The world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra nearly missed the last stop on its European tour after getting stuck in Paris.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra might want to consider naming its next album « Songs in the Key of A » — as in airport, abandoned and Amsterdam.
The renowned orchestra very nearly missed the last stop on its 12-concert, eight-city European tour when it got stuck in Paris en route to the Dutch capital.
Symphony spokeswoman Bernadette Horgan said the Grammy Award-winning orchestra arrived midmorning Monday at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport for a noon Luxair charter flight to Amsterdam for its final performance of the tour.
As musicians lined up to board, they were told the flight was delayed because of a mechanical problem. A short time later, they learned the aircraft needed more extensive repairs and the flight was canceled. Staff looked into other flights as well as trains and buses, « but there was no viable solution as to how to transport a group of about 145 people, » Horgan said.
Complicating matters, the full symphony was needed that evening at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw hall to perform Shostakovich’s « Symphony No. 4, » one of the largest works for orchestra. And the only flight available to Amsterdam — a plane in Luxembourg — could take only half of them.
« It wasn’t the day we planned. But everyone hung in there, » Mark Volpe, the symphony’s president and CEO, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday from Paris. « At that point, it was a ‘show must go on’ kind of mindset. »
That set the BSO’s music director, Andris Nelsons, and key players on a mad scramble to revise the repertoire and find a substitution for the Shostakovich piece. They decided on Beethoven’s « Symphony No. 7 » — even though they hadn’t performed it in more than a year.
« Tensions were high, » Horgan noted drily.
Dutch organizers delayed the concert’s start from 8:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., and a group of 76 arrived with barely enough time to change into black tie and wolf down sandwiches, let alone rehearse. Fortunately, the orchestra’s $38 million worth of instruments had been sent ahead via climate-controlled trucks, and symphony librarians back in Boston were able to hastily retrieve, scan and email musical scores to be printed in Amsterdam.
It all ended on a high note: Nelsons and his orchestra received what Volpe described as « an unbelievable standing ovation » — a musical high-five and a welcome coda to a challenging day.
As for the musicians left behind in Paris? They had a picnic on the concourse, noshing on wines and cheeses from the duty-free shop.
Most eventually made it to Amsterdam after midnight for a party celebrating the end of the tour, which began Sept. 1 and included stops in London, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, Lucerne and Paris.
« Even after 21 years, the character and spirit of this orchestra continue to astound me, » Volpe said.
