Boston Symphony’s Nelsons returns to conduct first concerts since pandemic shutdowns

“After a year’s absence, Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Andris Nelsons returned to Symphony Hall this week to lead the orchestra in a series of recorded concerts set to stream next month,” writes Malcolm Gay in Thursday’s (1/7) Boston Globe. Due to pandemic travel restrictions and shutdowns, Nelsons had remained in Europe, where he is music director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. “The performances … will feature four Beethoven symphonies alongside contemporary works as part of the orchestra’s streaming initiative, BSO NOW. The Nelsons programs will follow three new concerts, set for release later this month, featuring maestros Stefan Asbury; … youth and family concerts conductor Thomas Wilkins; and assistant conductor Anna Rakitina, who will be making her BSO debut…. Nelsons’s first installment (available Feb. 11) will pair Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 with Hannah Kendall’s ‘Disillusioned Dreamer’ and Caroline Shaw’s ‘Blueprint.’ That will be followed (Feb. 18) by … Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6; Iman Habibi’s ‘Jeder Baum spricht’; and Claude Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp.” Works by Beethoven, Carlos Simon, and Schoenberg complete the series on Feb. 25. “Nelsons said he hoped the streaming concerts would provide ‘beauty, inspiration, and connection to the lives of all who care deeply about the BSO.’ ”