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Tanglewood

Andris Nelsons leads BSO and violinist Augustin Hadelich at Tanglewood

July 30, 2016 Tanglewood concert review by

Lenox, MA – Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed was full on a rainy Saturday night for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s program of Corigliano, Sibelius, and Beethoven, conducted by music director Andris Nelsons, and featuring violinist Augustin Hadelich. Mr. Hadelich, whose recovery in his mid-teens from severe burns is as heroic as his subsequent musical accomplishments are impressive, was afforded the rare honor of an encore following his thrilling performance of the Sibelius Violin concerto.

BSO program of Corigliano, Sibelius, and Beethoven

Composer John Corigilano bows after BSO performance of his Fantasia on an Ostinato at Tanglewood, July 30, 2016; Hilary Scott photo.
Composer John Corigilano bows after BSO performance of his Fantasia on an Ostinato at Tanglewood, July 30, 2016; Hilary Scott photo.
Another rarity tonight was the appearance of John Corigliano, called to the podium after the opening performance of his composition, Fantasia on an Ostinato, which is based on the famous repetitive passage from the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, which concluded the performance and spread happiness throughout the departing audience.

Since the rudiments of musicianship are beyond my ken, attending a symphonic concert often means concentrating on the conductor, while the music washes over me. Tonight, Maestro Nelsons was as entertaining to me as he must’ve been elucidating to the orchestra, they played so beautifully. His immedite predecessors had great success too, but the way James Levine and Seiji Ozawa occupied the podium bears no resemblance to the way Andris Nelsons does, who’s peripatetic conducting manner makes him a candidate for a Fitbit endorsement!

About Tanglewood: box office, tickets, getting there, nearby hotels

Follow this link for Berkshires travel information, including public transportation within Berkshire county and Amtrak and Peter Pan bus schedules.
Berkshires hotelsFind 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.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds.

Here is a dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds, with photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

James Taylor’s 4th of July 2016 – photos

July 4, 2016 Tanglewood concert review by

Over the years, whenever James Taylor introduced a new song onto his tried and true setlist, he would mollify his adoring audience by telling them that it sounds just like all the rest. This year he sounded vexed, letting his stage persona go right to the edge: “I know you didn’t come here for no goddam new songs.”

Whether he was merely freshening a stale old joke, or is feeling pinched by audience expectations, it still was every bit as good a concert as we’ve attended in the Tanglewood series going back two decades.

The one variation in the series was his 2002 appearance with John Williams and the Boston Pops when, after reciting Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait to open the program, he returned with an ad hoc quartet of guitarist John Pizzarelli, Larry Goldings on keyboards, drummer Gregg Bissonette, and Jimmie Johnson on bass, with the Pops in an accompanying role. It was a very entertaining set and it left us thinking he was looking down the road toward shows with an emphasis on singing within a looser, jazzier setting.

Tanglewood’s popular artist series

Coming four days before the BSO’s opening night, this show was the tenth on an outstanding roster of popular artists that began June 17 with Dolly Parton and included Earth, Wind, and Fire, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, the penultimate broadcast ever of A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor, and Bob Dylan. This show was similar to the one Bob Dylan put on 2 nights earlier in a few respects: each fronts an awesome band, each covers songs written by others, and each crafts a setlist that leaves his fans gasping for breath!

James Taylor’s July 4, 2016 setlist

Something in the Way She Moves
Everyday
Walking Man
Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
Today Today Today
Country Road
On the 4th of July
Copperline
Carolina in My Mind
(I’ve Got To) Stop Thinkin’ ‘Bout That
Fire and Rain
Shower the People
The Frozen Man
The Promised Land
You’ve Got a Friend
Angels of Fenway
Up on the Roof
Sweet Baby James
Steamroller
Mexico
Your Smiling Face
Encore:
In the Midnight Hour
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
You Can Close Your Eyes

2016 – Garrison Keillor says goodbye to Tanglewood

By Dave Read, June 25, 2016 performance – The 17th and final broadcast from Tanglewood of A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor, was a perfectly entertaining two hour live radio show for the enjoyment of millions of listeners worldwide wrapped in nearly another two hours of singing and storytelling around the Berkshires campfire. Some twenty minutes before airtime, Keillor and duets partner Heather Masse sauntered from the stage in the Koussevitsky Music Shed out onto the lawn, to serenade the massive audience, first with America the Beautiful and then with familiar, wistful songs that everybody loves to sing aloud.

Garrison Keillor and Heather Masse serenade Tanglewood audience before June 25, 2016 episode of A Prairie Home Companion; photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com.
Garrison Keillor and Heather Masse serenade Tanglewood audience before June 25, 2016 episode of A Prairie Home Companion; photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com.

