a virtual journal and essential blog of the classical music scene in greater Boston

In 1900 all of America was crazy for pianos, and no place did more to fuel the madness than Boston. Any resident with enough curiosity and stamina could examine the wares of 40 different makers without leaving the city limits. New York had Steinway, Baltimore had Knabe, but only Boston could claim three top names of the day: Mason & Hamlin, Chickering, and the Franz Liszt-approved Hallet & Davis.

By 1930 it was all over but the bankruptcy filings. The Depression shrank household budgets, while the gramophone and then the radio provided all varieties of music, no lessons or cast-iron frames needed. Large firms eagerly simplified the options for consumers by buying out smaller competitors, only to fail themselves soon afterwards. A few outlasted the Depression, but in greatly changed and diminished form. Today, just one of those 40 companies, Mason & Hamlin, with their factory in Haverhill, MA, exists as a going concern, and only after surviving several near-death experiences in the 1980s. It’s one of only two piano makers in all of North America to remain active today.

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Boston Lyric Opera is about to revive Rossini’s William Tell, an irresistible French-language rarity (libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and L. F. Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller’s play Wilhelm Tell) at the Colonial Theater for four performances between September 25^th and October 4^th. Tickets HERE

Conductor David Angus will lead the BLO Orchestra and Chorus through Rossini’s sumptuous score, with vocal fireworks from George Gagnidze (William Tell), Anya Matanovič (Mathilde), Konu Kim (Arnold), Nina Yoshida Nelsen (Hedwige), Brianna J. Robinson (Jemmy), and more at the Colonial Theater. [continued]

Steven Karidoyanes kicks off his 33^rd season with the Plymouth Philharmonic tonight at 7:30pm with a program entitled “Fiddler of the Opera” featuring virtuoso Irina Muresanu [artist website HERE]. A few tickets are still available, although the concerts usually sell out [info HERE]. The conductor will present a free pre-concert talk at 6:30pm at the Plymouth High School Performing Arts Center.

A composer, cover conductor for the Boston Pops, and director of the New England Conservatory Youth Symphony, Karidoyanes is a well-respected artist and consummate technician, popular with local orchestras and choirs alike (he led Cambridge’s Masterworks Chorale for a decade in concerts at Harvard’s Sanders Theater). Tonight’s program includes works by Rossini, Borodin, Sarasate, contemporary Boston-based composer Elena Roussanova, and longtime Boston Pops arranger Alexander Courage’s Fantasy on Porgy & Bess. [continued]

After a two-year search, the Boston Symphony has just announced the hiring of a new permanent Director of Choruses. Jean-Sébastien Vallée [website HERE] will occupy the Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky Chair and also serve as the BSO’s official Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. [continued]

By George Whiting & Quinn MacKenzie, Co-founders, BSO Patron Action Network and Red Flower Campaign

Which Boston Symphony Orchestra does Chad Smith actually lead?

Is it the troubled institution he described earlier this year, an orchestra that had supposedly lost its spark, struggled to fill its hall, faced declining revenues, and needed fundamental changes to reestablish itself among the nation’s leading orchestras? Or is it the confident, historically grounded institution he celebrates in his September 15^th Boston Globe Op-Ed, buoyed by record fundraising, generations of innovation, and a proud tradition of artistic excellence? Both descriptions came from the same CEO. Both cannot be true. Flowery prose and a call to begin the “next chapter” is not enough to reconcile these wildly different characterizations of the state of the orchestra. [continued]

BMInt seldom reviews recordings, but the excuses for this one include follow-up to an earlier concert review, and local and historical interest. On August 28^th Delos released an album (DE3619) of chamber and orchestral music for cello by Boston eminence Arthur Foote (1853-1937), featuring cellist Julian Schwarz, including the premiere commercial release of the Cello Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 (1893), with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the eminent Gerard Schwarz (Julian’s father). The chamber music includes various shorter pieces and the formidable sonata in E Minor, op. 78 (1913), with pianist Marika Bournaki.  [continued]

 Pianist James D’Leon tells BMInt readers:  When pianists prepare a recital, they usually begin by selecting repertoire. This summer, Duo Fuerza—James D’Leon and Alwen Yeung—began by selecting an instrument.

Our invitation to open the Fredericks Historical Collection concert season on August 30^th [details for entire Ashburnham series HERE], asked us to reverse the usual artistic process. Rather than asking which piano would best serve our program, we first explored the remarkable collection and selected a 19^th-century instrument whose unique voice would shape our musical decisions. Only then did we consider how repertoire, interpretation, and performance might emerge from the character of the piano itself. [continued]