“Under the baton of music director Andris Nelsons, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will be returning this May to Europe for its second international tour within the span of nine months,” writes Jeremy Eichler in Monday’s (3/7) Boston Globe. “The eight-city tour (May 3-12) to Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg includes stops in Frankfurt, Essen, Munich, Hamburg, and Vienna…. The ensemble will be visiting Dresden, Luxembourg, and Leipzig for the first time in its history. The Leipzig debut … marks what the orchestra has been calling an unofficial launch of its new multiyear alliance with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra … slated to begin officially during the 2017-18 season, when Nelsons assumes the Gewandhaus directorship in addition to his responsibilities at the BSO…. Nelsons has favored a very active approach to touring. In interviews, he has touted its positive impact on ensemble morale, musicianship, and, naturally, international profile.… For its May outing, the tour repertoire will include Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, Bruch’s ‘Kol Nidre’ with cellist Jan Vogler, Debussy’s ‘La Mer,’ Ravel’s ‘La Valse,’ and the Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin,’ with Kristine Opolais, Nelsons’s wife, as soprano soloist.”
Posted March 8, 2016
