler shared her contagious joy with the orchestra and audience alike. It truly was an evening of art and elegance.
Anna Handler was just announced to be the new Chief Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. Wow – congratulations to AH, and to the Ulster Orchestra for signing up such an impressive talent. Hopefully she makes magic in Belfast! And I hope we continue to hear her in Boston as a guest conductor in the years to come. Handler made a very strong impression on me, even as someone who’d almost always rather hear a seasoned conductor in his/her 60s, 70s, and 80s rather than someone in their 20s and 30s.
https://www.ulsterorchestra.org.uk/news/anna-handler-becomes-new-chief-conductor-for-ulster-orchestra/
Comment by Mogulmeister — November 30, 2025 at 1:17 pm
Lt.Kije’s response is much appreciated. I too am a big fan of Tom Rolfs for all the same reasons stated. Tom Siders is also an amazing trumpet player as well and we must always remember that each player does possess their own playing style and that is what makes them all exclusively unique.
Comment by David M. Grahling — November 28, 2025 at 11:55 am
Ah. I should have been more specific. I found the Rolfs performance to be superior in every way and it affirmed why I am such a big fan of his. There’s a resonance and brilliance and intentionality of phrasing that Siders noticeably lacked. (I heard a clip of Siders playing Principal in Philly recently and was pleased so don’t confuse this comment as a referendum on his playing overall.)
Comment by Lt. Kije — November 27, 2025 at 5:46 pm
Just out of curiosity, I was at the Friday performance of ” Pictures” and Tom Rolfs was the Principal Trumpet on that particular performance and in my opinion, and as a former classically trained trumpet player and a “die hard” Herseth” aficionado, his playing was spectacular and much in the style of the “Chicago Sound” championed by Herseth back 50 some years ago. Not exactly sure and curious what Lt. Kije meant by the night and day difference reative to the Saturday performance.
Comment by David Grahling — November 27, 2025 at 12:18 pm
Well, it seems we heard two entirely different concerts. I attended Pictures on Friday (sitting 1BL) and the entire program Saturday (2BC). Of course one must grade on a forgiving scale when a conductor is stepping in on short notice but man did I find both performances of Pictures to be lackluster and technically not up to standard. On Saturday we had the Associate Principal Horn, Trumpet (Rolfs played Friday and the difference was night and day), and Concertmaster playing. I’m perhaps in the minority who would rather hear Pictures than Joshua Bell play just about anything but I don’t buy tickets at full price to hear the Associates. Not to mention with each performance Elizabeth Rowe’s unmatched musicality becomes even more missed. In terms of the actual performance, to me it felt like the orchestra was somewhat reluctantly following Händler’s vision of the piece with several moments in the piece characterized by a pronounced lack cohesion between instrument sections. A friend and I were remarking that the heyday of the BSO was probably around 2015-2017. I keep an archive of many BSO performances and do find myself favoring performances from that time period. It is of course impossible to recreate the magic of those years but even as someone who will defend the BSO with vigor, I can’t say I am all that optimistic about the future.
Comment by Lt. Kije — November 26, 2025 at 7:11 am
Thanks for the feedback, Mogulmeister. Yes, Handler is risen star still rising.
JT3
Comment by John Tamilio III — November 23, 2025 at 8:20 pm
Fantastic review, John, and I totally concur (except with regards to the first piece Imagined Forest – pleasant but inconsequential to my ears). For me, the story of the evening was Anna Handler. Wow – she was really impressive! In her performance of Pictures at an Exhibition, she didn’t play it safe. I heard some unusual balances in several of the sections that really worked, some aggressive tempos at times, and a vibrancy in the performance that was not routine. Kudos to the BSO for a wonderful performance! One small caveat – the trumpet solo at the opening of the piece was inelegant on Thursday night, with some blaring that was uncomfortable to listen to. Less would have been a lot more.
Joshua Bell was fantastic in the concerto. It occurred to me that for all the years I’ve been hearing him live, never once have I thought that he dialed it in. He seems to play everything with complete commitment and his gorgeous tone. He “sold” the de Hartmann concerto for all it’s worth. It’s an interesting piece and I would be glad to hear it again, but it didn’t strike me as a masterpiece. I thought that Bell, Handler, and the BSO’s performance was better than the piece itself.
A wonderful concert all around! And I really hope to hear Anna Handler again soon. She strikes me as a real talent and someone that I want to hear more from. Congratulations to her, Joshua Bell, and the BSO for a really enjoyable concert!
Comment by Mogulmeister — November 22, 2025 at 10:45 pm