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Itzhak PerlmanSeptember 22

Intimate and majestic:

opening nightInternationally renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman makes his first Symphony Hall appearance on the BSO podium, as both conductor and soloist for an all-Beethoven program featuring him as soloist-conductor in the composer’s lyrical Romances for violin and orchestra and as conductor for Beethoven’s perennially popular Seventh Symphony.

international virtuoso violinistsEight virtuosi of the violin appear with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in programs during 2012–13: the American Joshua Bell, playing Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Steinbacher, playing the Mendelssohn concerto also; American violinist Gil Shaham, performing Britten’s Violin Concerto; Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili, playing the Tchaikovsky concerto; Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, making her BSO debut with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1; French violinist Renaud Capuçon, making his Symphony Hall debut with the Sibelius concerto; the Israeli-American Pinchas Zukerman, playing Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto; and Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider, who performs the Brahms concerto in the final program of the season.

Charles Dutoit October 18–23, 25–27, January 24–26

Itzhak Perlman September 22

Joshua Bell October 4–6

Official HotelSeason Sponsors

Intimate and majestic:it’s your BSO

opening nightInternationally renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman makes his first Symphony Hall appearance on the BSO podium, as both conductor and soloist for an all-Beethoven program featuring him as soloist-conductor in the composer’s lyrical Romances for violin and orchestra and as conductor for Beethoven’s perennially popular Seventh Symphony.

international virtuoso violinistsEight virtuosi of the violin appear with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in programs during 2012–13: the American Joshua Bell, playing Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium); the German Arabella Steinbacher, playing the Mendelssohn concerto also; American violinist Gil Shaham, performing Britten’s Violin Concerto; Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili, playing the Tchaikovsky concerto; Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, making her BSO debut with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1; French violinist Renaud Capuçon, making his Symphony Hall debut with the Sibelius concerto; the Israeli-American Pinchas Zukerman, playing Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto; and Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider, who performs the Brahms concerto in the final program of the season.

spotlight on the bsoFollowing the great success of the BSO’s “members-only” concerts in January 2012, the individual sections of the Boston Symphony Orchestra again take the stage conductor-less, in April, to play music of Britten, Mozart, Dvorák, and Tippett, as part of a program in which the full ensemble joins forces for Britten’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell—aka The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

A number of BSO members are also featured as soloists in 2012–13: the Hawthorne String Quartet (Ronan Lefkowitz, Si-Jing Huang, Mark Ludwig, and Sato Knudsen) in Ervín Schulhoff’s Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra with BSO Assistant Conductor Marcelo Lehninger on the podium; and BSO principals Elizabeth Rowe, John Ferrillo, William R. Hudgins, Richard Svoboda, James Sommerville, Thomas Rolfs, and Toby Oft in Frank Martin’s Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and String Orchestra with Charles Dutoit conducting.

Official Chauffeured Transportation Provider

Christian Zacharias November 23–27

Lang LangFebruary 28, March 1–2

Bernard Haitink April 25–30, May 2–4

Powerful and nuanced:it’s your BSO

keyboard champions from around the worldNo fewer than nine pianists appear with the orchestra in 2012–13. Four of them appear in November—the prizewinning young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, who makes his BSO debut with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1; the formidable Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein, who makes his BSO debut with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1; German pianist-conductor Christian Zacharias, who leads Mozart’s elegant Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat, K.456, from the keyboard, as part of a Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven program; and French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who is soloist in Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian.

Also featured this season are Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky, making his BSO debut with Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3; British pianist Stephen Hough, returning for Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1; Romanian pianist Radu Lupu, returning for Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488; Chinese pianist Lang Lang, making his BSO debut with Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2; and American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, returning for Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

acclaimed conductorsSeventeen of the world’s best conductors lead the BSO at Symphony Hall in its 2012–13 season. British conductor Bramwell Tovey opens the season with concert performances of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink closes it with music of Brahms, Schubert, and Mahler. In between, Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Daniele Gatti lead three programs each, and Christoph von Dohnányi leads two programs. Vladimir Jurowski makes his BSO debut leading Mendelssohn and Shostakovich, Andris Nelsons makes his BSO debut with music of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, and Stéphane Denève returns to Symphony Hall for the third consecutive season.

a feast of voicesAficionados of the human voice will have plenty to please them during the BSO’s 2012–13 season. The opening program reprises the BSO’s triumphant August 2011 concert performance at Tanglewood of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess led by conductor Bramwell Tovey with Alfred Walker and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles. Charles Dutoit leads a magical double bill of Stravinsky’s fairy-tale opera The Nightingale, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, with Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko making her BSO debut in the title role, and Ravel’s one-act opera L’Enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells), with French-Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne making her BSO debut as the Child taught the meaning of love and kindness by the toys, animals, and articles of furniture he has treated badly.

Seventeen of the world’s best conductors lead the BSO at Symphony Hall in its 2012–13 season. British conductor Bramwell Tovey opens the season with concert performances

. BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink closes it with music of Brahms, Schubert, and Mahler. In between, Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Daniele Gatti lead three programs each, and Christoph von Dohnányi leads two programs. Vladimir Jurowski makes his BSO debut leading Mendelssohn and Shostakovich, Andris Nelsons makes his BSO debut with music of Shostakovich

returns to Symphony Hall for the third

Aficionados of the human voice will have plenty to please them during the BSO’s 2012–13 season. The opening program reprises the BSO’s triumphant August 2011 concert performance at Tanglewood

led by conductor Bramwell Tovey with Alfred Walker and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles. Charles Dutoit leads a magical double bill of

The Nightingale, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, with Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko making her BSO debut in the title role, and

L’Enfant et les sortilèges ), with French-

Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne making her BSO debut as the Child taught the meaning of love and kindness by the toys, animals, and articles of furniture he

Michelle DeYoung March 21–26

Daniele GattiJanuary 17–19, March 21–26, 28–30

Illuminating and transforming:it’s your BSO

music tried, true, and off the beaten trackGreat symphonic works ranging from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven through music of the twentieth century figure prominently in the BSO’s 2012–13 programming—notably Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Schubert’s Great C major symphony, Brahms’s Haydn Variations, Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Symphony No. 5, Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (Romantic), Mahler’s Third and Fourth symphonies, Ravel’s La Valse, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 6, music from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4.

celebrating the wagner and verdi bicentennialsThe year 1813 was an important year for music-lovers, and particularly opera-lovers, witnessing the birth of both Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. The BSO marks the Verdi bicentennial with performances in January of Verdi’s Requiem under the direction of Daniele Gatti, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and four vocal soloists all making their BSO debuts—Fiorenza Cedolins, Ekaterina Gubanova, Fabio Sartori, and Carlo Colombara. Gatti, the BSO, and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung join forces in March to mark the Wagner bicentennial with an all-Wagner program of excerpts from Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung, and Parsifal, plus the Siegfried Idyll.

composers of our timeTwo of today’s most brilliant and acclaimed British composers take the BSO podium in 2012–13. In November, Thomas Adès leads his own In Seven Days for piano and orchestra as part of a wide-ranging program also including music of Prokofiev and Sibelius, with soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Kirill Gerstein in his BSO debut. In April, Oliver Knussen leads his own Violin Concerto with soloist Pinchas Zukerman, and his own Whitman Settings with soprano Claire Booth in her BSO debut, as part of a program also including music of Miaskovsky and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski.

In addition, two new BSO commissions enter the orchestra’s repertoire—Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Circle Map for orchestra and electronics, a BSO co-commission receiving its American premiere under the direction of Juanjo Mena, and American composer Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello Concerto No. 3, a world premiere featuring soloist Lynn Harrell with Christoph Eschenbach conducting.

