Prokofiev Five with Alsop

BSO Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop leads a program spanning new and enduring voices. A world premiere by acclaimed composer Lera Auerbach opens the evening, followed by Bernstein's luminous Serenade with violin soloist Ning Feng. Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony closes the program, a sweeping and masterfully crafted work the composer called "a symphony on the greatness of the human soul."

• Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's Symposium) is inspired by Plato's dialogue on the nature of love. Rather than a traditional concerto, the work unfolds as a series of musical reflections that evolve from one another.

• Written in 1944, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony was his first purely symphonic statement in sixteen years and the work he described as the culmination of a major creative period.

• Bernstein composed Serenade during an extraordinarily productive period that also produced Candide, On the Waterfront, and, soon after, West Side Story.

• Soloist Ning Feng is known for combining fearless technique with refined musical control, traits essential to Paganini’s demanding writing. He plays the 1710 Stradivari violin known as the ‘Vieuxtemps Hauser.’

• 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 casual to cocktail attire.