Berlin Philharmonic comes to Boston in Celebrity Series’ 2016-17 season

April 13, 2016 at 9:14 am

By Aaron Keebaugh

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will perform xxx for the Celebrity Series of Boston. Photo: Jim Rakete

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will perform November 11 for the Celebrity Series of Boston. Photo: Jim Rakete

For its 78th season, the Celebrity Series of Boston will once again host some of the brightest stars in classical music in programs that will feature a wide range of repertoire.

Spotlighting the 2016-2017 season will be the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as the ensemble makes its final U.S. tour under Sir Simon Rattle’s direction. The storied orchestra will perform Boulez’s Éclat and Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 November 11 at Symphony Hall.

The other orchestra to appear next season will be the Budapest Festival Orchestra in an all-Beethoven program, featuring pianist Richard Goode in the Fourth Piano Concerto. The concert will take place February 12 at Symphony Hall. Ivan Fischer will conduct.

Violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Robert Levin will team up for a recital on April 1 at Jordan Hall, and Metropolitan Opera star Diana Damrau will appear at the same location to perform songs by Smetana, Strauss, Hahn, Chausson, Fauré, Duparc, and Dall’Acqua on December 4.

Tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist/ composer Thomas Adès, who begins his post as artistic partner with the Boston Symphony Orchestra this fall, will perform Schubert’s Winterreise October 28 at Jordan Hall.

Other vocalists to appear next season include soprano Natalie Dessay, performing works by Schubert, Fauré, Pfitzner, Liszt, and Bizet April 29 at Jordan Hall, and Susanna Phillips in her second appearance with the Celebrity Series on February 4 at the same location.

As for pianists, Paul Lewis will return to Boston in a solo recital, performing music by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, and Weber March 26 at Jordan Hall. Marc-André Hamelin will perform works by Haydn, Brahms, Ravel, Beethoven, and Feinberg in recital May 5 at Jordan Hall.

Two pianists, Imogen Cooper and Igor Levit, will make their Celebrity Series debuts. Cooper will perform music by Beethoven, Schumann, Debussy, De Falla, and Albéniz on November 5 at Jordan Hall, and Levit will play selections from Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues as well and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations January 20 at Pickman Hall.

Instrumentalists to debut next season will include cellist Sol Gabetta and pianist Bertrand Chamayou performing music by Beethoven, Chopin, and Britten November 2, and percussionist Colin Currie will perform December 7. Both concerts will take place at Pickman Hall.

The Celebrity Series will also host a number of string quartets and ensembles next season. The Emerson String Quartet will return to Boston to perform quartets by Mozart, Shostakovich, and Ravel (November 20 at Jordan Hall). The Danish String Quartet will also make their first appearance in Boston since 2013 with a concert dedicated to music by Beethoven and Schnittke (January 28 at Jordan Hall). The Philharmonia Quartett Berlin will perform quartets by Haydn, Beethoven, and Schumann March 3 at Jordan Hall. And the Escher String Quartet will make its Celebrity Series debut April 12 at Pickman Hall with music by Beethoven, Webern, and Debussy.

The Dynamic vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth will partner with the Boston-based string orchestra A Far Cry in works by Ted Hearne, Josquin, and Caroline Shaw April 13 at Sanders Theatre. VOCES8, the versatile British octet, will perform music that will range from Renaissance polyphony to modern pop and jazz songs on February 15 at Pickman Hall.

The Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet will perform Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles, Carl Nielsen’s Wind Quintet, and the premiere of a new work by Kalevi Aho on February 3 at Jordan Hall. And the celebrated trio consisting of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, mandolinist Chris Thile, and bassist Edgar Meyer will perform The Bach Trios April 21 at Symphony Hall.

Rob Kapilow’s “What Makes it Great?” series will explore Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (December 2 at Jordan Hall), and jazz classics inspired by trains composed by Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk, and Wynton Marsalis (January 20 at Jordan Hall).

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by Marsalis, will offer the Boston premiere of drummer/ composer Ali Jackson’s Rhythm Concerto April 9 at Symphony Hall. And banjoist Béla Fleck and bassist Victor Wooten will appear in concert October 15 at Sanders Theatre.

Dance lovers will have the chance to see the Jerusalem-based Vertigo Dance Company (October 29-30), Jessica Lang Dance (January 27-28), Sydney Dance Company (March 4-5), and the L.A. Dance Project (May 19-21, 2017) all at the Shubert Theatre. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will also return for performances April 27-30 at the Wang Theatre.

Subscriptions for the 2016-2017 Celebrity Series season are now on sale. celebrityseries.org; 617-482-2595

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