This wide-ranging, one-night-only event celebrates the start of BSO music director Andris Nelsons’ tenure as the 15th music director of the orchestra and features two of the conductor’s close colleagues – the acclaimed Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais and the internationally acclaimed German tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Each sings selections from the Wagnerian and Italian verismo repertoires, then join forces for a powerful duet from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. The concert opens with Wagner’sTannhäuser overture – the work that first inspired a five-year-old Nelsons to a life in music – and closes with Respighi’s spectacular orchestral showcase, Pines of Rome.