Using what might be called the cream of the Boston concerts, Dr. Koussevitsky has made an unusually fine program for the Second Sanders Theatre Symphony concert to be held tonight. Stravinsky's orchestral music for the ballet 'Lo Baiser do la Fee" is the opening number, and is to be followed by Strauss's tone poem, "Don Juan", and Sibelius's Fifth Symphony. All three of these have been written within the last fifty years--the first in 1928 and the last in 1889--and their composers are still alive, but there is a world of difference between them. Only Stravinsky can be classed as a real modern for Strauss and Sibelius belong both in age and in style to the preceding musical generation.

Weekly Symphony Concerts

The fifth regular pair of Symphony concerts at Symphony Hall will take place this week-end. Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde," composed in 1910, is to be performed with Paul Althouse and Maria Ranzow as soloists. The work consists of a cycle of six songs, symphonically treated, which are really Chinese lyrics from the eighth century translated into the German and freely adapted by the composer. Although uneven in its quality, "Das Lied von der Erde" is certainly at least near-great and is well worth hearing for it is infrequently given. Mozart's Symphony in E flat, No. 26, is also to be played. It has three movements and was composed in 1773 when Mozart was 17 years old. The third work to be porformed is "Cimarosiana", a suite by Malipiero based on the music of the early Italian composer, Cimarosa.