Karina Canellakis conducts Dvořák, Lutosławski, and Szymanowski with Nicola Benedetti, violin
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Making her BSO debut, violinist Nicola Benedetti joins conductor Karina Canellakis in her Symphony Hall debut for Karel Szymanowski’s scintillating Violin Concerto No. 2 from 1933, his last major work. His compatriot Witold Lutosławski’s folk-music influenced Concerto for Orchestra (1954) helped establish his international reputation. Antonín Dvořák’s nature-inspired tone poem Wood Dove has not been played by the BSO since 1905.
Karina Canellakis, conductor
Nicola Benedetti, violin
DVOŘÁK Wood Dove (18)
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2 (22)
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LUTOSŁAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra (28)
Program Notes & Works
Wood Dove
Wood Dove is one of a cycle of four symphonic poems from the mid-1890s depicting folk tales. The narrative of the single-movement Wood Dove is a dark one.
Violin Concerto No. 2
An exact contemporary of Igor Stravinsky, Szymanowski was the most significant and original Polish composer since Chopin.
Concerto for Orchestra
The Concerto for Orchestra was foundational for Lutosławski, who went on to become one of the major composers of the later 20th century.