Back on stage he introduced a story that he would flesh out during the broadcast and then return to three and a half hours later while bidding farewell to one of his favorite venues. It was about a trip last week to give a speech in Oslo, and during the broadcast he urges the audience to tell their European friends to come here first – to the Berkshires and towns like Lenox and Stockbridge, so that they can see America at its best. The show is available, whole or in segments, at prairiehome.com.

origin of A Prairie Home Companion

The last stroy he told here, more than an hour after the end of the broadcast, was the true story of how he named the show in remembrance of the Prairie Home Cemetery, founded by Nowegian Lutherans in Moorhead, MN, a gesture that seems to have established a permanent bond between the settlers of the Red River Valley and the characters who would populate Lake Wobegon. Besides a solid hour of impromptu singing with The DiGiallonardo Sisters and Heather Masse, with backing and a few solos from the band – music director Rich Dworsky on keyboards, Jonathan Dresel on drums, bassist Larry Kohut, Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, guitarist Chris Siebold and guest pianist and long-time Keillor associate Rob Fisher, Keillor also reached out to several front-row patrons, interviewing them to the delight of the audience, and also distributed about twenty copies of The Keillor Reader.

Bill Clinton on first and last Tanglewood A Prairie Home Companion shows

We got a kick out of the fact that Bill Clinton made an appearance on this show, just as he had the first A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood in 2000, when Tim Russell did an uncanny impersonation of President Clinton reciting Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone after Keillor had asked him, “How does it feel to be leaving the White House?” One of the funniest bits tonight came in the last segment, with Keillor on the phone telling his father that he was visiting Tanglewood for a few concerts, giving Russell the opportunity to voice the father doing an impersonation of Brian Wilson singing, because he’s heard he’d just performed here. (Our review).

favorites from A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood

We attended every episode of A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood except for the one in 2007, when we were drawn instead to the Bob Dylan show at Bethel Woods. Thirty two hours of live broadcast and half again as many hours of after-show fun add up quite a trove of fond memories, such as Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers performing the Orange Blossom Special after the 2009 show. (Watch it here)

Garrison Keillor introduces the Berkshire Highlanders during the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Compabion at Tanglewood, July 2, 2000. photo: Dave Read.
Garrison Keillor introduces the Berkshire Highlanders during the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Compabion at Tanglewood, July 2, 2000. photo: Dave Read.

Perhaps the greatest and most endearing spectacle was the appearance on the first show of the Berkshire Highlanders, including their parade through the ailses of the Shed. We’ve also been introduced to many wonderful artists and musical acts during the show’s 42 year history, such as Robin and Linda Williams, as well as the stunning Inga Swearingen, whose Tanglewood appearances included the 2008 show, which also featured U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall, with whom we since become acquainted, making 3 visits to his home at Eagle Pond Farm in NH. Hall and his wife Jane Kenyon are featured regularly on The Writer’s Almanac, one of the projects that Mr. Keillor has said he now intends to spend more time on. Good luck with that, Garrison Keillor, and thanks for the memories.

Tanglewood opening weekend photos

Tanglewood opening weekend photos showing that the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, located in the Berkshire county towns of Lenox and Stockbridge, is a venue on par with the amazing array of Popular Artists scheduled to perform there during the 2016 season. By the time B. S. O. Opening Night rolls around on July 8, when Jacques Lacombe conducts a program of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev, featuring violinist Joshua Bell, there already will have been fourteen concerts.

Here are pictures made during the Dolly Parton Pure & Simple, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds shows:

Tanglewood 2016 pop, rock, jazz schedule

June 2016 at Tanglewood

July 2016 at Tanglewood

August & September 2016 at Tanglewood

Tanglewood concerts June 2016

June 17 | 7 pm Shed | Dolly Parton

June 18 | 7 pm Shed | Earth, Wind & Fire

June 19 | 2:30pm Shed | Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds

June 21 | 7 pm Shed | Jacksone Browne

June 24 | 8pm Seiji Ozawa Hall | Chris Botti

June 25 | 5:45 pm Shed | A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood with Garrison Keillor

July 1 | 8 pm Shed | Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration

July 2 | 7 pm Shed | Bob Dylan and His Band, Mavis Staples

July 3 & 4 | 7 pm Shed | James Taylor with his All-Star Band

July 10 | 2:30 pm Shed | Boston Pops with very special guest Seth MacFarlane

July 31 | 8 pm Seiji Ozawa Hall | Chick Corea Trio featuring Christian McBride and Brian Blade

August 13 | 8 pm Shed | John Williams’ Film Night

August 23 | 7 pm Shed | Train with Andy Grammer

August 26 | 8 pm Shed | “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with Orchestra

August | 8 pm Shed | Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma

September 1| 8 pm Shed | Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

September 2 | 8 pm Shed | The Boston Pops with the B-52s

About Tanglewood: box office, tickets, getting there, nearby hotels

Tickets for the 2016 Tanglewood season, $12-$124, go on sale January 24 starting at 10 a.m. through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. Tanglewood brochures with complete programs and information on how to order tickets will be available in early February by calling 617-638-9467. For further information, please call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492 or visit www.tanglewood.org. 2016 Tanglewood schedule – PDF.

