Marin Alsop is back in town for her first Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts since last month's sensational production of Leonard Bernstein's Mass that won over audiences and quite a few critics in New York and Washington, as well as right here. The conductor will lead two performances of a full-length program this weekend at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, as well as introduce a new series there called "Off the Cuff."
This latest BSO product has Alsop's name all over it. The concept is simple: one work of music, preceded by a discussion of it, all packaged together in 90, intermission-less minutes or less. Not exactly revolutionary, but few conductors have Alsop's flair for public speaking and getting listeners interested in what they are about to hear.
Saturday's inaugural "Off the Cuff" is devoted to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, known as the Pathetique, an emotionally searing piece that turned out to be his swan song.
"I will speak probably a good 20 minutes about Tchaikovsky as an artist, his conflicts and personality, what he would have been like to sit down to dinner with," Alsop said the other day, in between preparations for her debut at the National Press Club luncheon in Washington on Monday. (Her topic was arts education.)
"I'll go through the Pathetique - not really analyze it, that sounds pretty dry - and talk about the orchestration, the compositional techniques. And how it revolutionized the [symphonic form]. The orchestra will play examples. I'm looking for a conversational, not-overly-scripted experience for people."
After the introduction, Alsop and the BSO will perform the Pathetique complete. With a 7 p.m. starting time, the audience "will be out by 8:30 and can still go out and have dinner," the conductor said.
If folks are not in a hurry, they can linger after the performance for a Q&A session with Alsop.
Three more programs are in the "Off the Cuff" series, including a look at Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in January and Copland's Symphony No. 3 in April. Alsop will lead those two sessions. Guest conductor Peter Oundjian will guide one in February addressing all the questions posed by Elgar's Enigma Variations.
For tickets to Saturday's Tchaikovsky-centered "Off the Cuff" at the Meyerhoff (1212 Cathedral St.) or the rest of the series, call 410-783-8000 or go to bsomusic.org.
