2024-25 BSO Season

Finlandia with Andris Nelsons, Ross Jamie Collins, & Na’Zir McFadden

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Ross Jamie Collins and Na’Zir McFadden, Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano

SIBELIUS Finlandia
GRIEG Piano Concerto
-Intermission-
GRIEG Holberg Suite
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7

Andris Nelsons and our two summer 2024 Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows share this concert of Norwegian and Finnish works. British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor performs the Norwegian Edvard Grieg’s fiery Piano Concerto, paired with the composer’s delightful Holberg Suite, based on Baroque dances. Jean Sibelius composed Finlandia pointedly to elevate Finnish national feeling, and it succeeded wonderfully, becoming one of his most popular works. His late single-movement Seventh Symphony is the ultimate expression of his personal musical language.

Pre-concert Talk
The November 29 performance will include a pre-concert talk starting at 12:15pm with music and culture historian Lucy Caplan.

Unfortunately, Sergio Tiempo has had to withdraw from his performance due to an injury. We are very grateful that Benjamin Grosvenor is able to perform in his place on short notice.

Fri, Nov 29, 2024, 1:30pm EST (Past)

The Fanny Peabody Mason Memorial Concert

Sat, Nov 30, 2024, 8:00pm EST (Past)

Performance Details

Nov 29, 2024, 1:30pm EST

Featuring

Program Notes & Works

Finlandia, Opus 26

Jean Sibelius

Sibelius wrote his perennially popular tone poem Finlandia to rouse national feeling among his Finnish compatriots as they chafed under Russian rule.

Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16

Edvard Grieg

Grieg composed his Piano Concerto when he was just 24, and it remains one of his best-known and most popular works.

From Holberg’s Time, Suite in the old style for string orchestra, Opus 40

Edvard Grieg

Grieg's Holberg Suite pays homage to a towering figure in Scandinavian literature, Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). This charming neo-Baroque suite evokes music of Holberg’s era.

Symphony No. 7 in C, Opus 105

Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius turned to Finnish legend for inspiration for his symphonic poems and infused his seven symphonies with a similar sense of narrative and atmosphere. In the Seventh Symphony, contrasting episodes blend seamlessly from one to the next in one 20-minute movement.