Tanglewood Festival ChorusSept, Oct, Jan, Feb

January 17–19, March 21–26, 28–30

Two of today’s most brilliant and acclaimed British composers take the BSO podium in 2012–13. In November, Thomas Adès leads his

for piano and orchestra as part of a wide-ranging program also including music of Prokofiev and Sibelius, with soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Kirill Gerstein in his BSO debut. In April,

Concerto with soloist Pinchas Zukerman, with soprano

Claire Booth in her BSO debut, as part of a program also including music of Miaskovsky

Pictures at an Exhibition as

In addition, two new BSO commissions enter the orchestra’s repertoire—Finnish composer

for orchestra and electronics, a BSO co-commission receiving its American premiere under the direction of Juanjo Mena, and American composer Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello

boston symphony orchestra 2012–2013 seasonConcerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.

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6 Date Conductor/Soloist Program NotesSaturday, September 22, 7pm Itzhak Perlman, conductor

and violinALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAMRomances Nos. 1 and 2 for violin and orchestraSymphony No. 7

Legendary Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra as both soloist and conductor to begin the 2012–2013 season with an all-Beethoven Opening Night at Symphony. The program starts with the composer’s lyrical early Romances No. 1 and 2 for violin and orchestra. Completing the program is the dance-infused Symphony No. 7 which the composer himself acknowledged as one of his finest works.

Thursday, September 27Friday, September 28Saturday, September 29

Bramwell Tovey, conductor Alfred Walker, bass-baritone

GERSHWIN Porgy and BessConcert performance

Reprising a highlight of the 2011 Tanglewood season, English conductor Bramwell Tovey, the BSO, a distinguished cast of soloists—headlined by Alfred Walker and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles—and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus present concert performances of George Gershwin’s great American masterpiece, the blues-and-jazz-inflected Broadway in 1935 and only slowly gained traction in the traditional world of opera. Three quarters of a century later, it has assumed its rightful place among the greatest works of America’s music.

(Porgy); Laquita Mitchell, soprano (Bess); Alison Buchanan, soprano (Lily, Strawberry Woman); Angel Blue, soprano (Clara); Marquita Lister, soprano (Serena); Krysty Swann, mezzo-soprano (Annie); Gwendolyn Brown, contralto (Maria); Calvin Lee, tenor (Mingo, Nelson, Crab Man); Jermaine Smith, tenor (Sportin’ Life); Chauncey Packer, tenor (Peter); Gregg Baker, baritone (Crown); Patrick Blackwell, baritone (Jim, Undertaker); John Fulton, baritone (Robbins); Robert Honeysucker, baritone (Frazier); Leon Williams, baritone (Jake); Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

Thursday, October 4Friday, October 5, 1:30pmSaturday, October 6

Marcelo Lehninger, conductorJoshua Bell, violin

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-overture

BERNSTEIN Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium) for violin and orchestra

DVORÁK Symphony No. 8

Acclaimed for his previous Boston Symphony performances at both Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger leads a program pairing the Romantic with the ruminative. American violinist Joshua Bell is soloist in Bernstein’s Serenade inspired by Plato’s value of love. Also on the program are two audience favorites: Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet

Tuesday, October 9 Marcelo Lehninger, conductorHawthorne String Quartet

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-overture

SCHULHOFF Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra

DVORÁK Symphony No. 8

This concert under the direction of acclaimed BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger offers two audience favorites: Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged fantasy-overture No. 8. In between, the Hawthorne String Quartet, made up of four BSO members, is featured in Ervín Schulhoff’s multi-faceted Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra (1930). Schulhoff, a gifted Czech composer whose bracing neoclassical style was influenced by jazz, died of tuberculosis in a concentration camp in 1942.

Thursday, October 11Friday, October 12, 1:30pmSaturday, October 13

Vladimir Jurowski, conductorArabella Steinbacher, violin

MENDELSSOHN Violin ConcertoSHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4

Making his Boston Symphony debut, Vladimir Jurowski, principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, is joined by German violinist Arabella Steinbacher for Mendelssohn’s sparkling Violin Concerto. The program concludes with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4, a dark but powerfully majestic work the composer finished in 1936. He withdrew the work prior to its premiere due to fears of official condemnation, writing instead the universally acclaimed, heroic Fifth the following year. The Fourth waited another quarter-century for its first performance.

Thursday, October 18Friday, October 19, 1:30pmSaturday, October 20Tuesday, October 23

Charles Dutoit, conductor Nikolai Lugansky, piano Elizabeth Rowe, fluteJohn Ferrillo, oboeWilliam R. Hudgins, clarinetRichard Svoboda, bassoonJames Sommerville, hornThomas Rolfs, trumpetToby Oft, trombone

DEBUSSY Symphonic Fragments from The Martydom of Saint Sebastian

MARTIN Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and String Orchestra

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3

Acclaimed conductor Charles Dutoit leads the BSO in a program overflowing with virtuosity. Soloist Nikolai Lugansky makes his BSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a massive and daunting work that tests every aspect of a pianist’s skill. Not to be outdone, the orchestra’s first-chair wind players step to the front of the stage to demonstrate the orchestra’s own resident virtuosity in Frank Martin’s mid-20th-century Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and String Orchestra. Opening the program is colorfully atmospheric music by Debussy: the rarely heard Symphonic Fragments from his incidental music to Gabriele d’Annunzio’s mystery play The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

Thursday, October 25Friday, October 26Saturday, October 27** Sponsored by EMC Corporation

Charles Dutoit, conductorOlga Peretyatko, soprano

(The Nightingale)Julie Boulianne, mezzo-soprano

(The Child)Sandrine Piau, soprano

STRAVINSKY The NightingaleRAVEL L’Enfant et les sortilègesConcert performances, sung in Russian

(Stravinsky) and French (Ravel) with English supertitles

Charles Dutoit takes the podium for a second week to lead the BSO, an international cast of vocal soloists, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in a compelling operatic double bill pairing Stravinsky’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells)but completed after, his famous trio of ballets for Sergei Diaghilev—is based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a Chinese emperor and two nightingales—one real, the other mechanical. Completed in 1925, Ravel’s one-act opera infused with whimsy and magic.Diana Axentii and Yvonne Naef, mezzo-sopranos

Edgaras Montvidas and Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, tenorsDavid Kravitz, Kelley Markgraf, and David Wilson-Johnson, baritonesMatthew Rose, bassTanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

Thursday, November 1Friday, November 2, 1:30pmSaturday, November 3Tuesday, November 6

Juanjo Mena, conductorGil Shaham, violin

SAARIAHO Circle Map, for orchestra and electronics (American premiere; BSO co-commission)

BRITTEN Violin ConcertoDVORÁK Symphony No. 7

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena, chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, leads the American premiere of influential Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Violinist Gil Shaham, a frequent guest with the orchestra, joins the BSO for Benjamin Britten’s rarely performed Violin Concerto, and the program concludes with Dvo r ák’s darkly majestic Symphony No. 7, which bespeaks both his love for his native Bohemia and the influence of his mentor, Johannes Brahms.

Notes

Romances Nos. 1 and 2 for violin and orchestraLegendary Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra as both soloist and conductor to begin the 2012–2013 season with an all-Beethoven Opening Night at Symphony. The program starts with the composer’s lyrical early Romances No. 1 and 2 for violin and orchestra. Completing the program is the dance-infused Symphony No. 7 which the composer himself acknowledged as one of his finest works.

Reprising a highlight of the 2011 Tanglewood season, English conductor Bramwell Tovey, the BSO, a distinguished cast of soloists—headlined by Alfred Walker and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles—and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus present concert performances of George Gershwin’s great American masterpiece, the blues-and-jazz-inflected Porgy and Bess. Described by the composer as an “American folk opera,” Porgy and Bess premiered on Broadway in 1935 and only slowly gained traction in the traditional world of opera. Three quarters of a century later, it has assumed its rightful place among the greatest works of America’s music.

