Tanglewood

It was a glorious summer evening for Tanglewood on Parade. The popular annual concert featured a tribute to the music of John Williams. This is his 30th season. Some special friends joined him on stage including Keith Lockhart, Stafan Asbury, Julian Kuerti, Yo Yo Ma and James Taylor. It ended with a big bang of 1812 Overture followed by fireworks.

This season three of the Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows who performed in Ariadne auf Naxos are headed for the Metropolitan Opera Company. Audrey Elizabeth Luna, a scampy temptress and comedienne, as the delicious Zerbinetta makes her Met debut as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote. Emalie Savoy who performed the role of Ariadne/ The Prima Donna joins the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Cecelia Hall, the mezzo-soprano as the Young Composer will make her Met debut as the Second Priestess in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride.

Few cellists â€" or musicians of any kind for that matter â€" have the power to entrance an audience, leave them speechless by playing just a few notes. Yo Yo Ma reminded the massive crowd attending Sunday afternoon’s performance at Tanglewood why he remains one of those gifted, magical musicians.

While struggling to overcome debt that threatened The Mount with bankruptcy its director, Susan Wissler, is moving forward with programming and development. Recently Edith Wharton's mansion and estate was the site for the first annual Berkshire WordFest at the Mount.

Pianist Peter Sirkin was forced to cancel due to illness, but substitute virtuoso Gilles Vonsattel stepped up and delivered an enthusiastic performance of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 on Saturday at Tanglewood.

Elizabeth Aspenlieder who won an Elliot Norton Award for Best Solo Performanceâ€"returns this summer for a special , limited run in a freshly re-imagined production directed by Eric Tucker (Women of Will this season , Pinter’s Mirror 2009). Haley Walker. The show that set the Berkshires astir in 2009â€"and nettarismatic heroine of Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates , possesses a sharp wit and an unsinkable determination to pursue the promise of new love , even while providing for her daughter.

The 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music, August 12-16, will be the culmination of a season-long celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s renowned summer music academy for young professional musicians, with performances of works by the TMC’s distinguished composition faculty over the course of its history.

Broadway star and four time Tony winner, Audra McDonald is on the run. It took some 26 hours of travel time, including multiple delays in Mexico City, to reach a scheduled Tanglewood concert. From the stage of sold out Ozawa Hall she announced that she was about to perform for the Obama family. Despite all that jet lag she settled into a stunning and intimate evening of show tunes. The evening was a highlight of what is proving to be a sensational season in the Berkshires.

Stepping in for the ailing James Levine, the sprightly and masterful Michael Tilson Thomas is becoming a familiar presence at Tanglewood. For the second weekend he conducted Stravinsky and Mozart on Friday night and returns on Saturday with more Mahler. On Sunday afternoon Pops features Alec Baldwin and Arlo Guthrie as guest artists. In one of the most anticipated concerts of the season Audra McDonald appears in Ozawa Hall on Sunday evening.

The opening night of Tanglewood saw the transformation of adversity into triumph. There was concern over the announcement that yet again maestro Jame Levine would miss the entire season due to chronic health issues. As the opening night of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor amply demonstrated Michael Tilson Thomas proved to be far more than a substitute. He brought his unique vision and passion to the complex, eclectic and visceral symphony. With this performance the season in Lenox has been launched with magnificent confidence.

Although Tanglewood had some 60,000 visitors last weekend for Pops followed by three sold out concerts by James Taylor and Carole King the season officially opens this weekend. Which means that the Boston Symphony Orchestra is in residence until the end of August. Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the orchestra in the absence of the ailing James Levine. Thomas was a Tanglewood Music Fellow in 1968 and 69. He will be joined by two other TMC fellows soprano Layla Claire and mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe.

The Berkshire season was launched in a sensational manner with three sold out Tanglewood performances by James Taylor and fellow singer/ songwriter, the legendary Carole King. They shared music, memories and intimate moments during concerts that averaged two and a half hours. Fans who bought lawn tickets last winter were rewarded by a gorgeous summer evening under the stars.

For the past few years I have been getting a lot more out of Tanglewood concerts by attending the lectures at the Lenox Library. On Friday and Saturday afternoons, from 2:30 to 4 PM, the music to be performed is discussed with recorded intervals by Professor Jeremy Yudkin. He brings zest, charm and enthusiasm to the experience. It allows me to listen more attentively and enjoy the concerts by a world class orchestra and its renowned conductors.

