Boston Classical Review

Music of Beethoven will be featured by Vivo Performing Arts next season, marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Roll over, Beethoven—or don’t. The German great, who died 200 years ago next March, is the unifying thread for Vivo Performing Arts’ 2026-27 classical music season, which was announced Tuesday.

Not every concert is a Beethoven extravaganza, but appearances by several of the year’s most high-profile visitors will feature his music, marking the bicentennial of the composer’s passing. Those events include the London Symphony Orchestra, which presents the composer’s Violin Concerto alongside Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben on March 11. Maxim Vengerov is the soloist and Antonio Pappano conducts.

Various soloists and chamber groups get in on the action, too, including Igor Levit and Jeremy Denk, who offer several of the piano sonatas during recitals in, respectively, November and December. In January, violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Akira Eguchi team up for an all-Beethoven concert at Groton Hill, while the Junction Trio pairs the “Ghost” Trio with music by Andrew Norman and Shostakovich in February.

Further events featuring Beethoven’s music come courtesy of the Brentano String Quartet’s “Flights of Fugue” at Jordan Hall and pianist Bruce Liu’s recital at Groton Hill (both in October), Zlata Chochieva’s February appearance at Jordan, and Anna Geniushene’s Vivo debut in Groton in April.

One of next year’s other big anniversaries—Philip Glass’s 90^th birthday—is marked by the return of pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. He presents a selection of that composer’s etudes alongside suites by Jean-Phillippe Rameau and Debussy at Symphony Hall on February 28.

The upcoming year includes a number of welcome returns, not least that of pianist Mitsuko Uchida, who offers a solo recital—her first in Boston since 1997—at Symphony Hall on February 2. In March, Seong-Jin Cho presents a concert that pairs keyboard works by Jörg Widmann, Mozart, and Prokofiev.

Vivo’s classical music season opens on October 8 with pianist Avery Gagliano’s recital at Longy’s Pickman Hall. Her appearance is part of Vivo’s Debut Series spotlighting young artists, which will also feature performances from pianist Lukas Sternath (in January), guitarists Thibaut Garcia and Antoine Morinière (in February), and the Leonkoro Quartet (in April). All of those will be at Pickman.

In addition to the Brentanos and Leonkoros, three additional string quartets are slated to appear next year, starting with the Dover Quartet in November. They offer works by Brahms, Dvořák, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. In February, the Isidore String Quartet and pianist Jeremy Denk present Brahms’s Piano Quintet, alongside quartets by Britten and Mendelssohn, while the Pavel Haas Quartet brings an all-Czech program to Jordan Hall in March.

Additionally, Nemanja Radulović and the Double Sens Chamber Orchestra assay Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons on November 13.

Further recitals include violinist Geneva Lewis’s Groton Hill debut on October 25, which showcases works by Mozart, Silvestrov, Weinberg, Webern, and Strauss. On March 5, Isabelle Faust and Kristian Bezuidenhout present an evening of Baroque compositions for violin and harpsichord at Jordan Hall.

There are also a pair of vocal recitals towards season’s end. In April, soprano Erin Morley and tenor Lawrence Brownlee unite for a night of arias and duets from “the most beloved operas of the bel canto period and beyond.” Then, on June 2, soprano Nadine Sierra and pianist Bryan Wagorn offer a performance at Jordan Hall. Both of those appearances are co-productions with Boston Lyric Opera.

Rob Kapilow’s celebrated “What Makes it Great?” series is back, too, for its annual pair of deep dives. The first, on November 22, explores Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Romie de Guise-Langlois and A Far Cry. The second, on January 23, dissects the artistry of Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. Both are at Jordan Hall.

Stave Sessions runs February 17-20 at the Crystal Ballroom. Additional jazz, Broadway, world music, dance, and Neighborhood Arts offerings can be explored on Vivo’s website.

Subscription presales begin May 5 for members and will be available to the general public on May 19. Single tickets go on sale August 13. vivoperformingarts.org

Posted in Articles
No Comments