Angel Blue, soprano (Clara); Marquita Lister, soprano (Serena); Krysty Swann, mezzo-soprano (Annie); Gwendolyn Brown, contralto (Maria); Calvin Lee, tenor

Patrick Blackwell, baritone (Jim, Undertaker); John Fulton, baritone (Robbins); Robert Honeysucker, baritone (Frazier); Leon Williams, baritone (Jake);

Acclaimed for his previous Boston Symphony performances at both Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger leads a program pairing the Romantic with the ruminative. American violinist Joshua Bell is soloist in Bernstein’s Serenade inspired by Plato’s Symposium, a dialogue on the nature and value of love. Also on the program are two audience favorites: Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, and Dvorák’s bucolic Symphony No. 8.

SCHULHOFF Concerto for String Quartet

This concert under the direction of acclaimed BSO assistant conductor Marcelo Lehninger offers two audience favorites: Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, and Dvorák’s bucolic Symphony No. 8. In between, the Hawthorne String Quartet, made up of four BSO members, is featured in Ervín Schulhoff’s multi-faceted Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Orchestra (1930). Schulhoff, a gifted Czech composer whose bracing neoclassical style was influenced by jazz, died of tuberculosis in a concentration camp in 1942.

Making his Boston Symphony debut, Vladimir Jurowski, principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, is joined by German violinist Arabella Steinbacher for Mendelssohn’s sparkling Violin Concerto. The program concludes with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4, a dark but powerfully majestic work the composer finished in 1936. He withdrew the work prior to its premiere due to fears of official condemnation, writing instead the universally acclaimed, heroic Fifth the following year. The Fourth waited another quarter-century for its first performance.

The Martydom of Saint SebastianAcclaimed conductor Charles Dutoit leads the BSO in a program overflowing with virtuosity. Soloist Nikolai Lugansky makes his BSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a massive and daunting work that tests every aspect of a pianist’s skill. Not to be outdone, the orchestra’s first-chair wind players step to the front of the stage to demonstrate the orchestra’s own resident virtuosity in Frank Martin’s mid-20th-century Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and String Orchestra. Opening the program is colorfully atmospheric music by Debussy: the rarely heard Symphonic Fragments from his incidental music to Gabriele d’Annunzio’s mystery play The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.

Charles Dutoit takes the podium for a second week to lead the BSO, an international cast of vocal soloists, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in a compelling operatic double bill pairing Stravinsky’s The Nightingale and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells). Stravinsky’s 1914 opera The Nightingale—begun before, but completed after, his famous trio of ballets for Sergei Diaghilev—is based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a Chinese emperor and two nightingales—one real, the other mechanical. Completed in 1925, Ravel’s one-act opera L’Enfant et les sortilèges—the story of a child movingly taught the meaning of love and affection—is infused with whimsy and magic.

, for orchestra and Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena, chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, leads the American premiere of influential Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Circle Map, for orchestra and electronics, a BSO co-commission. Violinist Gil Shaham, a frequent guest with the orchestra, joins the BSO for Benjamin Britten’s rarely performed Violin Concerto, and the program concludes with Dvo r ák’s darkly majestic Symphony No. 7, which bespeaks both his love for his native Bohemia and the influence of his mentor, Johannes Brahms.

boston symphony orchestra 2012–2013 seasonConcerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.

Date Conductor/Soloist Program NotesThursday, November 8Friday, November 9, 1:30pmSaturday, November 10

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductorDaniil Trifonov, piano

SIERRA Fandangos for orchestraTCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5

At the heart of the BSO’s November 8–10 program—led by Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, and featuring Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov in his BSO debut—are two powerhouse Russian works: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a fan-favorite and repertoire staple, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, described as a “hymn to free and happy Man,” which the composer wrote in 1944 amidst the chaos of World War II. Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra’s colorful

Thursday, November 15Friday, November 16, 1:30pmSaturday, November 17

Thomas Adès, conductorDawn Upshaw, sopranoKirill Gerstein, piano

SIBELIUS Luonnotar, for soprano and orchestraADÈS In Seven Days, for piano and orchestraPROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1SIBELIUS Symphony No. 6

English conductor Thomas Adès takes the podium for concerts including his own composition for piano and orchestra, featuring soloist Kirill Gerstein. Gerstein also performs Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, dating from the composer’s student years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Framing the program are two works by Sibelius—his mystical tone poem creation story, featuring American soprano Dawn Upshaw; and his poetic, fantasia-like Symphony No. 6.

Friday, November 23, 1:30pmSaturday, November 24*Tuesday, November 27* Sponsored by Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation

Christian Zacharias, conductor and piano

HAYDN Symphony No. 76MOZART Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat, K.456BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus

(complete ballet score)

Christian Zacharias displays both his podium and keyboard skills in an all-Classical program featuring the three great masters of the Austro-German Classical style, beginning with the BSO’s first-ever performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 76. The program continues with Mr. Zacharias at the keyboard for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18. For the second half of the program, the BSO plays its first-ever performances of Beethoven’s complete ballet score to The Creatures of Prometheus

Thursday, November 29Friday, November 30, 1:30pmSaturday, December 1

Stéphane Denève, conductorJean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

BERLIOZ Overture to Les Francs-jugesSAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, EgyptianMacMILLAN Three Interludes from The SacrificeROUSSEL Bacchus et Ariane, Suite No. 2

Returning to the BSO podium for the third consecutive season, French conductor Stéphane Denève leads the BSO in a trio of French works by composers from his native country: Berlioz’s dynamic overture to his unfinished early opera Piano Concerto No. 5, the Three Interludes fromstory from

Thursday, January 10Friday, January 11, 1:30pmSaturday, January 12Tuesday, January 15

Alan Gilbert, conductorLisa Batiashvili, violin

DUTILLEUX Métaboles for OrchestraTCHAIKOVSKY Violin ConcertoSTRAVINSKY Symphony in Three MovementsRAVEL La Valse

In-demand young violinist Lisa Batiashvili is featured in Tchaikovsky’s ultra-Romantic Violin Concerto at the heart of a program conducted by New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert, who also leads the BSO in three 20th-century works: Dutilleux’s the first major work the composer wrote after moving to the United States in 1939; and Ravel’s remarkable musical deconstruction of dance,

Thursday, January 17Friday, January 18Saturday, January 19

Daniele Gatti, conductorFiorenza Cedolins, soprano

VERDI Requiem To mark the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth in 1813, Italian conductor Daniele Gatti, music director of the Orchestre National de France, leads the BSO in three performances of the composer’s Requiem with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and four vocal soloists all making their BSO debuts. One of the greatest of all works for orchestra, soloists, and chorus, Verdi’s massive, theatrical Requiem was completed in 1874, dedicated to the memory of the great Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni—a personal hero of Verdi’s—and premiered on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.

Ekaterina Gubanova, mezzo-sopranoFabio Sartori, tenorCarlo Colombara, bassTanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

Thursday, January 24Friday, January 25, 1:30pmSaturday, January 26

Charles Dutoit, conductorStephen Hough, piano

HINDEMITH Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber

LISZT Piano Concerto No. 1PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Conductor Charles Dutoit returns for his third week of concerts during the 2012–13 season, this time for a program featuring virtuoso English pianist Stephen Hough in Liszt’s scintillatingly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1. The program begins with Hindemith’s translates material from works by Carl Maria von Weber into a virtuoso showpiece for orchestra—and concludes with music from Prokofiev’s sweeping and colorful ballet score

Thursday, January 31Friday, February 1, 1:30pmSaturday, February 2Tuesday, February 5

Andris Nelsons, conductorBaiba Skride, violin

SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons makes his BSO debut in these concerts, having previously conducted the orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He is joined by the exciting young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, who makes her BSO debut as soloist in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, which was written in the late 1940s but only premiered in 1955, after Stalin’s death helped relax the constraints on artistic expression in the USSR. The second half of the program is devoted to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, the second of his well-known last three symphonies.

