Steven Lipsitt, letter to the editor

Steven Lipsitt, music director of the Boston Classical Orchestra, wrote a letter to the editor about this piece. It was cut some, so I'll re-print here in its entirety because out here in the tubes, space is unlimited.

I enjoyed reading Geoff Edgers' interview with James Levine and David Weininger's review of Emmanuel Music's exemplary Bach program. But it was amusing to see Maestro Levine's observation that "you never get to hear [Mozart's early symphonies] live anymore" side-by-side with Mr. Weininger's observation that the Bach Brandenburgs "have gone mostly AWOL over the last several years."

At Boston Classical Orchestra, the professional chamber orchestra that makes its concert home at Faneuil Hall, we have played Mozart's Symphonies 1, 5, 10, 17, 20, 25, 29, & 37 (along with the more frequently encountered 31, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41) and five of Bach's six Brandenburgs (along with two of his Orchestral Suites, and many solo concertos and cantatas) during the past ten years. While this repertoire may be largely absent from the programming of large "flagship" organizations playing in 2,000-plus-seat halls, BCO ( and our sister organizations, Handel-&-Haydn, Boston Baroque, and Pro Arte) do visit this music often and with relish. This might be a useful moment to remember that these small-budget organizations help weave the social fabric that creates a vibrant cultural community, putting the crucial and indispensable work of groups like the BSO in context. (To mix metaphors, the mighty oak is less pleasing without the surrounding grasses, shrubs, and flowers...and the wise gardener tends them all.)

Steven Lipsitt
Music Director
Boston Classical Orchestra