From the Boston Symphony Radio Archives: Serge Koussevitzky in Concert
Serge Koussevitzky with NBC microphone. Photographer unknown, photograph courtesy of Kevin P. Mostyn
Over the next eight weeks, as part of the BSO’s celebration of Serge Koussevitzky’s 150th birthday and the 100th anniversary of his appointment as the orchestra’s ninth Music Director, we’ll be making available for the first time a selection of performances drawn from the archive of concert broadcast recordings. The majority are of performances at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood, but there are also recordings from the orchestra’s regular tour venues in New York and elsewhere.
In making this selection, we chose works which represent the scope of Koussevitzky’s interests and passions. We’ve also aimed to include primarily repertoire which he did not record commercially, or which has not been included in previous historic releases. But, most importantly, these are performances which demonstrate his distinctive conducting style: brilliance in the high strings over a deep bass foundation, incredible freedom of tempi, highlighting of unexpected textural details. The recording quality reflects the techniques of the time but nonetheless paints a clear aural picture of the tonal personality of the orchestra at this period.
We hope that you enjoy this snapshot of Serge Koussevitzky in concert.
Week 1–Koussevitzky and Beethoven
Beethoven has long figured prominently in the life of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While Serge Koussevitzky peppered his tenure at the BSO with numerous new works by contemporary composers, he by no means dismissed the classics. Published July 5, 2024.
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Week 2–Koussevitzky and Singular Soloists
Over his 25-year tenure with the BSO, Serge Koussevitzky was equally at home collaborating with musicians well-established on the world stage—such as Rachmaninoff, Heifetz, Zimbalist, or Piatigorsky—as he was with nurturing early career soloists such as Jesús María Sanromá, Ruth Posselt, Dorothy Maynor, and Lukas Foss. This week’s offerings focus on musicians from both of these camps: young Lukas Foss and the highly esteemed Efrem Zimbalist. Published July 12, 2024.
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Week 3–Koussevitzky and Rachmaninoff
Composer-pianist Rachmaninoff and conductor-bassist Koussevitzky were contemporaries who shared more than a first name and nationality: the two Russian-born Sergeis also collaborated on supporting and promoting other Russian composers of the day. Published July 19, 2024.
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Week 4–Koussevitzky and American Composers
Upon his arrival in America in 1924, Koussevitzky lost no time seeking to promote his new homeland's composers. His first season as BSO conductor included works by Aaron Copland and Edward Burlingame Hill. In 1930-1931, he included American composers among the BSO’s very first commissions to celebrate its 50th anniversary season, and in October 1939, he conducted a two-day festival featuring works by American composers. Published July 26, 2024.
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Week 5–Koussevitzky and Soviet-Era Composers
Alongside his prolific programming of American composers (examined in last week’s episode), Serge Koussevitzky also continued to promote the composers from his birthland. He conducted works by composers who, like him, had left Russia’s Soviet regime, and by those who created from within the tightly monitored Soviet artistic system. Published August 2, 2024
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Week 6–Koussevitzky and Classical Composers
Serge Koussevitzky was known for his free approach to tempo, and his approach to the Classical-era composers was no exception. The final movements of both works presented in this week’s episode move more briskly than many 21st-century renditions. Published August 9, 2024
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Week 7–Koussevitzky and Tchaikovsky
Serge Koussevitzky was known by his contemporaries as a definitive interpreter of Tchaikovsky. In April 1934, Koussevitzky presented a 5-day festival of Tchaikovsky’s music, including both orchestral and chamber concerts, and in August 1940, he dedicated a weekend of Tanglewood performances to the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Published August 16, 2024.
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Week 8–Koussevitzky and French Composers
Serge Koussevitzky biographer Hugo Leichentritt claimed that “[i]t is doubtful whether at the present time French symphonic music can be heard anywhere, not excluding Paris, played as brilliantly and enticingly as in Boston.” Leichtentritt, H. (1946). Published August 23, 2024
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