NSO triumphs with Boyer and Lang Lang

By Sydney Boyd, 19 September 2021

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“I didn't know true pianissimo until last night”

Reviewed at Kennedy Center: Concert Hall, Washington on 18 September 2021

Boyer, Balance of Power (world premiere)

Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, Op.37

Hanson, Symphony no 2 "Romantic", Op.30

National Symphony Orchestra

Thomas Wilkins, Conductor

Lang Lang, Piano

Lush strings, bright Beethoven: NSO and Noseda at Carnegie Hall

Susan Stempleski, 12th February

Gianandrea Noseda leads glowing performances of Berg and Beethoven, while James Ehnes shines in Korngold's Violin Concerto .

****1

Young and Lamsma bring levity to National Symphony Orchestra

Sydney Boyd, 20th November

A dark trio of works focused around Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto made for a compelling concert in Washington DC.

****1

National Symphony makes a fine-sounding digital return to the stage

David Rohde, 19th March

Vibrant Mozart G minor symphony anchors the National Symphony’s digital return to the stage as distancing, sound engineering requirements generally score well

****1

Rollicking Mahler Fifth may have just put NSO on the global map

David Rohde, 20th February

Clarion details from start to finish result in a spectacular Mahler Fifth from Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra

*****

Tetzlaff redefines clarity with the National Symphony Orchestra

Sydney Boyd, 24th January

Christian Tetzlaff proves once again why audiences can’t get enough of his sound in a program of Dvořák and Schumann with Christoph Eschenbach at the helm.

****1

Copland’s Third Symphony redeems Slatkin and the NSO

Sydney Boyd, 7th December

After a humdrum reimagining of Paganini's 24th Caprice and an underwhelming Rachmaninov piano concerto, Slatkin triumphs with an august Copland 3.

**111

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Sydney Boyd

Sydney Boyd is an arts writer, scholar, and violinist. She has been a music critic in Houston since 2012 and is the blog author of Girl at the Opera. She has a Ph.D. in English literature from Rice University, where she currently holds a post-doctoral Spatial Studies fellowship in the Humanities Research Center.

National Symphony Orchestra triumphs with Boyer and Lang Lang