Tanglewood: Michael Tilson Thomas to Conduct Beethoven's Ninth
James Taylor August 27-30 Followed by Labor Day Jazz Festival
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 21, 2009
From an artistic point of view it has been yet another sensational Tanglewood Season with numerous highlights. Of course the weather has been uncooperative particularly for those with plans to picnic on the lawn. This is one of the great Berkshire traditions.
In creating an ambitious program the thinking was “build it and they will come.” This represented considerable risk taking for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The season was assembled during a time of poor economy following a downturn in attendance last summer. Prospects coming into this 2009 season we even more challenging.
As Tanglewood goes, so do the Berkshires. In these tough times Tanglewood has more than pulled their weight. Ask any arts administrator or Berkshire inn keeper and you will learn that the season has been a scramble. The theatres have offered all kinds of deals and inducements to sell seats from reduced price “rush tickets” to two for one offers on certain midweek nights.
We owe an enormous debt to Tanglewood for the vision, integrity and courage of its programming. On evenings when programs such as Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, John Williams Film Night, Pops with Chris Botti, and Tanglewood on Parade, a birthday celebration of James Galway have been offered there were strong turnouts. Special events such as a fully staged production of “Don Giovanni” conducted by James Levine, and performances by the Mark Morris Dance Company, have resulted in sell outs.
This week Ozawa Hall was packed to the rafters and flowing out on the lawn for two performances of “The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theatre” a tribute developed, conducted and narrated by their grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas.
The capacity audience was clearly delighted by a nostalgic return to the past. It was an evening when, oi vey, a bit of schmaltz was just fine. Thomas turned and conducted the audience to clap along in sync with the Yiddish music from the turn of the century. So, whatÂ’s not to like?
In a very different context Thomas has been honored to close the official season of Tanglewood with Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 in the Shed. If weather permits, always a gamble this season, we plan to set up our lawn chairs and join friends for a picnic. It is always just glorious to hear the orchestra and chorus perform the massive and majestic symphony.
But as that philosopher Yogi Berra said “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.” While not a Fat Lady we will enjoy four programs featuring James Taylor from August 27-30. There will be a variety of concerts from an intimate evening in Ozawa Hall on Thursday, August 27, two nights in the Shed, on Friday and Saturday, and then a real blast and party with JT grooving with John Williams and the Pops on Sunday at 2:30 pm.
The bad news is that it is too late to purchase tickets. All of these performances, as well as lawn passes, sold out ages ago. You may be able to find seats on line but expect to pay top dollar.
The good news is that Taylor, a resident of Lenox, has donated his services for the four concerts. He is married to a former BSO/ Tanglewood administrator and she is now a board member. They have been most generous in their past support. This latest gesture may well boost them to the top tier of BSO philanthropists. Thanks. You are indeed “Sweet Baby James.”
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS
Michael Tilson Thomas, whose history with Tanglewood dates back to his days as a protégé of Leonard Bernstein some four decades ago, made a welcome return to the festival for the first time since 1988. His first program initiated a weekend highlighted by three great Romantic piano concertos, as he conducted Rachmaninoff's tempestuous Piano Concerto No. 3, performed by Yefim Bronfman, on a program with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.
Tilson Thomas's second program was a project especially dear to his heart. The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theatre is a musical homage to his grandparents, who were leading performers in Yiddish theater in the '20s and '30s (Aug. 19 and 20). This lively Ozawa Hall program was scripted and narrated by Tilson Thomas, who also played piano and conductef. It featured the original performers who helped with the show's creation in 2005: Judy Blazer, Neal Benari, Ronit Widmann-Levy, and Eugene Brancoveanu, all making their Tanglewood debuts. Pat Birch directed.
Aug. 21-23
BEETHOVEN'S FIRST & LAST SYMPHONIES, MENDELSSOHN
Kurt Masur opens the BSO's final Tanglewood weekend leading Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 on a program with Haydn's Symphony No. 88 and the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, with one of his favorite collaborators, the outstanding young French pianist David Fray, making his BSO debut (Aug. 21). The following night, Masur dedicates a program to one of his most admired composers, Mendelssohn. The program features the composer's Symphony No. 4, Italian, The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) Overture, and the Violin Concerto, with Gil Shaham (Aug. 22).
Michael Tilson Thomas will lead the BSO's final program of the 2009 Tanglewood season, the annual season-ending performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, soprano Erin Wall and mezzo-soprano Kendall Gladen in their BSO debuts, tenor Stuart Skelton in his Tanglewood debut, and bass-baritone Raymond Aceto (Aug. 23). The program begins with a movement from Ives's Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day, for chorus and orchestra (from his Holiday Symphony).
August 27-30
James Taylor and Friends
The Band: Conversations Among Friends
Ozawa Hall, Thursday, 7 pm
James Taylor Concerts
The Shed, Friday and Saturday, 7 PM
Boston Pops: James Taylor, John Williams Conducting
The Shed, Sunday, 2:30 PM
September 4-6
Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Ozawa Hall