May 10, 2021 By Lawrence Budmen
Michael Tilson Thomas led the New World Symphony in an American program Saturday night. File photo: Brandon Patoc
The musicians of the New World Symphony have played under some highly gifted conductors during this season of intimate streamed concerts but when artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas returned to the podium for an all-American program on Saturday night, the difference was palpable. There was added spark in the players’ articulations, rhythms crackled and tonal sonority gleamed.
Tilson Thomas described the five composers on the evening’s menu as “ground-breaking” creative artists. He had a very personal connection to the program’s opening work –