Tanglewood

While general manager Peter Gelb tries to keep his artists and staff calm, Maestro Levine's health, and what he will and will not be able to do, is creating daily issues at the Metropolitan Opera. But the artistic concerns extend beyond just the status of Levine.

No one wants to see the Maestro go, but in fairness to the Boston Symphony, artists, and the audience, the time had come for a change.

Because of a number of health related issues, absences, recoveries and setbacks the tenure of James Levine as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra will end on September 1. He assumed the position in 2004. Levine serves in a similar role at the Metropolitan Opera where no statement on his status has been released. Having cancelled the remainder of the BSO season it remains to be seen whether he will be able to resume his duties at Tanglewood for the coming season.

Blogs and the social networks routinely scoop print media on news, previews and reviews. By the time newspapers cover arts stories they may be days old. Arts organizations continue to rely primarily on print reviews to sell tickets but that has changed dramatically in the past few years. Through blogs and tweets Broadway shows with long previews may be dead in the water by opening night. Through internet coverage audiences make up their minds on ticket sales before reviews appear in print.

During its initial seasons the 100-year-old former vaudeville house, the Colonial Theatre, renovated at a cost of some $23 million, seemed more like a white elephant than a tangible asset. Coming into its first season in a merger with the Berkshire Theatre Festival is proving to be a game changer for theatre and the performing arts in the Berkshires. Artistic director, Kate Maguire, is leading with an ace by headlining Randy Harrison in the rock musical Tommy. See me, feel me, touch me.

This year’s lineup includes three world premiere theatre performances produced by BTF, three separate BTF musical productions on the Colonial stage, a rare appearance by noted columnist Frank Rich and live performances of some of the leading artists in the worlds of theatre, jazz and comedy. Among the organizations that will be co-promoting events will be Lift Ev’ry Voice, the Pittsfield 250th anniversary committee, Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Word x Word Festival, and ZipStohr Comedy.

Hopefully this union of the Met and Juilliard will result in more early productions of future Met stagings. The Bartered Bride, a favorite of Maestro Levine's, proved a wonderful jumping off point for the alliance. Levine had his young orchestra sounding wonderfully close to the Met Orchestra. The staging by Stephen Wadsworth bodes well for the future Met production.

Jenny Gersten worked under Michael Ritchie as associate producer of the Williamstown Theatre Festival from 1996 to 2004. We discussed plans and ambitions for her first season as artistic director. As a producer she does not direct. She describes administration, budgets and marketing as her "comfort zone" while conveying concerns about the artistic challenges. We discussed welcoming the Gersten era of one of America's great theatre companies.

Interviews provide access to the primary source. There is much to be learned through dialogues with actors and directors. But it also entails a conflict of interest and concerns when we have to write about their work. Does that entail softening the blow when we don't respond to a production? This installment of an extensive dialogue explores the tricky business of honestly informing the reader. It is the reason why some critics refuse to conduct interviews.

Hot Tuna Blues sizzled at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. It launched a busy Valentine celebration in the Berkshires. Barrington Stage is presenting a weekend long V Day Cabaret. Shakespeare & Company is opening a winter run of Mystery of Irma Vep. Williamstown Theatre Festival announces its season on Friday and hosts a reading of a Neal Simon play on Monday at the Clark. The Met Live in HD will screen Nixon in China on Saturday at the Mahaiwe, Beacon and Clark. Here's looking at you sweetheart.

Larry Murray moved from promoting the Pocket Mime to the BSO and Boston Ballet. He also worked with the legendary opera promoter Sarah Caldwell. He was on duty and fielded the press calls when his friend Arthur Fiedler passed away. In this second installment Murray describes his early years in theatrical marketing and PR.

In this installment, rural critic, Charles Giuliano, and metropolitan critic, Greg Book of the weekly, Boston Phoenix, compare and contrast issues of covering their arts communities. A primary difference is how the arts in the Berkshires are integral to driving the cultural economy. Cook comments on an uneasy relationship between museums and the community of local artists.

Initially, Larry Murray and Charles Giuliano divided coverage of the four major Berkshire theatre companies as well as the Colonial and Mahaiwe. Murray retired to the Berkshires after a long career as a publicist and marketing specialist for a range of organizations including the BSO, Boston Ballet, and Sarah Caldwell's Opera Company. He started his own blogs Arts America and Gay in the Berkshires. Last season he left BFA to focus on a new site Berkshire on Stage. This is the first of several dialogues about his career in the arts and an overview of the critical condition.

