Dave Read

Review of The Importance of Being Earnest at Williamstown Theatre Festival

June 30, 2012 matinee reviewed by Frances Benn Hall

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest now playing at Williamstown Theatre Festival is a smashing success. Director David Hyde Pierce’s weaving the joys of Wilde’s one-liners with the accents of Damon Runyan’s mobsters in a delightful English setting (where in 1932 mob members have migrated to escape mob problems in the good old USA) works magnificently. And having the versatile and competent Tyne Daly play Lady Bracknell is icing on the cake. It is a role all the great 20th century English actresses have played to our enchantment.

Tyne Daly in a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Having given that glorious rave, one must admit that the first act was flat. The Wilde dialog was there but brought almost no laughs or response from the audience. The two male leads seemed underplayed and even the dominating entrance of Lady Bracknell and her daughter not enough. And then, after intermission, the curtain came up on the glories and praises that prompted the opening of this review.

The setting as in the script had changed to the country and the skies were blue and the roses blooming in the garden where Cecily (Helen Cespedes), spirited and delightful and very sure of herself, and Miss Prism (Mary Louise Burke), a zitsy family retainer, take the play immediately to its Wilde level where the pedantic clergyman Rev. Chasuble (Henery Stram) carries it along.

No sooner are he and Miss Prism gone, the stage is activated by the challenging arrival of Gwendolyn (Amy Spanger) to spar spiritedly with Cecily over who Earnest might love, only soon livened by Algernon (Louis Cancelmi) on a Bunbury trip, pretending to be John’s brother, to fall conveniently in love with Cecily. And of course suddenly levels are elevated further by the arrival of John Worthing, (Glenn Fitzgerald) dressed in deep mourning for a non-existent brother and, dynamic on his own turf, demanding Algernon leave.

Act 3 set inside the house at the country estate is even more dynamic and hectic. All the tangles of act 2 are resolved and the actors are all in splendid form. But the real glory of Act 3 is Tyne Daly. She dominates casually, it would seem, from her chair. But she has within her a heart of steel. She makes it look easy. That is her glory. It is nice to have her in the Berkshires.

Hotels in the Berkshires

Find hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

2020 Tanglewood tickets

BSO.org is the only official source for purchasing tickets to Tanglewood performances and events. If you do not see BSO.org in the address bar when viewing the performance schedule and purchasing tickets, please close your browser and visit www.BSO.org. Tickets are also available via SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200.

2012 Review A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood

The 13th live broadcast from Tanglewood of A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor, featured the familiar guests Arlo Guthrie, Heather Masse, and The DiGiallonardo Sisters, as well as the Guys All Star Shoe Band and the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Mr. Fred Newman.

The show got off to a fast start with the DiGiallonardo Sisters harmonizing on a hilarious Berkshires version of George M. Cohan’s Give My Regards to Broadway:

“Give My Regards to Stockbridge, Remember me To Lenox and Lee;
…
Oh how my heart is yearning, to see the Koussivitsky Shed;
Give my regards to Tanglewood, We’re gonna try to knock’em dead.”

By the time the live broadcast closed with City of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie at the grand piano leading a vast chorus of singers, Mr. Keillor had once again delivered a thoroughly entertaining program, comprised of a perfect blend of heartfelt and hokey singing and humorous skits with pan-o-sonic effects. Then there’s the News from Lake Woebegon, which always has a poignancy because its denizens and their misadventures, for all their odd particularities, are pretty much like the people we know, some of whom we miss now.

Sometimes at Tanglewood, the 2 hour radio program can feel like a pretty fancy warm up to the best event of the day – the on-stage after party concert and sing-along that today lasted well past 9PM. We left the Shed during the enchanting Swing Low Sweet Chariot, which is great fun to sing as a member of an ad hoc choir of thousands.

Thirty minutes earlier we sang along with Arlo on Home on the Range; watching him singing that song and wearing a handsome cowboy hat, we remembered that Arlo Guthrie was named for Davy Crockett!

Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble June 24, 2012 concert review

June 24, 2012 Article by Dave Read

Yo-Yo Ma with musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble, Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood.; photo: Hilary Scott.

Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble got the BSO’s 75th anniversary season at Tanglewood off to a rousing start with a pair of concerts in Ozawa Hall June 22 and 24. Whatever Maestro Koussevitsky had in mind when he established the orchestra’s retreat and training center in the Berkshires, not even a visionary of his stature would have forseen a concert opening with a green haired gaita player wending her way through the audience.

As the musicians assembled on stage and settled into an improvisation called Wandering Winds, Christina Pato, a raven-haired Spaniard (streaked with Kelly green), strolled through the audience on the lawn playing the gaita, the bagpipe of the Galician people of Spain. She is the second Galician bagpiper I’ve seen in concert, after Carlos Nunez, who toured with the ChieftainsJimi Hendrix.

