A line-up of concerts, performances, and recordings that, as 2017 draws to its close, I can’t, for one reason or many, shake from my memory.

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra playing Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev, November 26 at Symphony Hall. 

The BPYO’s November concert at Symphony Hall wasn’t the orchestra’s most ambitious of the year (that would have been their epic traversal of Mahler Six in April). But I wasn’t able to make that one in person and this Sunday-after-Thanksgiving offering was, to be succinct, magnificent. There was dazzling Wagner, a riveting suite from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and George Li – just a month after Argerich! – playing the daylights out of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Forget the fact that this is an orchestra made up of kids aged 12 to 20; they’re one of the finest ensembles in the country, period. 

Full review here

Purchase the BPYO's debut recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 ('Tragic') now available on Amazon and iTunes *

* Includes Maestro Zander’s in-depth commentary on the piece.