Boston Symphony Orchestra Performs Gubaidulina and Glanert
In April, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gives the North American premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s The Wrath of God alongside Detlev Glanert’s Trumpet Concerto, performed by BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs.
On April 25-27, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Andris Nelsons, performs the North American premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s The Wrath of God. Also on the program is Detlev Glanert’s Trumpet Concerto, featuring BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs as soloist, and Prokofieff’s Symphony No. 4.
> April 25-27: Boston Symphony Orchestra performs Gubaidulina and Glanert
Gubaidulina’s The Wrath of God (2019) is a 17-minute work reflects the composer's deeply spiritual, intellectually probing approach to music. The score, which is dedicated to Beethoven, evokes the end of the world with its opening blast of Wagner tubas and closes with a salute to the Classical master’s Ninth Symphony. Gramophone praised Nelsons’s recording of the work with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester as “one of the most remarkable musical and spiritual journeys ever conceived ... [Gubaidulina] commands the forces of the Apocalypse."
> Listen to Gubaidulina’s The Wrath of God
Detlev Glanert’s Trumpet Concerto was commissioned for and premiered by Rolfs in 2019 at the Tanglewood Music Festival. The work is a reflection and tribute to Oliver Knussen, a close friend and "personal hero” of Glanert who passed away just as Glanert was beginning to compose the trumpet concerto. The resulting score is imbued with jazz-tinged references to Knussen’s favorite music. After the premiere, The Berkshire Eagle wrote: “Glanert's piece grabbed you by the collar and wouldn't let go … it insists on being heard.”
The program concludes with Sergei Prokofieff’s Symphony No. 4, commissioned by longtime BSO music director Serge Koussevitzky for the orchestra’s 50th anniversary in 1931.
Performance Information
Thursday, April 25 at 7:30pm ET
Friday, April 26 at 1:30pm ET
Saturday, April 27 at 8pm ET
Symphony Hall | Boston, MA
More info
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Thomas Rolfs, trumpet
SOFIA GUBAIDULINA The Wrath of God (North American Premiere)
DETLEV GLANERT Trumpet Concerto
SERGEI PROKOFIEFF Symphony No. 4
> Further information on Work: The Wrath of God
Photo: F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd / Bettina Stöss