Follow this link for Berkshires travel information, including public transportation within Berkshire county and Amtrak and Peter Pan bus schedules.
Berkshires hotelsFind 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.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds.

Here is a dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds, with photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

Brian Wilson plays Pet Sounds at Tanglewood

June 19, 2016 Tanglewood concert review by

Brian Wilson played Pet Sounds at Tanglewood, June 18, 2016, the second concert on the Popular Artist series at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It took Mr. Wilson about three minutes to knock the cynicism out of me and by the end of this two and a half hour show, I was a true believer. As the concert loomed on my calendar, my plan was to disparage latter-day rock critics who rave about an album that was put away soon after it’s 1966 release. The various musical innovations of Brian Wilson that characterize Pet Sounds were either not noticed or simply lost on us who were bored by the AM radio sound and eager to bounce headlong into the realm of Cream’s Fresh Cream, Frank Zappa’s Freak Out, and Bob Dylan’s Blond on Blond, just to name 3 other 1966 albums.

Brian Wilson and Al Jardine perform Pet Sounds at Tanglewood, June 19, 2016. Photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com.
Brian Wilson and Al Jardine perform Pet Sounds at Tanglewood, June 19, 2016. Photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com.

But this was a great show and by the end of the opening song, Heroes and Villians, we were won over by Mr. Wilson, as much for his simply charming stage presence as for his musical genius. The way things are today, even if your Crawdaddy subscription has lapsed, everybody knows all the crap Mr. Wilson has been through over 50+ years; the mere fact that he’s up and about is worthy of our admiration. When he left the stage some 34 songs later, though, he did so with our affection too, which we were happy to return. The show ended with Love and Mercy, his late ’80s song and pointed us in the direction of the 2014 movie about him bearing the same name, which he has described as a “very factual” representation of his life around the time of Pet Sounds.

Beach Boy Al Jardine was in the band, playing guitar a few feet away from Wilson, as was his son Matt, who took a couple turns singing falsetto parts that were an essential piece of the Beach Boys sound. Also on board for this tour is Blondie Chaplin, the South African singer and guitarist who first joined the Beach Boys in the 1970s and who did long stints with the Rolling Stones, too. First song of the seven encore numbers was Good Vibrations, recorded at the same time as Pet Sounds, but left off the album. It was given a pulsating reading today – they fairly blew the roof off the joint! Oh yeah, there was also Barbara Ann, Help Me Rhonda, Fun, Fun, Fun – it was a hell of a show, with one of the most exciting encores of all time!

About Tanglewood: box office, tickets, getting there, nearby hotels

Follow this link for Berkshires travel information, including public transportation within Berkshire county and Amtrak and Peter Pan bus schedules.
Berkshires hotelsFind 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.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds.

Here is a dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds, with photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

Earth, Wind, & Fire at Tanglewood

June 18, 2016 Tanglewood concert review by

Earth, Wind, & Fire, a band that practically embodies as many musical genres as Tanglewood’s Popular Artist Series represents, made its second appearance at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra June 18, 2016. By scheduling them in between concerts by Dolly Parton and Brian Wilson, Tanglewood presented us the opportunity to enjoy a geographically inspired sampler of American music ranging from country, to city, to beach over a single weekend.

Earth, Wind & Fire at Tanglewood June 18, 2016. Photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com
Earth, Wind, & Fire at Tanglewood, June 18, 2016. Photo: Dave Read, BerkshireLinks.com

Maurice White and Philip Bailey form Earth, Wind, & Fire in 1971

Since their 1971 founding in Chicago by Maurice White and Philip Bailey, Earth, Wind, & Fire has scored six Grammies as a group and been inducted nto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; founder White, who died in February, Bailey and several other members of the band also are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. White’s brother Verdine is the group’s bassist, and at the other end of the sonic spectrum are the horn section, Gary Bias on saxophone, Bobby Burns, Jr. on trumpet, and Reggie Young on trombone. Besides all the oh-so-danceable funky music, straight-out R & B, beautiful harmonies and thrilling falsetto singing, EWF puts on a show for your eyeballs too with pulsating lights and streaming digital graphics. After this show, you would think the Koussevitsky Music Shed would need some down time, but that won’t happen until September!

Tanglewood photos Earth, Wind, & Fire concert

About Tanglewood: box office, tickets, getting there, nearby hotels

Follow this link for Berkshires travel information, including public transportation within Berkshire county and Amtrak and Peter Pan bus schedules.
Berkshires hotelsFind 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.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds.

Here is a dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds, with photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.