Ray Chen plays Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Teddy Abrams, conductor
Ray Chen, violin
Dashon Burton, baritone
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
-Intermission-
Michael TILSON THOMAS Whitman Songs
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Ray Chen plays Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto, the first work the composer completed after his separation from his disastrous marriage and a piece he almost dedicated to his student – and likely lover and inspiration, Iosif Kotek. 120 years later, Michael Tilson Thomas lovingly set three of Walt Whitman poems about longing and belonging for baritone and orchestra. Leonard Bernstein’s star-crossed lovers close the program in an iconic love letter to New York and love itself.
Pre-concert Talk
The March 14 performance will include a pre-concert talk at 12:15pm featuring conductor and educator Jeffrey Means.
Thursday evening’s concert is generously supported by Janet and Irv Plotkin.
Friday afternoon's performance by the vocal soloist is generously supported by the Ethan Ayer Vocal Soloist Fund.
Saturday evening's concert is generously supported by Mr. C. Thomas Brown.
Saturday's performance of Whitman Songs is supported by John Lowell Thorndike, former BSO trustee, treasurer, vice president, and lifelong advocate for the performance of contemporary music.
Performance Details
Mar 13, 2025, 7:30pm EDT
Program Notes & Works
Violin Concerto in D
Tchaikovsky arranged the premiere of his Violin Concerto in far-away Boston—so that if it were a flop, he would not have to be present to hear it himself.
Whitman Songs, for baritone and orchestra
"Whitman’s life work is revolutionary," Tilson Thomas writes, "and it helped me deal with the big question of ‘Who am I?’ One of the answers Whitman gave me was, 'I am an American.'"
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
In 1960 Bernstein created a concert suite from the score of West Side Story, which presents in orchestral guise a kind of fantasia of the most familiar tunes from the musical, from the wistful “Somewhere” to the raucous “Mambo.”
