Tanglewood

Indeed it was a long evening ending around 11 PM with the tradition arsenal of fireworks accompanying the climax ith a massive performance of Tchaikovsky’s energizing 1812 Overture. It evoked Moscow’s triumphant church bells and the thunderous boom of Napoleon’s captured canons.

When ethical concerns and second guessing of its "reboot" plans surfaced the Berkshire Museum has spent money it doesn't have for expensive PR and marketing. Heavy hitters have been hired to deflect tough questions from the media and flack the museum's strategy to sell 40 works of art and change its mandate.

Works by Stephen Hannock are in global museum collections. His Oxbow painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be included in a survey of Hudson River artist Thomas Cole. Hannock's mate Sting will also be involved in the project. When he created paintings for his friend's hometown of Newscastle the studies were shown at the Berkshire Museum. He gave one of the studies to the museum to honor philanthropist Nancy Fitzgerald. The fact of that work and the entire fine arts collection of the museum is unknown. We talked at length with the Berkshire based global artist about the impact of the museum's strategy to sell its fine arts collection with a radical makeover as an interactive educational museum for history and science.

A light drizzle evoked soft programming and attendance for the Friday night peformance of Andris Nelson's conducting at Tanglewood. Perhaps there was a conservation of energy for tonight's historic two and a half hour performance of Wagner without an intermission. But history was made last night as well with the astonishing debut of pianist Daniil Trifonov performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467. As they say, the crowd went wild.

The new Met Tosca will premier with James Levine replacing Andris Nelsons at the helm. Kristine Opolais stepped out of the title role. They are together in Tanglewood for what promise to be a starry evening on August 26th.

Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was among yhe foremost jazz singers of her generation. In Ozawa Hall a centennial celebration was organized by arranger, Lee Musiker in collaboration with classical singers Stephanie Blythe and Dawn Upshaw. Together they are mentoring vocal fellows who comprised most of the program.

Sondheim on Sondheim presents a multi-media scrapbook on the life and work of Broadway's genius, Stephen Sondheim. A unique personal glance at not only Sondheim's life, but his creation of Broadway musicals. This evening provides insight into Sondheim's process and the life experiences that influenced his work. The eight vocalists, including four Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows, deliver Sondheim's music with feeling and vocal power.

The stage designs, lighting and props for Jessica Land Dance evoked a particular invention of abstract art. The now established company, founded in 2011, makes annual visits to Pillow this time on the main stage of Ted Shawn Theatre. The dance is varied, fresh and inventive.

For Nelsons and the BSO the performance of Gustav Mahler's sublime, mystical, poetic and powerful Symphony No. 2 in C Minor proved to be physically and emotionally exhausting.

18,500 guests visit Tanglewood on July 4th to pay their yearly homage to the Berkshires' best known musician, James Taylor. Bonnie Raitt joined him during the holiday celebration.

After leaving 10,000 Maniacs in 1993, her solo career debuted with her first album, Tigerlily, in 1995. Since then, Natalie Merchants hasn't turned back and is due to release a 10 record set on July 17th, a feat few artists achieve.

Last night rocker Boz Scaggs launched the 2017 popular artists series at Tanglewood. It was a soggy evening in Lenox with some hearty souls huddled under umbrellas on the lawn. The former lead singer of the Steve Miller Band performed a stunning and soulful set of old and new material including highlights with superhits "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle." Former Steely Dan pianist and vocalist, Michael McDonald, opened with a 90 minute set.

For what has evolved into an annual Tanglewood visit the Mark Morris Dance Group presented Lou 100: In Honor of the Divine Mr. Harrison. There were four sections the first of which dated to 1993. The fourth, Numerator, for six male dancers is having its world premiere. The four pieces are set to music by Lou Harrison, a deceased friend and associate of the choreographer, marking the hundredth year since his birth.

Whisper the name "Tanglewood" and you will tickle the conscience of the novice classical music-goer, and fire the memories of those who have walked its grassy paths and visited the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Located on a sprawling estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, this is the Cadillac of summer festivals, offering symphonies, chamber music and opera to a throng of devotees who make the pilgrimage again and again.

Joan Baez led the Four Voices to a packed house at their final concert tour stop at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. The four women serenaded the audience for two plus hours on a beautiful spring evening.

The end of a ten city tour is the great stage at Tanglewood. On June 17th, this tour of women's voices fills the air for the last night of their tour on the beautiful grounds in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Delighting fans of all ages a packed New York Philharmonic conducted the music of John Williams during a screening of the Stephen Spielberg film "E.T." A screening of the belived film accompanied by the Boston Pops will be presented at Tanglewood this summer.

Mark Morris does not leave not-well-enough alone. He enlivens Benjamin Britten's Curlew River with instruments on stage as they would be in the Noh drama on which this opera is based. He places the singers in the pit for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. On stage, dancers enact the roles to entrance and also enhance the music. Morris conducts, directs, conceives and pleases along the way.

After a long illness, on March 10, the widely respected publisher and editor of Berkshire on Stage and Screen, Lawrence “Larry” Murray, passed away. He organized the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association. Last November he rallied to attend the First Annual Bertkshire Theatre Awards. He presented the top award, named for him, to Jullian Boyd of Barrington Stage for community service through theatre.

Tanglewood has announced plans for the construction of a new multi-use, multi-season four-building complex designed to support the performance and rehearsal activities of the Tanglewood Music Center and be the focal point of a new initiative, the Tanglewood Learning Institute, offering wide-ranging education and enrichment programs designed to enhance the patron experience.

Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant makes her Tanglewood debut on Sunday, July 2, at 7 p.m.,in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. She began her career with alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981. On Friday, September 1, American folk-rock band The Avett Brothers—named for brothers Scott and Seth Avett—make their Tanglewood debut.

In his most significant commitment yet to Tanglewood, Andris Nelsons will lead both the opening and closing BSO concerts, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, and Beethoven Symphony No. 9; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Kristine Opolais; an opera gala with Ms. Opolais and Dmitri Hvorostovsky performing excerpts from Simon Boccanegra, La traviata, and Eugene Onegin; the world premiere of John Williams’s Markings with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter; and the first-ever BSO and festival concert performance of the complete Das Rheingold, a tour de force milestone in the history of the festival.

Young (45 years old) hotshot Thomas Ades is a triple threat: composer, conductor and pianist. In his first outing with the BSO as artistic partner he showcased each of those skills. The results were mostly good. Among the highlights was the local premiere of his "Totentanz," a major work by any standard.

Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" is a model of passionate communication via music. The story of the Marschallin who hands over her young lover Octavian to a girl his own age drips with fin-de-siecle melancholy. The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Richard Strauss’s beloved comedy “Der Rosenkavalier” was as close to perfection as I have heard.

The 2016 Tanglewood season come to a close with a long time commitment from Conductor Andris Nelsons to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2017.