Haute Spots Boston: Opening Night at Boston Symphony Orchestra

It’s almost time for the kids to go back to school and with that comes the start of fall. One of the most highly anticipated events each year is opening night of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The 2016-2017 season gets underway on Saturday, September 24 when the Boston Symphony Orchestra kicks off its season with opening night.

Photo Credit: Boston Symphony Orchestra

There isn’t a bad seat in the house at Symphony Hall where the performers return here after a recurring summer stint at Tanglewood and pop-up appearances everywhere from Nantucket to Ipswich. This year’s season starts off with an incredible performance featuring dynamic pianist Lang Lang as part of an all-Russian program concluding with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in the brilliant instrumentation by Maurice Ravel.

For this evening’s program, superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang joins BSO’s Music Director Andris Nelsons and the BSO as soloist in Sergei Prokofiev’s brilliant, witty Piano Concerto No. 3. The composer himself was soloist in the premiere in front of an unenthusiastic Chicago audience in 1921, but in short order this sparkling, virtuosic piece became one of the most popular of 20th-century concertos. Opening the concert is the celebratory Festive Overture of Dmitri Shostakovich, who wrote this short, exciting piece for the Bolshoi Theatre to mark the 37th anniversary of the Soviet Revolution. The great orchestral showpiece Pictures at an Exhibition-Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s solo-piano impressions of a series of paintings and illustrations-closes the program. Ravel made this famous orchestration for legendary BSO conductor Serge Koussevitzky.

This season will also feature performances by Susan Graham, Renee Fleming, Yefim Bronfman, Thomas Hampson, and Yo-Yo Ma. Returning again this season is the beloved Holiday Pops performances which is held throughout the holiday season beginning after Thanksgiving.

For tickets or more information, visit www.bso.org.