Tanglewood

There was a sense of the passing of the torch as Marian McPartland celebrated her 9oth birthday taping her NPR program with the emerging artists Nnenna Freelon and Spencer Day

The pianist Donal Fox and his quintet, featuring the young trumpet player,Christian Scott, presented a confluence of Baroque music and jazz feeling. While hailed as represeting the "future" of jazz there is in fact a long tradition of this experimentation.

As New Orleans based musician, Terence Blanchard, led his quintet and a 34 piece orchetstra through his evening long composition "A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for Katrina" just three years after that tragedy, ironically, the city was evacuated and braced for Hurricane Gustav which again battered the Crescent City. It made the music all the more powerful and emotionally charged.

The much anticipated Tanglewood Jazz Festival, an annual Labor Day Weekend event, got off to a swinging start last night with the Edmar Castaneda Quartet, with Joe Locke, and the Brazilian pianist, Eliane Elias and her trio.

All the cats and hipsters plan to groove at Ozawa Hall for the annual, Labor Day Weekend celebration of the Tanglewod Jazz Festival. Terence Blanchard will conduct a 30 piece orchestra in his Grammy Award winning "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)."

A perfect storm of cool, rainy weather, $4 a gallon gas, and a lousy economy caused the coining of a new term "Staycation" during the summer of 2008. While clearly an off year Berkshire arts and tourism held their own largely through its range of world class offerings.

While Tanglewood has been hesitant to respond to demands for more diverse programming last night there was a full house for the leading rock band Wilco. The summer home of the BSO will never be the same.

It is hard to believe that Janis Joplin performed at Tanglewood in 1969. As well as The Who and Miles Davis. There was a false start to revive rock in 2007 with a literally washed out Cars. But last night Wilco brought rock once again to Tanglewood. After three plus decades it's about time.

During the annual Tanglewood on Parade there was a lively round of musical chairs as Hans Graf, Sir Andrew Davis, Keith Lockhart, John Williams and Andre Previn took turns as conductors.

James Levine was originally scheduled to conduct "Eugene Onegin" but Sir Andrew Davis, on fairly short notice, rose to the occasion. It was a wonderful performance starring the magnificent Renee Fleming at Tatiana and a Tanglewood debut for Peter Mattei in the title role.

Berkshire residents are reveling in an amazing array of area arts offerings. Our monthly Preview serves to help guide your choices with helpful facts, insider details and handy links. The only mistake would be to procrastinate. Nothing gold can stay.

For his Tenth Annual Film Night at Tanglewood conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra John Williams offered an overview of composing for some 100 films. The second half of the program was devoted to Indiana Jones narrated by surprise guest Steven Spielberg.

The composer, Elliott Carter, who will turn 100 on December 11, was on hand for the week long Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Nobody appeared to enjoy the occasion more than Carter himself as he rose over and over to acknowledge applause from wildly enthusiastic audiences.

At Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, a 7.5 million fund goal was met and the Elayne Bernstein Theatre opened, Willliamstown began its Greylock Project and series of play readings, Barrington Stage is workshopping a new musical in Pittsfield, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge received grants for their renewal plan, and to allow extended rehearsals for their much anticipated Waiting for Godot.

From now through Labor Day there is a compelling reason to attend the Tanglewood Music Festival. On Saturday we enjoyed Mahler's Symphony Number Two in C minor, conducted by Bernard Haitink. And we returned a couple of days later for an evening of the cabaret artist Barbara Cook.

The original, 1973, Broadway production of "A Little Night Music" won Tony Awards for the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and the book of Hugh Wheeler. To date, however, there has not been a Broadway revival. Keith Lockhart led the Pops through a concert version of the musical to the delight of a Tanglewood audience.

This past weekend James Levine, artistic director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was given rave reviews for opening the Tanglewood season with a two day concert peformance of the massive and magnificent Berlioz Opera "Les Troyens." It was learned today that Levine will undergo surgery this week. His remaining Tanglewood duties are cancelled but he hopes to be back to cover the opening of the BSO.

Anna Caterina Antonicci, soprano, was riveting as Cassandra, the Trojan prophetess ignored by her fellow citizens in the tragic opera, Les Troyens, by Hector Berlioz. A concert version of the enormous and ambitious work, conducted by James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra opened the Tanglewood 2008 season.

Tickets for the two James Taylor concerts on July 3 & 4 at Tanglewood sold out within hours of being put on sale. On Saturday evening the BSO summer residence offically opens with The Trojans (Part Two on Sunday afternooon) by Berlioz conducted by artistic director, James Levine. This past weekend during the Shoulder Season we attended perormances by the Mark Morris company and a broadcast of Prairie Home Companion.

The awesome array of Berkshire arts events in July is astounding. Our theater, music and dance companies create their schedules one by one, but taken together it's going to be one sensational Summer Festival right here in our own backyard. Enjoy.

Part Two of our report on saving money while enjoying the Berkshire's many performing arts attractions. Theater, music and dance are available at a discount, sometimes even Free!

Berkshire residents and visitors are about to enjoy the earliest and most promising arts season in years. We pick the best of the early music, theater, dance and gallery offerings, from Memorial Day to the end of June 2008.

Every Third Thursday of the month there is a celebration in downtown Pittsfield, in the heart of the Berkshires.

The recently established tradition returns to Lenox, Mass with the annual Labor Day Weekend Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Tickets to all Tanglewood events are now on sale.

While not a "best" and "worst" list in the usual sense we offer an overview of events and what proved to be moving and insightful while covering the arts in 2007.