Anna Rakitina and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal. Photo by Hilary Scott/BSO
“Russian-born conductor Anna Rakitina has spent much of the past decade traveling the globe for work,” writes Jed Gottlieb in Sunday’s (1/24) Boston Herald. “Rarely has her family had a chance to see her conduct, but when Rakitina makes her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut she’ll have a special guest watching…. ‘My grandmother will be able to watch the concert,’ she said…. The BSO’s new assistant conductor will make her debut on bso.org/now, the online portal into Symphony Hall that has replaced in-person concerts this season. The BSO brought Rakitina on for the 2020 Tanglewood season but cancellations forced her first Massachusetts podium appearance to be delayed until this month…. While missing out on Tanglewood was a disappointment, Rakitina will jump in this month with … Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 and Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite…. ‘Most Russians have a kind of connection with Stravinsky not only because he is a Russian composer but also because he took the Russian fairytale (of the Firebird) for the ballet so the story behind it is very well known,’ she said…. She says she feels at home with the BSO too, calling the organization the ‘friendliest group of high-level professionals’ she has worked with.”
