Dave Read

Naumkeag gardens Stockbridge, MA

Oct. 12, 2013 Article by Dave Read

Views of the gardens at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, MA and surrounding landscape on an overcast October afternoon during the fall foliage season in the Berkshires. It was the country estate of New York lawyer and politician Joseph Hodges Choate. Stanford White, the famous architect designed it in 1885 and the grounds were upgraded between 1926 and 1956 by Fletcher Steele under the direction of Choate’s daughter Mabel. Upon Choate’s death in 1917, Mabel inherited the estate, where she lived until she died in the 1950’s, bequeathing it, with all furnishings to the Trustees of Reservations, which is the oldest regional land trust in the world.

Photos of Naumkeag gardens Stockbridge, MA

These photos show that even on an overcast day, late in the fall when the leaves have lost most of their autumnal splendor, the Berkshires retain their allure. In a setting such as this one, where the architect manifested a heightened aesthetic be situating the mansion so that is sits opposite the profile view of Monument Mountain, fleeting weather conditions never can mar the view.

With its location on Prospect Hill Rd. your visit will include some of the most beautiful views in the Berkshires, from Stockbridge Bowl near Tanglewood to Monument Mountain near Gt. Barrington.

Berkshires parks and outdoors recreation

April 14, 2016 Article by Dave Read

Besides having a world-wide reputation as an arts and cultural destination, the Berkshires is noted as a place for outdoors recreation, including such activities as skiing, hiking, camping, biycling, fishing, golf, canoeing, sailing. As a service to people who may be planning a visit to Berkshire county, we have put together a list of the various places available for enjoying the natural beauty of the area. Elsewhere on BerkshireLinks you can find listing for where to stay and arts and entertainment schedules, as well as how to get here by bus or train.

BerkshireLinks articles on Berkshires parks and recreation:

Parks & outdoors recreation in the Berkshires (external links)

Berkshires Appalachian trail map

If you want to go for a hike in Berkshire county, you can access the Berkshires section of the Appalachian Trail, which wends its way from Connecticut through to Vermont. According to AMCBerkshire.org, there are 15 campsites and shelters along the portion of the trail. Privys and water are available at each; 2 night maximum stay; ordered north to south in this list. The map below displays in approximate locations.

Where to hike in the Berkshires

According to AMCBerkshire.org, there are 15 campsites and shelters along the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the Berkshires. Privys and water are available at each; 2 night maximum stay; ordered north to south in this list. This Berkshires Appalachian Trail map displays approximate locations, but the AT is very well marked and maintained and you shouldn’t have trouble finding your destination, especially since most hikers today carry a GPS device with them while hiking.

Directions to shelters and campsites along the Appalachian trail in the Berkshires

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Tanglewood Brass Spectacular

July 8, 2015 Article by Dave Read

The Tanglewood Brass Spectacular featured performances by the Boston Pops Brass & Percussion section, the Boston Crusaders, the third-oldest drum corps in America, celebrating their 75th anniversary; and the sixteen-time Drum Corps International World Champion Blue Devils from Concord, California. The program was suggested by BSO trumpeter and drum corps alumnus Michael Martin, whose father Freddy Martin, one of the genre’s most esteemed figures, was a conductor and composer on tonight’s program.

First, the host ensemble performed a variety of pieces, including two by Boston Pops laureate conductor John Williams. They demonstrated why the Pops and the BSO always sound so good when they veer into the jazz and pop realms, because these players sure can swing! Then the Blue Devils and Boston Crusaders took turns, each filling the Koussevitsky Music Shed stage with an assortment of musical instruments never seen there before. Besides all the horns and drums, there was an array of vibrophones from wing to wing.

Massed bands perform Tcahikovsky’s 1812 Overture

The 2+ hour concert closed with an unprecented performance by all three ensembles of Tcahikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Tanglewood patrons are used to exciting performances of that chestnut as the finale to the annual Tanglewood on Parade, but tonight’s rendition was truly breathtaking.

Tanglewood Brass Spectacular – July 6, 2015
Tanglewood tickets:
Box Office: 617-266-1200; 888-266-1200
Website: tanglewood.org

James Taylor at Tanglewood July 4, 2015

July 6, 2015 Article by Dave Read

James Taylor’s concert at Tanglewood July 4, 2015 attracted another sell-out audience that packed the Koussevitsky Music Shed and temporarily converted the sweeping lawn area into the 2nd most populated town in the Berkshires! The Washington, MA resident, frequently misidentified as living in Lenox, was accompanied by the familiar cohort known as his All Star Band, plus wife Kim and son Henry. Everybody lucked out when the weather went from dreary and drizzly to bright and sunny in time for the show.

