Boston Symphony Orchestra treats audience to rarely heard masterpieces

Last January, I had the opportunity to travel to Massachusetts and attend the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Now in its 139th season, the symphony played a program of Chihchun Chi-Sun Lee's world premiere of Formosan Triptych, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3.

The world premiere, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was a strange piece that sailed over the audience's heads without much settling substance to hang on to. Although it was clear that the piece signified a landmark accomplishment for Asian-American composers and represented an important cultural contribution to Taiwanese heritages, the piece was not well received by the audience. For many, the piece simply sounded like the general clattering of everyday pots and pans.

The Mozart piano concerto featured international concert pianist Till Fellner, the first prize winner of the renowned Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Vevey, Switzerland. Fellner played with excellent sensitivity to the light and joyful exuberance of Mozartian music. However, towards the end, many heads in the audience were bobbing with drowsiness. Perhaps it is the world now is unaccustomed to the prolonged nature of piano concertos. This unfortunate occurrence, however, was certainly not Fellner's fault, whose skillful energy and taste remained secure throughout the entire thirty-minute piece.

Last of all, the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 was a definite rare treat for audiences. The Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is known to most for his extensively played ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. To the enthusiastic concertgoer, he is further known for his Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto, and fourth and sixth symphony. There is little known beyond that. It was notable for the Boston Symphony to unearth such an unfamiliar piece to the public ear, a piece that the orchestra handled with noteworthy cleanliness and perfection.

However, the main reason why I attended the Boston Symphony in the first place was to hear principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe live and in person. In the Tchaikovsky symphony, she adeptly nailed her runs, deliberately playing into the eccentric peculiarity that the symphony embodied.

Rowe is particularly known for her equal-pay lawsuit. In 2018, she filed the legal action against her orchestra, alleging she was paid less on account of her gender. Since then, Rowe's career has shifted from a world-class mentor and musician to also an advocate for current issues affecting society today.

Elizabeth Rowe will be appearing in April in a feature article about her spearheading influence in the classical music industry. Be sure to follow Flute Watch to receive notifications when the article is released.