Archival BSO Performances With Conductors Colin Davis and Seiji Ozawa Release This Month on BSO NOW

In April, the BSO NOW concert streaming platform will launch the final two of four archival programs, featuring conductors who enjoyed especially close relationships with the orchestra. All four programs were originally produced and distributed by Boston public broadcaster GBH for the iconic Evening at Symphony television series. Longtime CRB announcer Brian McCreath serves as host for the archival BSO NOW streams, which are available at www.bso.org/now.

Today at noon, BSO NOW will release an archival concert stream featuring Colin Davis (BSO Principal Guest Conductor, 1972-84) leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in "Siegfried's Rhine Journey" from Wagner's Götterdämmerung (originally recorded on April 3, 1976); Sibelius' Symphony No. 6 (originally recorded on November 29, 1975); and Elgar's Cockaigne Overture, from "In London Town" (originally recorded on January 7, 1978). Davis' relationship with the Boston Symphony stretched across more than four decades. He made many recordings with the BSO-including a complete set of Sibelius symphonies and selected tone poems released on the Philips label and he was a regular presence at Tanglewood as well. As with other BSO NOW concert streams, this archival one is available for on-demand viewing for 30 days, through May 1, at bso.org/now.

The final BSO NOW archival release of the orchestra's 2020-21 online season launches on Thursday, April 8 at noon and is available for online viewing through May 8. Beginning in the late 1970s, the BSO and Seiji Ozawa recorded Tchaikovsky's three great ballet scores: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. The April 8 Ozawa-led program includes excerpts from Acts II and III of Swan Lake, recorded on October 25, 1978. It features many musicians who are still in the BSO, as well as legendary players from the past, such as wind principals Harold Wright and Sherman Walt, harpist Ann Hobson Pilot, and string players Joseph Silverstein, Harry Ellis Dickson, Jules Eskin, and Mary Lou Speaker.

Launched on March 4 and still available for viewing through April 3 at bso.org/now, William Steinberg (BSO Music Director, 1969-72) conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in "Mercury" from Holst's The Planets (originally recorded on October 6, 1970) and Elgar's Symphony No. 2 (originally recorded on October 7, 1969). Steinberg was renowned for his interpretations of classics from his native Germany, but he also felt a strong affinity with English music, including works by Elgar and Holst. Among the works he recorded with the BSO for Deutsche Grammophon was Gustav Holst's The Planets-a release that continues to stand out after all this time as an unsurpassed benchmark in a field of numerous recordings of that piece.

The first telecast of a BSO performance took place in 1956, when WGBH Television and WGBH-FM simulcast a concert at Kresge Auditorium, on the campus of MIT. And in 1974, WGBH Television launched its award-winning series Evening at Symphony. All BSO NOW archival programs are presented in their original format with Evening at Symphony opening credits and the resonant voice of its fabled announcer, William Pierce.

CRB Classical 99.5 FM and www.classicalwcrb.org continue to feature encore Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts on Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. The program for Saturday, April 3 features BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Totentanz-his 2013 meditation on the indiscriminate nature of Death, with mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and baritone Mark Stone-as well as Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and Sibelius' Tapiola. This performance originally took place on November 5, 2016.

The program for Saturday, April 10 features Hélène Grimaud as soloist in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1, and BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons conducting Brahms' Symphony No. 2 and the world premiere of the space of a door by Eric Nathan. This performance originally took place on November 12, 2016.

On November 19, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched BSO NOW, an expanded online presence with newly recorded hour-long video streams by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Andris Nelsons and guest conductors; the Boston Pops, under the direction of Keith Lockhart; and BSO musicians in chamber music, as well as BSO Youth and Family Concerts, under the direction of Thomas Wilkins, and special projects featuring the orchestra's educational and community partnerships. Most BSO NOW video streams feature a magazine-type segment, with behind-the-scenes storytelling with conductors, composers, and musicians, plus much more. All BSO NOW newly recorded programs are released on select Thursdays at noon through April 29, at www.bso.org/now, with each program remaining available for 30 days after its initial posting. The BSO, Pops, and youth-focused video performances are recorded from the stage of Symphony Hall-widely considered one of the top three acoustic concert halls in the world-which is featured for all its beautiful detail and historic significance.