Galician bagpiper Christina Pato

Although fresh and original to all appearances, Ms. Pato is anything but a novelty act. She has a Doctorate from Rutgers and briefcase full of other academic credentials, leads her own touring band, and is a member of the Silk Road leadership council. The prominence of her role in this report is a function of my predilections; the show was so varied and full of treats that one couldv’ve focused on a dozen other elements.

Such as the finale, Turceasca, from the Romanian gypsy tradition. It allowed all 17 musicians to seem to solo simultaenously, until a duet/duel developed between Wu Tong and (oops!) Ms. Pato. Wu Tong plays the Chinese sheng with the verve and personality one remembers from Dizzy Gillespie.

Besides the role of host/MC, Yo Yo Ma was largely an ensemble player, except on Qasida, premiered on the 22nd. A Silk Road commission by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, from Uzbekistan, it was written for MA to play with Kayhan Kalhor on the ancient Persian kamancheh.

There were 20-30 minutes of encores, which resulted in as upbeat and cheerful an exiting audience as I’ve ever seen. They are sure to regale their friends about this event, a concert by the Silk Road Ensemble, at Ozawa Hall where Yo Yo Ma founded it in 2000. Depending on their predilections, they may focus their reports on the pipa, or the tablas, or the jang-go.

Review of King Lear at Shakespeare & Co.

June 24, 2012 2PM performance Reviewed by Frances Benn Hall

King Lear, playing through August 19 at Shakespeare and Co. under the direction of Rebecca Holderness, offers some surprises which will delight or confuse playgoers. One of the Bard’s longest tragedies, it has been slightly cut and plays in three hours keeping the double-edged plot intact.

In the opening scene of the play, Lear (Dennis Krausnick) banishes his only honest and loving daughter Cordelia (Kelly Galvin) and in a division of his kingdom gives all to his two deceitful and fawning daughters, Goneril (Corinna May) and Regan (Kristin Wold).

In the more prosaic subplot, the Earl of Glocester (Jonathan Croy) unwittingly banishes his loving and dutiful son Edgar (Ryan Winkles) and believes the lies his bastard son Edmund (Peter Macklin) tells him.

These two acts of the gullible old men are each fatal. Out of them grows the civil war in which both will die. The civil war that dominates much of the action introduces one of the major changes in the current presentation of the play. The action takes place not in ancient England, but in Russia in 1906, a time in which the Tsar was deposed and slain.

This change is marvelous in its own way in that it offers the costume designer (Govane Lohbauer) the opportunity to clothe the warring men in magnificent uniforms of contrasting colors, and to costume the women in furs, velvet gowns, and jewels. Set designer (Sandra Goldmark) will get mixed reviews.

The set is surreal with bare ladders, multiple small levels, a trap door, door outlines to signify indoor scenes, and great white curtains that are employed in various, and at times ingenious, ways. Again, something in this performance to love or be doubtful about. For this reviewer it did not work as Dover, especially in the heart-wrenching scene between blind Gloucester and his loyal, although banished, Edgar.

However at times the set was used delightfully. Kevin C. Coleman, as Lear’s Fool, used every inch of it in a will-o-the-wisp flitting up and about. And the curtains made even more devastating the scene of the blinding of Gloucester. There was even, in that anywhere set, room for stocks in which Kent, another trustee banished and played magnificently by Jonathan Epstein to be shackled.

Whatever audience members will make of the changes the most interesting to all will be the opportunity of experiencing the playing of Lear by Dennis Krausnick, who has in the last ten years of his busy theatrical life been working on developing his concept and acting style for the character of the king. (Radical changes in locale and time periods are often, indeed even this summer at other theatres, on display.)

Krausnick’s playing literally strips the king bare. The sad small line, “I pray you, undo this button” must be cut although even in its absence perhaps builds the interpretation. This production gives us a character with whom the actor has lived and thought for years. It is one conceived as a self-willed king of great strength but who in his dotage cannot cope with anger and frustration. For this reviewer the set did not give him enough for the storm scene and the marvelous lines in it. And one wanted more contact with the dying Cordelia, again perhaps the set?

Obviously this is an unusual Lear and one well worth seeing. It is studded with strong cast members, each moving with grace or treachery or malice. Holderness has at times made bold choices. And her play is well worth seeing; the interpretation of the role Krausnick plays is an unusually vigorous one.

Hotels in the Berkshires

Find hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

2020 Tanglewood tickets

BSO.org is the only official source for purchasing tickets to Tanglewood performances and events. If you do not see BSO.org in the address bar when viewing the performance schedule and purchasing tickets, please close your browser and visit www.BSO.org. Tickets are also available via SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200.

Tanglewood offers free digital streams of archival programs

As part of the celebration of Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched its first-ever 75 free digital streams program on June 20, designed to offer music lovers around the globe a glimpse into the storied performance history of the famed music festival founded in 1937. The Tanglewood 75 free streams will be available through tanglewood.org, with one free stream being offered each day of the summer, June 20-September 2, starting at 8 a.m. EST; when the 24-hour stream has ended, the digital music will be available at www.tanglewood.org for purchase as a download. Most of the recordings featured have been digitized, re-mastered, and are being made available to the public for the first time ever, offered in MP3 128 kbps formats. Both 320 kbps MP3 and 24bit 44.1kHz FLAC versions will be available for purchase.

