Composed to express his gratitude upon receiving an honorary degree despite not attending university, a mischievous Brahms penned the tongue‐in‐cheek Academic Festival Overture, which features boisterous student drinking songs as well as folk songs turned songs of student protest. With the energy of the music and the expansive orchestration, the piece tends to lean more into the celebratory side of the title than the scholarly. South American composer Miguel del Aguila’s Concierto en Tango for Cello and Orchestra was commissioned by the BPO and principal cellist Roman Mekinulov, and received its world premiere by the BPO in 2014. The work’s lighthearted, rhythmic syncopation avoids the melodrama of tango’s traditional form, while capturing the nostalgia of its joyful expression, uniquely conveyed by the cello’s depth. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, which closes the program, is forcedly optimistic and tonal. It proved career and lifesaving for the under-fire Shostakovich because of its patriotic nature and its glorification of Stalin’s Soviet regime.

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Roman Mekinulov, cello

BRAHMS  Academic Festival Overture
MIGUEL DEL ÁGUILA  Concierto en Tango for Cello and Orchestra
SHOSTAKOVICH  Symphony No. 5 in D minor