Tanglewood

Unexpectedly Met audiences were treated to Sondra Radvanovsky as Aida; in announcing the new season, Mr. Gelb ignored the Levine problem; Chicago announces a world premier, and so it goes.

On an unseasonably mild February afternoon, during the off season, we sat with Mass MoCA director, Joe Thompson, for an in depth overview of his 25 years of developing the largest contemporary art museum in North America. In this first installment we discussed the beginnings and mandates for the 17 acre campus and its 650,000 square feet of "developable" space. We spoke on the record for an hour and a half then another hour after that. It is most unusual to spend that much time with a busy museum director.

We may be years away from the installation of a new Music Director at the BSO, but Nelsons presence at an important event, made me wonder.

As tickets go on sale for the 2012 Tanglewood season we are saddened to learn of the demise of the annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival. The BSO at a later date will announce plans for the now open slot of Labor Day Weekend. But it is encouraging to learn of new dates for jazz masters Chick Corea and Gary Burton as well as a date for bass player Christian McBride.

My foxy colleague Larry Murray of Berkshire On Stage caught us napping. He scoops the return of Blythe Danner to Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Catherine Russell, who has earned comparisons to jazz icons such as Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith, will share her soulful blues on Saturday, February 18, at 8pm in MASS MoCA's Hunter Center in a concert sponsored by Amtrak.

In announcing a stunning, star studded program for the 35th season of Shakespeare & Company, now in his third season as artistic director, Tony Simotes provided indicators of what to expect in the future. This summer he will play his aces with former teacher and friend Olympia Dukakis in The Tempest. The company's homegrown star, John Douglas Thompson, returns after a hiatus in a new one man play Satchmo at the Waldorf.

For the 35th season of Shakespeare & Company there is a stunning contrast between the old- King Lear and the Tempest- and the new Satchmo at the Waldorf. Olympia Dukakis will play Prospero in The Tempest. In a play being written and developed by Wall Street Journal drama critic, Terry teachout, John Douglas Thompson returns to Lenox in a one man show focusing on jazz legend Louis Armstrong and his mobbed up manager Joe Glaser

It is that time of year when we look back at the highlights and insights of the past season. Take a deep breath and anticipate what lays ahead for 2012. There is much to remember as well as look forward to.

For the second season this summer there will be head to head musicals in Pittsfield. Berkshire Theatre Group has announced that A Chorus Line will be presented at the Colonial Theatre. While a few blocks away Barrington Stage will feature Fiddler on the Roof. Both theatre companies have yet to announce their complete summer season of plays and performances.

This vast restaurant on the main drag between Pittsfield and Lenox changes hands and food themes every couple of years. Tex Mex attracts drive by tourists during high season but is on life support during the winter months. In order to survive restaurants must attract a local audience to sustain year round. Significantly, during our disappointing visit the cavernous space was virtually empty.

It is heartening to think that people who love and make opera, even if they don't know what they are doing or saying, come up with dramas that heightened our every day. Rodelina at the Clark and Mahaiwe December 3rd, followed by Faust on December 10. Both poperas are bound to be fun.

Tanglewood, one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, celebrates its 75th anniversary season, June 22-September 2, with a spectacular lineup of musical guests and programs that spotlight Tanglewood’s rich tradition of presenting summertime concerts at their best since 1937.

In the process of scanning a vast archive of vintage jazz and rock images we came upon a album shot during the 25th anniversary party of the now off air WBCN. It jogged rusty rock memories. On hand were a heady mix of music celebrities from a golden age.

Over a number of years there have been annual collaborations between Jacob's Pillow and Mass MoCA. As a part of the Williamstown Film Festival the New England premiere of Never Stand Still, directed by Ron Honsa, was screened in the Hunter Center of Mass MoCA. The documentary film includes a sketch of the founding of the festival by Ted Shawn in 1941 as well as a collage of its diverse programming.

Meade make her mark in the Berkshires singing excerpts from Norma and I Lombardi last summer. If you hear her, you will never forget her. A big, glorious voice full of all the complex detail the style requires.

While the primary galleries of the Clark Art Museum will close in November for the final phase of a $145 expansion and renovation it will maintain programming on a limited basis. How that reflects on the norm of 200,000 annual visitors remains to be seen. Reducing the Clark in the mix will have a major impact on cultural tourism in the Northern Berkshires for the next few years. The construction, however, will create 500 temporary jobs with a $9 million economic impact.

Fabio Luisi conducted the Met Orchestra as the new Principal Conductor. Luisi and the Orchestra are on the same page, seeming to enjoy each other and make wonderful music. Let's hope that he is made Artistic Director soon. The post has been vacant for too long.

While naturally-occurring sounds of the kitchen sometimes accompany singers, Le Poisson Rouge is surely the venue of the future. Intimate venues where performance of classical music is up close and personal draw packed houses. The three dinosaurs at Lincoln Center will probably have to go.

Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield is winding down its most successful season. It started with the riveting one man play Zero in May. Surged through Guys and Dolls to launch high season and is currently bringing back the riveting drama The Best of Enemies which was a hit during the summer. This is part one of an extended dialogue with artistic director Julianne Boyd.

Tobias Picker collaborates with performers. Ursula Oppens, who has been his muse and articulator for decades,was on stage to talk to the charming and witty composer. Sometimes called 'conservative' because his music is easy on the ear, challenging and beautiful are better adjectives for this important American composer.

Elayne Polly Bernstein Schwartz, was known to the arts community as Elayne P. Bernstein. Her name is attached to the theatre at Shakespeare & Company, in Lenoz, which she generously helped to create. She was involved with many Berkshire cultural organizations including Jacob’s Pillow, Barrington Stage, Berkshire Theatre Group, Tanglewood, and Norman Rockwell Museum among others. Her overriding passion revolved around Shakespeare & Company.

Recognition and support for the diversity of American music is under attack. For the 2012 Grammy Awards the number of categories has been reduced from 109 to 78 with a particular elimination of ethnic performers. There are similar consolidations for the NEA. We discussed this with Willard V. Jenkins who helped to bring the NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller to the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival.

In 1949 Gunther Schuller played horn as a part of the Miles Davis nonet in sessions originally released as 78 rpm singles. Several years later in the early days of LPs the singles were reissued as the album Birth of the Cool. Jimmy Cobb was the drummer of the classic Davis album, a continuing best seller, Kind of Blue. During a session with critic and historian, Bob Blumenthal, during the Tanglewood Jazz Festival they recalled those now historic recordings.

The Sunday afternoon program featured the Jazz Masters, drummer Jimmy Cobb fronting Coast to Coast All Stars. Followed by The Mingus Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller. The evening program Sing the Truth featured Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, and Lizz Wright. With that the season ended for Tanglewood in the Berkshires. Such sweet music.