James Taylor performing at Tanglewood, 7.4.15 (Hilary Scott)

Mr. Taylor released a new album recently, Before This World, his first in 13 years and 17th studio recording overall, which spent a week at the top of the charts! Tonight’s show featured several songs from it – Angels of Fenway, Montana, and Today, Today, Today, each of which received an extra decibel of applause. Angels of Fenway relates his experience of the 2004 Boston Red Sox’ release from the “curse of the Bambino” when they overcame an 0-3 deficit to beat the New York Yankees for their first championship since selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.

Beatles sign James Taylor to Apple records 1968

James Taylor and his band performed at Tanglewood on July 4, 2015 (Hilary Scott)

Introducing the other new songs, Taylor said that as is the case with so many of his songs, they too reference his 1968 Apple/Beatles bonanza, when, despite doubts and frustrations, he knew he was “the luckiest guy on the planet.” His demo had gotten the attention of Peter Asher, which led to an audition with the Beatles at the same time as when they were recording the White Album! Since then, he seems to have done all he could to justify that luck, producing a body of work that manifests his sense of gratitude.

Having attended many of the 24 concerts he has performed at Tanglewood, we can attest to his consistent generosity, toward both toward his fans in the audience and his fellow musicians on stage. He always answers a few shouts from the auidience during the set – “thank you, sir, love you, too” – “yup, we’re gonna do that one” holding up the setlist, which today ran to 25 songs, including 3 in the “encore” portion. While the band was offstage during the 20 minute intermission, James taylor stayed busy working the stage rim, signing autographs and mugging for cellphone snapshots.

James Taylor at Tanglewood – July 4, 2015 setlist
Wandering
Secret Of Life
Angels of Fenway
Country Road
Montana
Me and My Guitar
Fool to Care
Carolina In My Mind
Bartender’s Blues
Smiling Face
Fire and Rain
Shed a Little Light
Rio
I Will Follow
Whenever You’re Ready
Steamroller
Today, Today, Today
Before this World
Jolly Springtime
Sweet Baby James
Mexico
How Sweet It Is
Knock On Wood
Sun On The Moon
You and I

Tanglewood 2015 season opens with all American program

July 6, 2015 Article by Dave Read

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2015 Tanglewood season got underway with an all-American program of works by John Harbison, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington. While BSO music director Andris Nelsons was conducting in Germany, the orchestra was led tonight by French conductor Jacques Lacombe, who made his Tanglewood debut last year.

Jacques Lacombe leads the Boston Symphony on Opening Night of the Tanglewood Season 7.3.15 (Hilary Scott)

The program opened with John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby (Foxtrot for Orchestra), a delightful eight minute piece from his opera The Great Gatsby, which was performed by the orchestra and chorus of Emmanuel Music in Ozawa Hall in 2013. Mr. Harbison came to the podium afterwards to take a bow with the orchestra.

Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, with Kirill Gerstein

Jacques Lacombe and Kirill Gerstein perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the Opening Night of the Tanglewood season 7.3.15 (Hilary Scott)

It took a couple minutes to prepare the stage for the next piece, to modify the podium, make room for several additional musicians, and to set up the piano center stage. Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, featuring Russian-born pianist Kirill Gerstein, was the highlight of the program, eliciting roars of applause from the audience. Both orchestra and soloist have plenty of starring opportunities in this piece, but Gerstein may have stolen the show tonight. His performance was so fluid and luminous that it commanded your full attention; but then listening intently to the piano parts only served to burnish the brilliance of the orchestra’s playing!

Gerstein, who has played twice before at Tanglewood, has quite a varied and impressive resume. While a youngster receiving classical training, he taught himself jazz and after coming to the attention of vibraphonist, composer, and jazz educator Gary Burton during a trip to the Soviet Union, he moved to Boston to study jazz piano, becoming at 14, the youngest student ever at Berklee College of Music, and spent two summers at the BU Tanglewood Institute. Today he is artist-in-residence at Berklee and member of the piano and chamber music faculty at the Boston Conservatory.

Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, Ellington’s Harlem

Boston Symphony orchestra – July 3, 2015 program
Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano
John Douglas Thompson, speaker
HARBISON – Remembering Gatsby (Foxtrot for Orchestra)
GERSHWIN – Piano Concerto in F
COPLAND – Lincoln Portrait
ELLINGTON – Harlem
Box Office: 617-266-1200; 888-266-1200
Website: tanglewood.org

Sad to say, but the exuberance elicited by the first portion of tonight’s program made it difficult to attend with an appropriate seriousness to Aaron Copland‘s elegaic Licnoln Portrait, in the second – especially given the recent murders in Charlestown, SC, which deepened the sadness of how we have failed to attain the quality of nationhood envisioned by Lincoln. John Douglas Thompson, the actor who has performed frequently with Shakespeare & Co., was eloquent and powerful in the spoken part.