Strauss, Currier and Stravinsky- Written by Robert Kirzinger and Richard Dyer, narrated by Eleanor McGourty

The Latvian violinist Baiba Skride joins her compatriot Andris Nelsons and the BSO for the world premiere of Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Sebastian Currier's "Aether" for violin and orchestra, a work co-commissioned by the BSO and the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. Two unpredictable musical rogues bookend the new work: "Till Eulenspiegel", who in Strauss's tone poem thumbs his nose at the establishment, rides his horse through a market, and comes to no good end; and Stravinsky's puppet-come-to-life "Petrushka", whose attempts to win the admiration of a ballerina come to naught. In his second full ballet score for the Ballets Russes, two years before "The Rite of Spring", Stravinsky's astonishing musical depictions of a Russian Shrovetide fair further cemented the reputation of the young composer of "The Firebird".