Thursday, February 7Friday, February 8, 1:30pmSaturday, February 9Tuesday, February 12

Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor

Renaud Capuçon, violin

BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by HaydnSIBELIUS Violin ConcertoBEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5

The eminent German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads three masterpieces from the heart of the orchestral repertoire. The program begins with Brahms’s earliest orchestral masterpiece, his Variations on a Theme by Haydn, a prime example of theme-and-variations form that demonstrates the Romantic-era composer’s fidelity to the Classical tradition. French violinist Renaud Capuçon, in his BSO debut, then joins the orchestra for Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, a pinnacle of the concerto repertoire. The program concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Thursday, February 14Friday, February 15, 1:30pmSaturday, February 16

Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor

Radu Lupu, piano

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, Romantic

For his second week of concerts this season, Christoph von Dohnányi is joined by revered Romanian pianist Radu Lupu—known for his individual interpretations of the great masterpieces of the piano repertoire—for Mozart’s elegantly soft-spoken Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, completed in 1786 when Mozart was at the height of his popularity in Vienna. Also on the program is Bruckner’s expansive Symphony No. 4, soaring grandeur and long-breathed melodies so characteristic of that composer.

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NotesAt the heart of the BSO’s November 8–10 program—led by Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, and featuring Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov in his BSO debut—are two powerhouse Russian works: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a fan-favorite and repertoire staple, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, described as a “hymn to free and happy Man,” which the composer wrote in 1944 amidst the chaos of World War II. Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra’s colorful Fandangos for orchestra (2000) opens the program.

, for soprano and orchestra, for piano and orchestra

English conductor Thomas Adès takes the podium for concerts including his own composition In Seven Days, for piano and orchestra, featuring soloist Kirill Gerstein. Gerstein also performs Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, dating from the composer’s student years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Framing the program are two works by Sibelius—his mystical tone poem Luonnotar for soprano and orchestra, a musical take on the Finnish creation story, featuring American soprano Dawn Upshaw; and his poetic, fantasia-like Symphony No. 6.

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat, K.456The Creatures of Prometheus

Christian Zacharias displays both his podium and keyboard skills in an all-Classical program featuring the three great masters of the Austro-German Classical style, beginning with the BSO’s first-ever performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 76. The program continues with Mr. Zacharias at the keyboard for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18. For the second half of the program, the BSO plays its first-ever performances of Beethoven’s complete ballet score to The Creatures of Prometheus.

EgyptianThe Sacrifice

Returning to the BSO podium for the third consecutive season, French conductor Stéphane Denève leads the BSO in a trio of French works by composers from his native country: Berlioz’s dynamic overture to his unfinished early opera Les Francs-juges, Albert Roussel’s Suite No. 2 from his 1930 ballet Bacchus et Ariane, and Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, with fellow Frenchman Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist. Also on the program are the Three Interludes from The Sacrifice, Scottish contemporary composer James MacMillan’s 2006 opera on a story from The Mabinogion, an ancient collection of Welsh legend.

STRAVINSKY Symphony in Three Movements

In-demand young violinist Lisa Batiashvili is featured in Tchaikovsky’s ultra-Romantic Violin Concerto at the heart of a program conducted by New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert, who also leads the BSO in three 20th-century works: Dutilleux’s Métaboles for Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, the first major work the composer wrote after moving to the United States in 1939; and Ravel’s remarkable musical deconstruction of dance, La Valse.

To mark the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth in 1813, Italian conductor Daniele Gatti, music director of the Orchestre National de France, leads the BSO in three performances of the composer’s Requiem with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and four vocal soloists all making their BSO debuts. One of the greatest of all works for orchestra, soloists, and chorus, Verdi’s massive, theatrical Requiem was completed in 1874, dedicated to the memory of the great Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni—a personal hero of Verdi’s—and premiered on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.

Symphonic Metamorphoses

Romeo and Juliet

Conductor Charles Dutoit returns for his third week of concerts during the 2012–13 season, this time for a program featuring virtuoso English pianist Stephen Hough in Liszt’s scintillatingly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1. The program begins with Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber—which translates material from works by Carl Maria von Weber into a virtuoso showpiece for orchestra—and concludes with music from Prokofiev’s sweeping and colorful ballet score Romeo and Juliet.

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons makes his BSO debut in these concerts, having previously conducted the orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He is joined by the exciting young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, who makes her BSO debut as soloist in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, which was written in the late 1940s but only premiered in 1955, after Stalin’s death helped relax the constraints on artistic expression in the USSR. The second half of the program is devoted to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, the second of his well-known last three symphonies.

BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn The eminent German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi leads three masterpieces from the heart of the orchestral repertoire. The program begins with Brahms’s earliest orchestral masterpiece, his Variations on a Theme by Haydn, a prime example of theme-and-variations form that demonstrates the Romantic-era composer’s fidelity to the Classical tradition. French violinist Renaud Capuçon, in his BSO debut, then joins the orchestra for Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, a pinnacle of the concerto repertoire. The program concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488 For his second week of concerts this season, Christoph von Dohnányi is joined by revered Romanian pianist Radu Lupu—known for his individual interpretations of the great masterpieces of the piano repertoire—for Mozart’s elegantly soft-spoken Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, completed in 1786 when Mozart was at the height of his popularity in Vienna. Also on the program is Bruckner’s expansive Symphony No. 4, Romantic, marked by the soaring grandeur and long-breathed melodies so characteristic of that composer.

boston symphony orchestra 2012–2013 seasonConcerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.

febr

uary

21 –

may

4 Date Conductor/Soloist Program NotesThursday, February 21Friday, February 22, 1:30pmSaturday, February 23Tuesday, February 26

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor

Alexandra Coku, sopranoKaren Cargill, mezzo-sopranoMatthew Polenzani, tenorIldebrando D’Arcangelo, bass

STRAVINSKY Pulcinella (complete)HAYDN Mass in Time of War

Veteran BSO conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos joins the BSO for two very different works for orchestra and voices: the complete music from Stravinsky’s 1919 ballet composer’s neoclassical style, and named for a character from Italian commedia dell’arte—and Haydn’s of Warthe Tanglewood Festival Chorus, three soloists making return appearances at Symphony Hall—Alexandra Coku, Karen Cargill, and Matthew Polenzani—and, in his BSO debut, bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

Thursday, February 28Friday, March 1Saturday, March 2

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor

Lang Lang, piano

HINDEMITH Konzertmusik for Strings and Brass

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

With Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on the podium, the sensational Chinese pianist Lang Lang makes his BSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Two works tied to the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra bookend the program: Hindemith’s and the BSO on the occasion of the orchestra’s 50th anniversary in 1931, and Bartók’s ingeniously kaleidoscopic Concerto for Orchestra, a Koussevitzky commission premiered by the BSO in 1944.