On Friday night of the Fourth of July weekend, with three sold out concerts by James Taylor and Carole King, Tanglewood got off to a slow start with Pops. There was a relatively sparse turnout. Too bad for those who missed the Tanglewood debut of the Tony Award winning singer Idina Menzel. She thrilled the audience with hits from Rent and Wicked. Doc Severinsen was typically attired in an outlandish outfit as he squeaked a few toots on trumpet. Keith Lockhart conducted a 125th anniversary salute to Pops.

The Mark Morris Dance Group performed Sunday at Tanglewood. They will perform there again tonight (Monday) at 8 p.m. at Ozawa Hall. Mark Morris has terrific taste in music. What does this have to do with his choreography? Everything. Morris is like a world-class chef.

Sweeney Todd, the masterpiece of the now 80-year-old genius, and Williams grad, Stephen Sondheim, is given a state of the art, Broadway level production at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. With no compromise on artistic integrity this is stunning musical theatre in an intimate setting. We enjoy signifiying, titubating performances and magnificent music up close and personal at a fraction of Broadway ticket prices. This is Berkshire theatre at its finest.

Everything is coming up roses for the North Shore Music Theatre, because they are back in business. They reopen with Vicki Lewis in the smash musical GYPSY. Vicki is most remembered for her five seasons playing Beth on the NBC sitcom “NewsRadio.” She also appeared on “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” GYPSY is a Broadway classic and a multi award-winning musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents.

The scheduled appearance by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel at Tanglewood on July 27 has been cancelled. Art Garfunkel continues to recover from a vocal paresis. The tour was originally planned to start in April. It was then shifted to July. Now it is postponed indefinitely. Garfunkel is expected to recover but not in time for the summer concerts. With James Levine out for the season this is the second Tanglewood cancellation in less than a week. There is speculation about how these cancellations will impact tourism and the hospitality industry.

In April James Levine, the artistic director of Boston Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera, underwent back surgery. While he planned a season for Tangelwood he has now withdrawn from the program. It is hoped that he will recover in time for the fall seasons of the BSO and Met. This is a repeat of his absence from Tanglewood following surgery after the opening concerts in 2008. Given chronic health issues there is speculation about his long term role in Boston and New York. Renowned conductors will fill the vacant slots in Lenox this season.

.The music of Cole Porter bubbled like champagne at Symphony Hall. Keith Lockhart conducted in a thoroughly enjoyable evening of Pops. He was joined by Broadway stars including Kelli O’Hara, Jason Danieley and Matthew Anderson.

Free concerts in New York with A list talent can be found if you look, and one of the best venues to scour is Town Hall's. Here on Sunday, for free, lucky listeners got to hear Stephanie Blythe accompanied by Warren Jones. Blythe opens Tanglewood's season in Mahler's Second Symphony on July 9th.

The New York Philharmonic presents performances of György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre by the composer who joined forces with Richard Strauss in the score of Space Odyssey:2001. Kudos for recent productions in London, Paris, Adelaide and Rome suggest the performances will be SRO. The work combines 15th century music, breadth of line, puppetry, adventures musical and otherwise.At Avery Fisher Hall on May 27, 28 and 29.

The Longwood Symphony Orchestra which is made up of medical professionals will perform at Ozawa Hall in Lenox for the first time. The Boston Jewish Film Festival ENCORES AND MORE will be staged at the Museum of Fine Arts through June 27. Don't miss The Great American Trailer Park Musical at Speakeasy Stage.

The Fifth Annual Richie duPont Award Benefit will take place at 8 pm Saturday, May 22, at Firefly on Church Street in Lenox. What began in 2006 as a memorial to Richie duPont, a promising young actor lost in his prime, will be a celebration of his life at a party to raise funds for awards for budding local thespians to attend Berkshire Theatre Festival’s summer and school vacation acting camps.

The launch of the Fourth of July arts season in the Berkshires will be like an explosion in a fireworks factory. There has never been a greater offering of superb and diverse performances. While three days of James Taylor and Carole King at Tanglewood sold out ages ago there are many other top options. Mass MoCA is going head to head with Tanglewood on Friday night. It has Richie Havens vs. The Pops. Barrington Stage and Williamstown Theatre Festival will duke it out with dueling Sondheim musicals. There is a ton of stuff at Shakespeare & Company including the opening of John Douglas Thompson in Richard III. Jacobs Pillow and Berkshire Theatre Festival are in the mix. We offer a complete rundown.