Don Juan & Stories in Sound

Settle in for vivid musical storytelling with BSO Music Director Jonathon Heyward. Strauss’ Don Juan bursts to life as a thrilling showcase for the orchestra. In Ravel’s Shéhérazade, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron gives voice to a legendary storyteller who survives by spinning cliffhanger tales. Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, featuring BSO Principal Viola Lisa Steltenpohl, completes the escape into great stories, beautifully told.

• Richard Strauss’ Don Juan portrays the legendary lover not as a comic rogue but as a restless seeker, with surges through desire, daring, and eventual collapse in a single, high-voltage arc that has made it a calling-card showpiece for orchestral virtuosity.
• Maurice Ravel’s Shéhérazade sets three poems inspired by Persian and Indian folktales from One Thousand and One Nights, with the singer embodying the storyteller as the orchestra paints the surrounding landscape.
• Fleur Barron is internationally recognized for her work across opera, symphonic, and contemporary repertoire and is a 2025 GRAMMY Award-winner for Best Opera Recording.
• Hector Berlioz’s Harold in Italy blends symphony and concerto form, casting the solo viola as a recurring observer rather than a virtuosic soloist. Lisa Steltenpohl, BSO Principal Viola, takes on one of the instrument’s most prominent roles in the orchestral repertoire.

• Approximate run time: 2 hours with a 20-minute intermission.
• Late seating is not guaranteed, and will happen at the discretion of the front of house manager.
• Many Classical concerts include brief onstage remarks from the conductor and select performances feature pre-and post-concert talks.
• Come as you are. You'll see everything from denim to cocktail attire.