Thursday, March 14Friday, March 15, 1:30pmSaturday, March 16

Christoph Eschenbach, conductorLynn Harrell, celloOlivier Latry, organ

MOZART Symphony No. 41, JupiterTHOMAS Cello Concerto No. 3

(world premiere; BSO commission)SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, Organ

A new BSO-commissioned work receives its world premiere performances when Lynn Harrell is the featured soloist in American composer Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello Concerto No. 3. Conducted by National Symphony Orchestra music director Christoph Eschenbach, the program also includes Saint-Saëns’s sonorous Symphony No. 3, his so-called Symphony No. 41,

Thursday, March 21Friday, March 22, 1:30pmSaturday, March 23Tuesday, March 26

Daniele Gatti, conductorMichelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano

ALL-WAGNER PROGRAMPrelude to LohengrinPrelude and Liebestod from Tristan und IsoldeOrchestral excerpts from GötterdämmerungSiegfried IdyllOrchestral and vocal excerpts from Parsifal

Daniele Gatti, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, and the BSO celebrate the bicentennial of Wagner’s birth with music from four of the composer’s operas—the ethereal Prelude to Act I of from Wagner’s gargantuan Ring cycle; and vocal and orchestral excerpts from his great final opera, the program is Wagner’s chamber-musical Cosima in 1869.

Thursday, March 28Friday, March 29*Saturday, March 30* Sponsored by The Fairmont Copley Plaza

Daniele Gatti, conductor MAHLER Symphony No. 3 For his third program of the season, Daniele Gatti conducts Mahler’s multi-faceted and emotionally wide-ranging Symphony No. 3, a work notable for its length, difficulty, and overwhelming cumulative impact. For this performance, the expanded ranks of the BSO are joined by the eminent Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the boys of the PALS Children’s Chorus. Across its nearly 100-minute length, the broad musical canvas of Mahler’s Third Symphony incorporates a full range of musical and emotional expression.

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-sopranoWomen of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductorBoys of PALS Children’s Chorus, Andy Icochea Icochea, conductor

Tuesday, April 2 Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

HINDEMITH Konzertmusik for Strings and BrassRACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a

Theme of PaganiniBARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos leads a program bookended by two works tied to the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The program begins with Hindemith’s Koussevitzky and the BSO on the occasion of the orchestra’s 50th anniversary in 1931. Bartók’s ingeniously kaleidoscopic Concerto for Orchestra, a Koussevitzky commission premiered by the BSO in 1944, brings the concert to a close. Between these two works, the great American pianist Garrick Ohlsson in Rachmaninoff’s ever-popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Friday, April 12Saturday, April 13

Oliver Knussen, conductorPinchas Zukerman, violinClaire Booth, soprano

MIASKOVSKY Symphony No. 10KNUSSEN Violin ConcertoKNUSSEN Whitman Settings, for soprano

and orchestraMUSSORGSKY arr. STOKOWSKI Pictures at

an Exhibition

The distinguished British composer/conductor Oliver Knussen leads his own Violin Concerto (2002) with soloist Pinchas Zukerman, for whom the piece was written. Then, making her BSO debut, English soprano Claire Booth takes center stage for Knussen’s 1992 No. 10 by the early 20th-century Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky and closes with Mussorgsky’s Exhibition

Thursday, April 18Friday, April 19, 1:30pmSaturday, April 20Tuesday, April 23

Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

BRITTEN Fanfare for St. EdmundsburyMOZART Serenade No. 11 in E-flat for winds, K.375DVORÁK Serenade for StringsTIPPETT Praeludium, for brass, bells, and percussionBRITTEN The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Following the great success of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s “members-only” concerts in January 2012, the individual sections of the orchestra again take the stage conductor-less to perform Britten’s St. EdmundsburyPraeludiumPerson’s Guide to the Orchestra

Thursday, April 25Friday, April 26Saturday, April 27Tuesday, April 30

Bernard Haitink, conductorCamilla Tilling, soprano

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5MAHLER Symphony No. 4

BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink—who was the Boston Symphony’s principal guest conductor from 1995 to 2004—takes the helm for the last two weeks of the 2012–2013 season, beginning with a program of Schubert and Mahler symphonies. The teenaged Schubert composed his Symphony No. 5, a bracingly youthful work suggestive of Haydn and Mozart, in just a few weeks in the summer of 1816. After intermission, Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling is soloist in Mahler’s mellifluous Symphony No. 4, a musical journey from earth to heaven.

Thursday, May 2Friday, May 3, 1:30pmSaturday, May 4

Bernard Haitink, conductorNikolaj Znaider, violin

BRAHMS Violin ConcertoSCHUBERT Symphony in C, The Great

Bernard Haitink returns to the podium to lead the BSO’s final concerts of its 2012–13 season, featuring the compelling Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider in Brahms’s soaring Violin Concerto. Mr. Haitink and the orchestra then end the season in grand fashion with Schubert’s Symphony in C, word: it is his biggest and last word in the genre) symphony—famously praised for its “heavenly length” by Robert Schumann, who observed also that it “transports us into a world we cannot recall ever having been before.”

NotesVeteran BSO conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos joins the BSO for two very different works for orchestra and voices: the complete music from Stravinsky’s 1919 ballet Pulcinella—an early example, reinterpreting Baroque music, of the composer’s neoclassical style, and named for a character from Italian commedia dell’arte—and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, composed in 1796 during the series of European wars following the French Revolution. These concerts feature the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, three soloists making return appearances at Symphony Hall—Alexandra Coku, Karen Cargill, and Matthew Polenzani—and, in his BSO debut, bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.

With Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on the podium, the sensational Chinese pianist Lang Lang makes his BSO debut in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Two works tied to the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra bookend the program: Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for Strings and Brass, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky and the BSO on the occasion of the orchestra’s 50th anniversary in 1931, and Bartók’s ingeniously kaleidoscopic Concerto for Orchestra, a Koussevitzky commission premiered by the BSO in 1944.

A new BSO-commissioned work receives its world premiere performances when Lynn Harrell is the featured soloist in American composer Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello Concerto No. 3. Conducted by National Symphony Orchestra music director Christoph Eschenbach, the program also includes Saint-Saëns’s sonorous Symphony No. 3, his so-called Organ Symphony, featuring French organist Olivier Latry in his BSO debut, as well as Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, the composer’s final work in the genre and a pinnacle of the Classical style.

Tristan und IsoldeGötterdämmerung

Parsifal

Daniele Gatti, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, and the BSO celebrate the bicentennial of Wagner’s birth with music from four of the composer’s operas—the ethereal Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin; the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; orchestral excerpts from Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the final opera of Wagner’s gargantuan Ring cycle; and vocal and orchestral excerpts from his great final opera, Parsifal. Also on the program is Wagner’s chamber-musical Siegfried Idyll, composed as an intimate birthday present for his wife Cosima in 1869.

For his third program of the season, Daniele Gatti conducts Mahler’s multi-faceted and emotionally wide-ranging Symphony No. 3, a work notable for its length, difficulty, and overwhelming cumulative impact. For this performance, the expanded ranks of the BSO are joined by the eminent Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the boys of the PALS Children’s Chorus. Across its nearly 100-minute length, the broad musical canvas of Mahler’s Third Symphony incorporates a full range of musical and emotional expression.

for Strings and Brass Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos leads a program bookended by two works tied to the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The program begins with Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for Strings and Brass, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky and the BSO on the occasion of the orchestra’s 50th anniversary in 1931. Bartók’s ingeniously kaleidoscopic Concerto for Orchestra, a Koussevitzky commission premiered by the BSO in 1944, brings the concert to a close. Between these two works, the great American pianist Garrick Ohlsson in Rachmaninoff’s ever-popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

, for soprano

Pictures at

The distinguished British composer/conductor Oliver Knussen leads his own Violin Concerto (2002) with soloist Pinchas Zukerman, for whom the piece was written. Then, making her BSO debut, English soprano Claire Booth takes center stage for Knussen’s 1992 Whitman Settings, for soprano and orchestra. The program opens with the Symphony No. 10 by the early 20th-century Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky and closes with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in a rarely heard orchestration by Leopold Stokowski.

