Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Returns to the BSO to Lead a Rare Work by Maz Reger, Ravel's Bolero, and Lizzt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Simon Trpčeski in his BSO Debut Performances to take Place Thursday, April 28, and Saturday, April 30, at 8 p.m., and Friday, April 29, at 1:30 p.m.

Frequent guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns to Symphony Hall for his second subscription program of the season Thursday, April 28–Saturday, April 30, leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rare performance of late-Romantic German composer Max Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart. Sharing the program with Reger’s lush, expansive orchestral work are Ravel’s exotic, ever-popular showpiece Bolero and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2—an innovative, sparkling, one-movement work—with young Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski in his BSO debut as soloist.

The German composer Max Reger (1873–1916) was a transitional figure between the Romantic and the modern eras, but had a strong sense of the Germanic musical tradition. Embracing that musical heritage, his Variations and Fugue employ a theme from one of Mozart’s most beloved piano sonatas, the A major K.331. Reger’s best-known work, this elaborate, rhapsodic piece dates from 1914.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 by Franz Liszt—whose bicentennial is being celebrated in 2011—has a complicated origin, having been edited and revised over a period of more than 20 years until its final version was completed in 1861. A single, extended movement in six sections, the 20-minute concerto is less overtly virtuosic that the Concerto No. 1 and much of the composer’s solo compositions, but it displays a more innovative structure and a more original, organic partnership between soloist and orchestra.

A legendary orchestral showpiece and one of the most widely recognized works in the orchestral canon, Ravel’s Bolero is a peculiarly single-minded one-movement work originally written as ballet music, to which Ida Rubinstein choreographed an erotic dance scene in a seedy bar. In the simplest terms, Bolero is a single, prolonged crescendo, adding volume and instruments slowly but surely until it reaches its final, ecstatic climax.

RADIO BROADCASTS AND STREAMING

BSO concerts are broadcast regularly by 99.5 All-Classical, a service of WGBH. Saturday-evening concerts can be heard live on 99.5 FM, on HD radio at 89.7 HD2, and online at 995allclassical.org (http://995allclassical.org). Broadcasts begin with exclusive features and interviews at 7 p.m., followed by the concert at 8 p.m.