The connection between Mozart and Mahler is not immediately apparent, but both pieces chosen for Sunday afternoon's program concern farewells. Mozart's Posthorn Serenade celebrated the end of the school year and the departure of students. Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, the deep sense that the composer had little time to live. Mozart's goodbye was full of musical puns and play, aptly captured by the Maestro and orchestra. The Mahler was sung wrenchingly as the orchestra both set the tone and enriched the songs. The sound at Carnegie is of course incomparable.

From 1967 to 1970 Steve Nelson produced rock and blues shows at The Boston Tea Party, The Woodrose Ballroom in South Deerfield, MA and Paramount Theatre in Springfield, MA. Now he is a co-founder of the Music Museum Of New England. Charles Giuliano was art director and then music critic for Boston After Dark, which became The Boston Phoenix. They spoke about the Museum and the music scene back in the day. This is the first of four parts of their conversation.

The Wilco Solid Sound Festival is set for June 24 to 26 at Mass MoCA. Tanglewood launches its season the following Fourth of July weekend with three dates for perennial favorite James Taylor. In a surprise move Tanglewood has announced a prequel to the Taylor weekend. It will present the vintage soul group Earth Wind and Fire on Saturday, June 25, while Wilco will rock in North Adams. What gives?

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands Earth, Wind, and Fire and Steely Dan are being added to the 2011 Tanglewood season line-up. Earth, Wind, and Fire will perform on Saturday, June 25, at 7 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed as part of the band’s 40th anniversary tour. Steely Dan will perform on Tuesday, July 26 at 7 p.m. in the Shed. Tickets for both events go on sale February 6, 2011.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will present more than 160 ticketed and free dance performances by companies from Argentina, Cuba, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, and across the United States. Executive Director Ella Baff has crafted an international festival of dance, music, and the visual arts spanning three months and including six world premieres, seven U.S. premieres, five engagements with live music, three U.S. company debuts, and more than 300 total ticketed and free events, talks, performances, classes, and tours.

Now that we have slogged through the Holidays there is a lot of new theatre and music to enjoy. This month Huntington Theatre opens Ruined. Over in Cambridge ART focuses on visionary architect R. Buckminster Fuller. Emerson has a range of events at its Majestic and Paramount theatres. We have tips and links for information and tickets.

Mass MoCA can be such a tease. They have been so coy about admitting that the Wilco inspired Solid Sound Festival will return this year in June. It's still not official but mark your calendar for June 24 to 26. Better start making travel plans and hotel reservations asap. North Adams is sure to be swamped with Wilco fans.

Tony Simotes, the artistic director of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, announces and comments on the program for the 2011-2012 season. A highlight that opens the season is the series Women of Will with Tina Packer and Nigel Gore. The epic project will be presented in five segments covering the entire arc of the works of Shakespeare.

People still yearn to sit in a darkened theater with an audience -- to laugh and cry and applaud together. The marvels of technology now bring premier events from the world over to our backyards. The ticket prices are reasonable and the productions first rate.

For most of us right now its jingle bells. With the announcement of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule this week, however, Berkshire arts organizations are hard at work planning a fast launch to the season on the Fourth of July. But, like Abbott and Costello, come summer, let's hope they aren't wondering about "who's on first." There is desperate need for branding, pooled resources, and a marketing strategy for the Berkshires.

Once again James Taylor will be featured with four concerts at Tanglewood this summer. From an all-Italian Opening Night Boston Symphony Orchestra program under the direction of James Levine on July 8, four appearances by living legend Yo-Yo Ma, a Boston Pops Cole Porter tribute led by Keith Lockhart, and the incredibly popular Film Night with John Williams, to the welcome returns of Itzhak Perlman and Christoph Eschenbach and special appearances by favorite artists Joshua Bell, Stephanie Blythe, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, and Peter Serkin to the closing BSO performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the direction of Lorin Maazel,

Our Boston arts and entertainment correspondent has been making a list and checking it twice. There is a lot of fun for the whole family on tap for the holiday season. Barbara Brilliant once again provides a cheat sheet to the best and brightest offerings and convenient links to the box office.