MOZART Serenade No. 11 in E-flat for winds, K.375

, for brass, bells, and percussionThe Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Following the great success of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s “members-only” concerts in January 2012, the individual sections of the orchestra again take the stage conductor-less to perform Britten’s Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury, Mozart’s Serenade No. 11 in E-flat for winds, K.375, Dvorák’s Serenade for Strings, and Tippett’s Praeludium for brass, bells, and percussion. The full ensemble then joins forces for Britten’s well-known Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which shines a spotlight on each section of the orchestra in turn.

BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink—who was the Boston Symphony’s principal guest conductor from 1995 to 2004—takes the helm for the last two weeks of the 2012–2013 season, beginning with a program of Schubert and Mahler symphonies. The teenaged Schubert composed his Symphony No. 5, a bracingly youthful work suggestive of Haydn and Mozart, in just a few weeks in the summer of 1816. After intermission, Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling is soloist in Mahler’s mellifluous Symphony No. 4, a musical journey from earth to heaven.

Bernard Haitink returns to the podium to lead the BSO’s final concerts of its 2012–13 season, featuring the compelling Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider in Brahms’s soaring Violin Concerto. Mr. Haitink and the orchestra then end the season in grand fashion with Schubert’s Symphony in C, The Great—the composer’s ultimate (in both senses of the word: it is his biggest and last word in the genre) symphony—famously praised for its “heavenly length” by Robert Schumann, who observed also that it “transports us into a world we cannot recall ever having been before.”

UnderScore FridaysFriday evenings at 8pmWith the continuing success of our UnderScore Friday series, all Friday-evening concerts follow this same format, with patrons hearing comments from the stage about each program.

September 28, 8pmOctober 26, 8pmJanuary 18, 8pm

March 29, 8pmApril 12, 8pmApril 26, 8pm

Boston Symphony Chamber Players at Jordan HallThe Boston Symphony Chamber Players combine the talents of the BSO’s principal players to explore the full spectrum of chamber music repertoire. Concerts take place on four Sunday afternoons at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.

Tickets: $38, $29, $22; Four Concert Series: $128, $92, $72

sunday, november 18 3pmwith Thomas Adès and Kirill Gerstein, pianosMusic for piano four-handsCARTER Figment III for double bassCARTER Wind QuintetBRAHMS Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

sunday, january 13 3pmLUTOSŁAWSKI Dance Preludes for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello,

and double bassFRANK Sueños de Chambi for flute and pianoCOPLAND Appalachian Spring (original chamber version)

sunday, march 10 3pmDVORÁK Bagatelles for two violins, cello, and harmonium, Op. 47SCHULHOFF Concertino for flute, viola, and double bassBRAHMS Clarinet Trio in A, Op. 114

sunday, april 28 3pmJANÁCEK Mládi, for flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, and hornMARTINU Nonet for winds and stringsMOZART String Quintet in G minor, K.516

For individual tickets call 617-266-1200 or visit bso.org. Please note that on the day of the concert, tickets may only be purchased at Jordan Hall.

To purchase the four-concert series, call the Subscription Office at 888-266-7575.

Dining at the BSOWhether you’re in the mood for a relaxed, sit-down dinner with friends or a quick bite before the show, Symphony Hall’s many dining options—from a traditional, à la carte entreeson-site chefs—are sure to fulfill your desire for an unforgettable evening out. And pre-ordering is made easy when you purchase your tickets.

Consider pre-concert, RoomIntermission dining is also available.

symphony caféSymphony Café offers buffet-style dining from 5:30pm until concert time for all evening Boston Symphony concerts, and lunch from 11am prior to Friday-afternoon concerts. Please enter at the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue. For reservations call 617-638-9328. Visit sample menus.

cabot-cahners & o’block/kay roomsCasual pre-concert and intermission dining is available in both the Cabot-Cahners and O’Block/Kay Rooms. Enjoy gourmet sandwiches, cheese and fruit plates, and desserts, along with a full complement of beverages, including coffee, tea, wine, beer, soda, liquor, and champagne splits.

coffee and other refreshments around the hallThe Refreshment Bartea, espresso, cappuccino, mochaccino, and a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, as well as assorted mini-sandwiches, appetizers, and snacks. Cahners Rooms. Celebrate an evening of world class music at the O’Block/Kay Room, offering champagne by the glass, cognac, armagnac, and gourmet chocolates.

Visit BSO.ORGbso media offeringsIn addition to comprehensive access to all BSO, Boston Pops, Tanglewood, and Symphony Hall performance schedules, patrons have access to a number of free and paid media options including radio broadcast concert streams, audio concert previews, Emmy Award-winning audio and video interviews of guest artists and BSO musicians, up to 3-minute music excerpts highlighting upcoming programs as well as all self-produced albums by the BSO, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, and complete program notes for all performances that you can download and print or save offline to an e-reading device such as a Kindle or Nook. All media content is accessible throughout BSO.org, but can also be accessed in a centralized location via the BSO Media Center at BSO.org

bso kids websiteThe BSO kids website offers kids and parents access to a number of educational games and resources designed to be fun and help teach various aspects of music theory and musical concepts. Games include “Cue the Conductor,” build and play your own “Monstrument,” “Catchy Tuba,” “Play That Tune,” and “Music Memory.”

new this fall! bso.org mobileOn the go and need to buy tickets to the BSO? Access the new BSO.org on your smartphone! Access performance schedules, purchase tickets, pre-order food and beverages to enjoy prior to a performance. Download program notes, listen to music clips and concert previews, or make a donation to your favorite BSO annual fund.

facebook, twitter, and youtubeBoston Symphony Orchestra is on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up to connect with the BSO at facebook.com/bostonsymphonyor follow the BSO on Twitter, and receive all of the latest BSO news up to the minute.

series, all Friday-evening concerts follow this

The Boston Symphony Chamber Players combine the talents of the BSO’s principal players to explore the full spectrum of chamber music repertoire. Concerts take place

For individual tickets call 617-266-1200 or visit bso.org. Please note that on the day of the concert,

Dining at the BSOWhether you’re in the mood for a relaxed, sit-down dinner with friends or a quick bite before the show, Symphony Hall’s many dining options—from a traditional, Barcelona-style tapas bar to seasonal, à la carte entrees prepared by Boston Gourmet’s on-site chefs—are sure to fulfill your desire for an unforgettable evening out. And pre-ordering is made easy when you purchase your tickets.

Consider pre-concert, prix fixe dining at Symphony Café and à la carte dining in the Cabot-Cahners Room. Arrive early and relax over food and drink amidst the historic surroundings of Symphony Hall. Intermission dining is also available.

symphony caféSymphony Café offers buffet-style dining from 5:30pm until concert time for all evening Boston Symphony concerts, and lunch from 11am prior to Friday-afternoon concerts. Please enter at the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue. For reservations call 617-638-9328. Visit bso.org/dining to view sample menus.

cabot-cahners & o’block/kay roomsCasual pre-concert and intermission dining is available in both the Cabot-Cahners and O’Block/Kay Rooms. Enjoy gourmet sandwiches, cheese and fruit plates, and desserts, along with a full complement of beverages, including coffee, tea, wine, beer, soda, liquor, and champagne splits.

coffee and other refreshments around the hallThe Refreshment Bar, located outside of the O’Block/Kay Room (next to the coat room), serves coffee, tea, espresso, cappuccino, mochaccino, and a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, as well as assorted mini-sandwiches, appetizers, and snacks. Coffee is also available at the bars in the O’Block/Kay and Cabot-Cahners Rooms. Celebrate an evening of world class music at the Champagne Bar, located outside the O’Block/Kay Room, offering champagne by the glass, cognac, armagnac, and gourmet chocolates.

