“In his recent visits to the BSO podium, the energetic French conductor Stéphane Denève has been peppering his programs with overlooked works by familiar composers. This summer he led the Tanglewood premiere of Poulenc’s “Stabat Mater,” and Thursday night he conducted the BSO in the suite from Prokofiev’s surrealist fairy-tale opera “Love for Three Oranges.” (…)
Denève whipped up the orchestra into a controlled roar and brought out some of the playfully garish coloration in the first two movements.
(…) Yo-Yo Ma was on hand Thursday to give the Shostakovich concerto a performance of fierce lyricism and undiluted intensity, spinning out the first movement in a single long expressive arc. (…) Denève managed the crucial orchestral entrances with abundant care, Richard Sebring offered artful horn solos, and the duo scored for cello harmonics and celesta (Vytas Baksys) produced the requisite shiver. (…)
After intermission, Denève and the orchestra gave a rousing and robust performance of Strauss’s tone poem “Ein Heldenleben.” The conductor led with enough vigor to send his baton flying into the first row at one point, but it was quickly returned.”
Stéphane Denève conducts the Boston Symphony Thursday night
