Tanglewood

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.

The annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival was a three day slam dunk. There was a superbly balanced program that introduced emerging artists as well as performances by jazz masters. A nice addition this year featured scull sessions with jazz critic and historian Bob Blumenthal. It was everything you would hope for in a great jazz festival. This is part one of our coverage.

With three women in charge, artistic director, Diane Paulus, playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks and music director/ composer Diedre L. Murry this ART production of The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre is more about Bess than Porgy. Audra McDonald stars in this revision of an American classic by and for women. Norm Lewis, however, more than holds his own as Porgy and Phillip Boykin as Crown must be seen and heard to be believed. Incredible. This Cambridge smash hit will swarm over Broadway for the Holidays.

When the Tanglewood season was planned surely nobody anticipated the interest and controversy that would be evoked by a concert version of the opera Porgy and Bess (1935) with music by George Gershwin, libretto and lyrics by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin. In one of the most anticipated and controversial theatre events of the season American Repertory Theatre opens its Broadway bound musical version this week

Jacob's Pillow is a national treasure bringing world class dance to the Berkshires. Over the course of the season we have enjoyed the distinct and unique differences between companies. Arguably, from the audience's point of view, Pillow saved the best for last closing the season in the Ted Shawn Theatre with a 30th anniversary performance of Mark Morris Dance Group. They have become a franchise for Tanglewood so we were treated to having the company open and close the season of dance in the Berkshires.

Shakespeare & Company’s Artistic Director Tony Simotes announces the titles for its 17th annual Studio Festival of Plays—a mini-marathon of plays never before performed at the Company, running one-day only on Monday, September 5th in Founders’ Theatre. Staged readings begin at 11:00 AM, and continue through to 11:00PM. Company actors and special guest actors will present seven productions throughout the day, in the form of works-in-progress and staged readings.

There was a near capacity turn out of 18,000 delighted patrons for the annual Film Night conducted by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra. His special guests included narrator, Morgan Freeman, and violinist, Gil Shamam. Tanglewood was popping.

A great case for opera during the summer is made by the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico. Tried and true and up and coming talent come from all over the world to participate here. What a marvelous venue.

In the relatively brief time since earning a BFA degree in 1993 Stephanie Blythe has emerged as a star of the Metropolitan Opera and one of the great mezzo-sopranos of her generation. Early on she was a Tanglewood Fellow for two years and has returned ever since in a mentoring role. Last night she paid tribute to that unique relationship in a program of American song.

There were flashes of Beatlemania last night as soccer moms and teenipboppers bounded on stage at the invitation of lead singer Patrick Monahan of Train. Not since Wilco have we seen such raw energy rock the Shed. It was great fun. The band informed the audience that they would like to be an annual event like James Taylor. What a great idea.

Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner will be the featured guest on Judy Carmichael’s “Jazz Inspired” on Saturday, September 3, at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Danner will perform with pianist Mike Renzi and bassist Neal Miner. Judy Carmichael’s “Jazz Inspired” will be taped before a live audience at Seiji Ozawa Hall on Saturday, September 3, at 2 pm, and broadcast at a later date on 170 stations in the United States and worldwide.

Glorious summer weather resulted in a near capacity turnout in the Shed and on the lawn for one of the most popular programs of the season. The gates opened at 2 PM as families flocked to the Lenox estate for the annual Tanglewood on Parade. The evening program featuring four guest conductors and an accessible program culminated with blasting canons and bursting fireworks climaxing a massive rendering of Tchaikovsky's anthem The 1812 Overture. It was an occasion to rethink our damaged and endangered notions of patriotism and sacrifice.

Kate Maguire is now half way through her first summer season as the Artistic Director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Group. Since last November she presided over the merger of her Berkshire Theatre Festival with the Colonial Theatre. There was risk taking when Maguire mounted a brief run of Tommy starring Randy Harrison at the Colonial. We asked what she learned from the experience and how that impacts future planning for making the two theatres and three stages function as a combined entity. Her answers may surprise you.

On a mid week work night Steel Dan brought their pulsing strap on jazz rock to a near capacity audience at Tanglwood. The cerebral music and sardonic lyrics were just what the doctor ordered for cash strapped Tanglewood which is loosening up to allow the vulgarians into the tample of the hallowed grounds of the BSO in Lenox. Awesome. A good time was had by all and nothing was trashed.

Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes proudly announces the benefit performance of Broadway in the Berkshires Monday, August 15th at 6:00pm, Founders’ Theatre, 70 Kemble Street , Lenox , MA . Proceeds will go to Shakespeare & Company’s internationally-acclaimed Education and Training Programs.

When Rocco Landesman, the head of the NEA, suggested that there are too many arts organizations with supply outweighing demand there was a response of outrage in the arts community. Here in the Berkshires it begs the question of sufficient audience and patrons to support four major theatre companies. It also begs the question of the role of critics? Are we just providers of consumer information for ticket buyers?

Tommy sold out at the Colonial for the VIP opening on Saturday night. The reviews are staggering in, partly because some critics opted for an offer of better seats on Monday night. That doesn't give much time to promote an expensive show with a short run that ends on Saturday. We asked artistic director, Kate Maguire, about that during the opening night party.