Visit BSO.ORGbso media offeringsIn addition to comprehensive access to all BSO, Boston Pops, Tanglewood, and Symphony Hall performance schedules, patrons have access to a number of free and paid media options including radio broadcast concert streams, audio concert previews, Emmy Award-winning audio and video interviews of guest artists and BSO musicians, up to 3-minute music excerpts highlighting upcoming programs as well as all self-produced albums by the BSO, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, and complete program notes for all performances that you can download and print or save offline to an e-reading device such as a Kindle or Nook. All media content is accessible throughout BSO.org, but can also be accessed in a centralized location via the BSO Media Center at BSO.org/MediaCenter.

bso kids websiteThe BSO kids website offers kids and parents access to a number of educational games and resources designed to be fun and help teach various aspects of music theory and musical concepts. Games include “Cue the Conductor,” build and play your own “Monstrument,” “Catchy Tuba,” “Play That Tune,” and “Music Memory.”

coming this fall! bso.org mobileOn the go and need to buy tickets to the BSO? Access the new BSO.org on your smartphone! Access performance schedules, purchase tickets, pre-order food and beverages to enjoy prior to a performance. Download program notes, listen to music clips and concert previews, or make a donation to your favorite BSO annual fund.

facebook, twitter, and youtubeBoston Symphony Orchestra is on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up to connect with the BSO at facebook.com/bostonsymphony, watch all the latest video content at youtube.com/bostonsymphony, or follow the BSO on Twitter, and receive all of the latest BSO news up to the minute.

General Information$20 tickets for patrons under $20 tickets are available during the BSO season for patrons under 40 years of age. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis on both the orchestra and balcony levels. There is a limit to one pair of tickets per performance, but you may choose as many dates as you like! Some blackout dates will apply. Check bso.org for more information.

rush tickets There are a limited number of Rush Tickets for BSO subscription-series concerts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings and Friday afternoons. Tickets are $9 each, cash only, one to a customer, and can be purchased at the BSO Box Office on Massachusetts Avenue on Fridays beginning at 10am for afternoon concerts, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays beginning at 5pm for evening concerts. Please note: No Rush Tickets are available on Saturday evenings.

This program is made possible through the Richard and Claire Morse Rush Ticket Fund.

college card The College Card is the best way for students to experience the BSO on a regular basis. For only $25 students can attend most BSO concerts at no additional cost! After purchase, simply register the card online to receive text and/or e-mail notifications of real-time ticket availability and special offers. Check bso.org for more information or call 888-266-1200 to purchase

symphony hall toursFree tours of Symphony Hall are offered at select dates and times during the BSO season; come explore this remarkable building that has become a cornerstone of Boston’s historical landscape. Group tours are available by appointment. For more details, or to schedule a tour, please visit bso.org, email bsav@bso.org, or call 617-638-9390 to confirm specific dates and times. Symphony Hall Tours are a project of the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers.

gift certificatesGift Certificates are available in any amount and may be used toward the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) to any BSO or Boston Pops performance at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood. Gift Certificates may also be used at the Symphony Shop to purchase merchandise, and at the Symphony Café.

symphony shopThe Symphony Shop, located in the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue, is open during the BSO and Pops season, Thursdays and Saturday 3–6pm. On days when there is an evening concert, the shop will be open through intermission. A satellite shop, located on the first-balcony level outside the Cabot-Cahners Room, is open only during concerts. Mail order is available by calling 617-638-9383 or purchase online at bso.org.

Free Educational Opportunities

friday previewsFriday Previews take place from 12:15–12:45pm in Symphony Hall before all of the BSO’s Friday-afternoon subscription concerts throughout the season. Given by BSO Director of Program Publications Marc Mandel and Assistant Director of Program Publications Robert Kirzinger, these informative half-hour talks incorporate recorded examples from the music to be performed.

bso 101—a free adult education series on tuesday and wednesday evenings, 5:30–6:45pmBSO 101 returns in 2012–13, offering seven Wednesday-evening sessions designed to enhance your listening abilities, and four Tuesday-evening sessions providing an “insider’s view” of the workings of the BSO. Each session is followed by a complimentary reception offering beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and further time to share your thoughts with others. Admission is free for all of these sessions, but we ask that you please call the reservation line at 617-638-9454 to reserve your place for the date or dates you’re planning to attend.

bso 101: are you listening?These seven Wednesday-evening sessions, 5:30–6:45pm, with BSO Director of Program Publications Marc Mandel and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra are designed to enhance your listening abilities and appreciation of music by focusing on music from the BSO’s repertoire. The specific musical repertoire to be discussed will be posted at bso.org 3–4 weeks before each session. No prior musical training, or attendance at any previous session, is required, since each session is self-contained.

Wednesday, October 10: An Infinite VarietyWednesday, October 31: Symphony vs. ConcertoWednesday, November 14: The Orchestral PaletteWednesday, January 9: Contrasting VoicesWednesday, February 6: Three B’s–

Brahms, Bruckner, BartókWednesday, March 13: Mozart and WagnerWednesday, April 10: Schubert and Mahler

bso 101: an insider’s viewThese four Tuesday-evening sessions, 5:30–6:45pm, featuring BSO musicians and administrative staff, focus on behind-the-scenes activities at Symphony Hall. New this season: two of the sessions will offer round-table discussions with BSO musicians. Specific participants and topics will be announced. Please visit bso.org for further information.

Tuesday, October 16 Tuesday, January 29Tuesday, November 20 Tuesday, March 5

Thomas Wilkins

Family ConcertsBSO Family Concerts are designed to build a connection to the BSO, orchestral music, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and Symphony Hall for children ages 3–8 and their families. The BSO offers three Family Concerts per year, one of which is performed by the BSO and conducted by BSO Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor Thomas Wilkins. The other two concerts are presented by the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Individual tickets: $20 per adult, kids under 18 free (limit four free per family)3-concert series: $60 per adult, kids under 18 free (limit four free per family)

november 10, 12noon april 27, 12noonBoston Youth Symphony OrchestrasFederico Cortese, conductorPROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf

Boston Youth Symphony OrchestrasMarta Zurad, conductor“a cheerful earful”

march 9, 10:15am & 12noonBoston Symphony OrchestraThomas Wilkins, conductor“from the inside out —A Musical Look at Courage, Competition, and Character”WAGNER Prelude to Act III of LohengrinWILLIAMS Imperial March from Star WarsSCHUMAN “Chester” from New England Triptych PUCCINI Intermezzo from Manon LescautFALLA Jota from The Three-cornered HatBRAHMS Third movement (Allegro giocoso) from Symphony No. 4WILLIAMS Adventures on Earth from E.T. the Extra-terrestrial

General Information$20 tickets for patrons under 40$20 tickets are available during the BSO season for patrons under 40 years of age. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis on both the orchestra and balcony levels. There is a limit to one pair of tickets per performance, but you may choose as many dates as you like! Some blackout dates will apply. Check bso.org for more information.

rush tickets $9There are a limited number of Rush Tickets for BSO subscription-series concerts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings and Friday afternoons. Tickets are $9 each, cash only, one to a customer, and can be purchased at the BSO Box Office on Massachusetts Avenue on Fridays beginning at 10am for afternoon concerts, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays beginning at 5pm for evening concerts. Please note: No Rush Tickets are available on Saturday evenings.