Schedule of free digital streams from Tanglewood

JULY 4-10

Wednesday, July 4 – GERSHWIN Concerto in F. BPO/Fiedler/Wild (1962/1967/1970)

Thursday, July 5 – BACH Suite No. 2 and Concerto No. 1 in C minor, for two pianos. BSO/Munch/Dwyer, Foss, and Lipkin (July 8, 1955 and July 5, 1957)

Friday, July 6 – Excerpts from Inaugural BSO concert at Tanglewood and MOZART Symphony No. 25. BSO/Koussevitzky (August 5, 1937 and 1944)

Saturday, July 7 – MOZART “Ruhe Sanft” from Zaide, “Marten aller arten” from Die Entführung aus dem Serail, “Exsultate Jubilate” K.165, and “Ah se in ciel benigne stelle” K.538, BSO/Leinsdorf/Sills (June 6, 1968)

Sunday, July 8 – BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Divertimento. BSO/Bernstein (July 4, 1981)

Monday, July 9 – MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie. BSO/Ozawa/ Yvonne and Jeanne Loriod (August 16, 1975)

Tuesday, July 10 –DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 8. TMCO/Levine (June 30, 2008)

PURCHASING STREAMS FOR DOWNLOAD

When the 24-hour stream has ended, the digital music will be available at tanglewood.org for purchase as a download. MP3’s are priced at $.89 for tracks 7 minutes or less, and FLAC are priced at $.99 for tracks 7 minutes or less. Any content longer than 7 minutes will be priced according to duration, with operas costing $16.99-$18.99. A music subscription for the Tanglewood 75 streams is available for $50 for MP3s and $60 for FLAC, offering all 75 days worth of content as it is released for download. (Some select content will not be available for purchase with the subscription after the 75 day period is complete.)

About the streams – concert listings, performance details, artists, and composers

Links to complete details of Tanglewood’s digital audio streams: An essay by Anthony Fogg, the BSO’s artistic administrator, about the sources, organization, and selection process behind the Tanglewood 75 Free Stream project. For cross-referencing purposes, appearing in links below are three different ways of viewing the music included in the 75 streams:

full concert listing with complete performance details for all the streams;

listing of artists featured in the streams;

listing of composers and their works that have been included.

Diana Krall at Tanglewood June 23, 2012 review

June 23, 2012 performance reviewed by Dave Conlin Read

Diana Krall performing at Tanglewood, June 23, 2012; photo: Hilary Scott
Miss Diana Krall gave a bravura performance in the Shed on the opening weekend of 75th season of concerts at Tanglewood. The show featured a crackerjack combo Anthony Wilson (guitar), Robert Hurst (bass), and Karriem Riggins (drums) in support of an almost wierdly diverse setlist that visited many provinces of the jazz empire. While it wasn’t the sort of program Miss Mary Aspinwall Tappan had in mind in 1936, when she laid the family cottage (and 210 sylvan acres) on Maestro Koussevitsky (and the BSO), it was the sort we locals have become accustomed to while the BSO has become an increasingly important element of life in the Berkshires*.

Since her first Tanglewood apearance years ago, on a bill as Tony Bennett’s guest, when “show-stealing siren” could’ve been an apt description, Miss Krall has become a full-fledged star with a commanding stage presence and an easy rapport with the audience. That was especially evident during the solo portion of her two hour set when she led into several numbers with references to her parents; and talked about her 5 year old twins. (She made a surprise appearance just before their birth during husband Elvis Costello’s performance on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz during the 2007 Tanglewood jazz Festivl).

Miss Krall’s artistry is a melding of her voice and the piano; combined with her personality and musical sensibility, tonight’s two hour concert thouroughly satisfied. Her band was equally brilliant, bass and drums blending in primarily supportive roles, but bassist Robert Hurst had some prominence, including one passage where he brought a song home with descending notes until perfect silence was made to reverberate.

Guitarist Anthony Wilson alternated between solo and support all night, as well as being Miss Krall’s go-to guy in deciding the setlist. He played several leads and riffs that excited the audience, and altogether produced the perfect complimentary sound to Miss Krall’s.

setlist: Fats Waller, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Sergio Mendes, Tom Waits …

Her setlist drew from the work of Fats Waller, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Sergio Mendes, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan and included a stunning rendition of John Lennon’s Come Together. Since Quiet nights was released in 2009, Krall has performed on four continents, produced Barbra Streisand’s Love Is the Answer, contributed Simple Twist of Fate to the charity album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International and performed on Paul McCartney’s new album, Kisses On The Bottom.

Opening the show were the Canadien duo Denzell Seymore and Devon Thompson; really tasty music, but just too much patter for an un-familiar opening act.

*We overheard a conversation – someone was bemoaning the Berkshires remoteness from the ocean or the great lakes – her interlocutor said true enough, but can’t you imagine Tanglewood as a sort of ocean where wave after wave of great music washes ashore?