Dutoit Reading with Philharmonia

Charles Dutoit, barely pausing for breath between performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, conducted a reading of another English orchestral masterpiece with the New England Conservatory Philharmonia, Friday.  The French conductor spent the morning working on Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, a set of character pieces that depicted close friends and neighbors, that's highlighted by the deeply moving Nimrod. Dutoit is leading three performances of the Britten this weekend as the centerpiece of the BSO’s Britten Centennial observances. NEC is presenting an Insight Series prelude to the Friday night performance, with student singers coached by Cameron Stowe and Tanya Blaich performing vocal music by Britten, Butterworth, Ives, and Weill around the theme of music and pacifism. (Photos by Andrew Hurlbut)