Patrons will hear comments about the program directly from onstage BSO musician Robert Sheena (English horn).

Koussevitzky Artist Kirill Gerstein joins BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the BSO for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, a prime example of the composer's Russian-tinged Romanticism. The program begins with Glinka's infectiously energetic Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, the second of his two operas. After intermission, Mr. Masur leads the orchestra in a performance of the complete music from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, a scintillating score that proved to be the composer's breakout success when the ballet opened in Paris in 1910.