This program is made possible through the Richard and Claire Morse Rush Ticket Fund.

college card ($25)The College Card is the best way for students to experience the BSO on a regular basis. For only $25 students can attend most BSO concerts at no additional cost! After purchase, simply register the card online to receive text and/or e-mail notifications of real-time ticket availability and special offers. Check bso.org for more information or call 888-266-1200 to purchase.

symphony hall toursFree tours of Symphony Hall are offered at select dates and times during the BSO season; come explore this remarkable building that has become a corner-stone of Boston’s historical landscape. Group tours are available by appointment. For more details, or to schedule a tour, please visit bso.org, email bsav@bso.org, or call 617-638-9390 to confirm specific dates and times. Symphony Hall Tours are a project of the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers.

gift certificatesGift Certificates are available in any amount and may be used toward the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) to any BSO or Boston Pops performance at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood. Gift Certificates may also be used at the Symphony Shop to purchase merchandise, and at the Symphony Café.

symphony shopThe Symphony Shop, located in the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue, is open during the BSO and Pops season, Thursdays and Saturday 3–6pm. On days when there is an evening concert, the shop will be open through intermission. A satellite shop, located on the first-balcony level outside the Cabot-Cahners Room, is open only during concerts. Mail order is available by calling 617-638-9383 or purchase online at bso.org.

concert information linePrograms and artists are subject to change. For up-to-date program information, call 617-C-O-N-C-E-R-T (266-2378).

children at symphony hallIn consideration of our patrons and artists, children aged four or younger will not be admitted to BSO events. Please see opposite page for information on Youth and Family Concerts.

late arrivalsFor the comfort of our artists and your fellow patrons, late seating takes place during the first pause in the program.

snow lineIn case of inclement weather, call the BSO Snow Line at 617-638-9495 for up-to-date information on BSO performances. Ticket refunds will only be issued for concerts that are canceled.

general parking informationThe Symphony Garage on Westland Avenue, along with the Prudential Center Garage (after 2pm) and Copley Place Parking, both on Huntington Avenue, offer discounted parking to any BSO patron with a ticket stub. Limited street parking is available.

free community chamber concertsIntimate chamber music performances held on Sunday afternoons at 3pm at various locations throughout the community, these free concerts bring Boston Symphony members to your neighborhood! For more information please visit bso.org. Free admission; reservations required. Please call 888-266-1200.

october 28, 2012 3pm Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church

november 11, 2012 3pm Tuckerman Hall, Worcester

january 20, 2013 3pm JFK Museum and Library

february 10, 2013 3pm Bethany Congregational Church, Quincy

february 17, 2013 3pm Milford Town Hall

march 3, 2013 3pm* Strand Theatre, Dorchester

march 10, 2013 3pm* Somerville High School

april 28, 2013 3pm Lawrence High School

may 5, 2013 3pm Chelsea High School

* These concerts will feature a performance by community musicians beginning at 2:30pm

These seven Wednesday-evening sessions, 5:30–6:45pm, with BSO Director of Program Publications Marc Mandel and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra are designed to enhance your listening abilities and appreciation of music by focusing on music from the BSO’s repertoire. The specific musical repertoire to be discussed will be posted at bso.org 3–4 weeks before each session. No prior musical training, or attendance at any previous session, is required, since each session is self-contained.

Wednesday, October 10: An Infinite VarietyWednesday, October 31: Symphony vs. ConcertoWednesday, November 14: The Orchestral Palette

Wednesday, March 13: Mozart and Wagner

These four Tuesday-evening sessions, 5:30–6:45pm, featuring BSO musicians and administrative staff, focus on behind-the-scenes activities at Symphony Hall. New this season: two of the sessions will offer round-table discussions with BSO musicians. Specific participants and topics will be announced. Please visit

Tuesday, January 29Tuesday, March 5

1st choice

2nd choice

chamber players

family concerts

opening night

Ticketsby phoneCall SymphonyCharge at 617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200 (voice), or 617-638-9289 (TDD/TTY), Monday through Friday from 10am until 6pm and on Saturday from 12noon until 6pm.

onlineOrder tickets online at bso.org, 24 hours a day.

There is a $6.25 per order handling fee for tickets ordered by mail; a $6.25 fee per ticket for orders by phone or online.

in personThe Symphony Hall Box Office is open from 10am until 6pm, Monday through Friday; 12noon to 6pm on Saturdays. On concert evenings, the Box Office remains open through intermission.

by mailSend mail orders to: Symphony Hall Box Office Boston Symphony Orchestra 301 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, MA 02115-4511

BSO evening performances begin at 8pm. Friday-afternoon performances begin at 1:30pm. Doors open 60 minutes prior to concert time. For the comfort of our artists and patrons, late seating will take place during the first convenient pause in the program.

ORCHESTRA

Symphony Hall Prices

Thanks to BSO subscribers who return their tickets for resale, the Box Office often has good seats available on the day of the concert.

Tuesday & Thursday evenings:1st price $1142nd price $933rd price $754th price $495th price $386th price $337th price $30

Friday afternoons:1st price $1072nd price $883rd price $724th price $485th price $386th price $347th price $31

Friday evenings:1st price $1202nd price $1013rd price $804th price $555th price $456th price $397th price $32

Saturday evenings:1st price $1242nd price $1043rd price $824th price $575th price $476th price $417th price $33

Opening Night special prices:$2,500*, $1,250*, $250, $150, $95, $75* Include post concert dinner at Symphony Hall. $1,250 price level is sold out.

A $1 fee is included in your ticket price to help fund the preservation of Symphony Hall.

other important phone numbersAccess Information for Patrons with Disabilities: 617-638-9431

TDD/TTY: 617-638-9289

Concert Information Line: 617-266-2378

Group Sales: 617-638-9345 or 800-933-4255

Snow Line Information: 617-638-9495

All programs and artists are subject to change.

Mark Volpe, Managing Director Eunice and Julian Cohen Managing Directorship, fully funded in perpetuity

Photography: Stu Rosner

1st price – Orchestra

2nd price – Orchestra, First Balcony

3rd price – Orchestra, First Balcony, Second Balcony

4th price – Orchestra, Second Balcony

5th price – Orchestra, First Balcony

6th price – Orchestra, First Balcony, Second Balcony

7th price – Second Balcony

concert date seat location no. of seats price per seat total

1st choice

2nd choice

chamber players unreserved

family concerts unreserved

opening night

contribution*

handling fee $6.25

grand total

*i wish to make an annual fund contribution.

The Symphony Hall Box Office is open from 10am until 6pm, Monday through Friday; 12noon to 6pm on Saturdays. On concert evenings, the Box Office remains open through intermission.

BSO evening performances begin at 8pm. Friday-afternoon performances begin at 1:30pm. Doors open 60 minutes prior to concert time. For the comfort of our artists and patrons, late seating will

Saturday evenings:

accessible seating For patrons with disabilities, accessible seats are available on the orchestra level. Large print programs and assistive listening devices are also available. Please call our Access Services Hotline at 617-638-9431.

Enclosed is my check made out to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Please charge the full amount to:

American Express

Visa

MasterCard

Diners Club

Discover Card

name

address

city state zip

telephone (day) (evening)

card number exp. date

name (as it appears on card)

signature

other important phone numbersAccess Information for Patrons with Disabilities: 617-638-9431

TDD/TTY: 617-638-9289

Concert Information Line: 617-266-2378

Group Sales: 617-638-9345 or 800-933-4255

Snow Line Information: 617-638-9495

All programs and artists are subject to change.

Mark Volpe, Managing Director Eunice and Julian Cohen Managing Directorship, fully funded in perpetuity

Photography: Stu Rosner

2nd price – Orchestra, First Balcony

– Orchestra, First Balcony,

– Orchestra, Second Balcony

– Orchestra, First Balcony

– Orchestra, First Balcony,

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