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Boston Symphony opens 8 week series of video streams April 26

The Boston Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, April 26, at 3 p.m., will launch Heroic Performances, a new 8-week video series of BSO and Boston Pops concerts for complimentary on-demand viewing at bso.org/athome. The first stream will feature BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons leading the BSO and pianist Yefim Bronfman in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor on a program with Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé, Suite No. 2, a BSO signature work for more than a century.
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Also scheduled for the first month:

May 3: Seiji Ozawa, in his final Symphony Hall concert as BSO Music Director (April 20, 2002), leading Mahler’s Symphony No. 9;
May 10: Erich Leinsdorf (BSO Music Director, 1962-69) conducting Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 (recorded in Symphony Hall, April 15, 1969);
May 17: Andris Nelsons, in his inaugural concert as BSO Music Director, leading operatic excerpts by Wagner, Puccini, Mascagni, with guest vocalists Kristine Opolais and Jonas Kaufmann (recorded in Symphony Hall, September 27, 2014).

Spring emerges in Lenox during the pandemic

It was a tepid winter in the Berkshires, then an odd spring that felt like it was reverting to winter rather than advancing toward summer. Now, it looks like Lenox may be ready to revert to its own sleepy roots, now that the fragility of the tourism business is exposed by Covid-19, the pandemic close in the wake of the American epidemic of thoughtlessness that elevated a feral pig to the presidency. But cheer up, look how pretty it is here:

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Berkshires during the pandemic

Article updated April 15, 2020 by Dave Read

Linde Center for Music and Learning at Tanglewood; Dave Conlin Read photo.

With the announcement yesterday that Shakespeare and Company have postponed the plays that had been scheduled for the 2020 season until next year, one wonders why the Boston Symphony Orchestra is dragging its feet on making the inevitable call? Perhaps Mark Volpe, CEO of the BSO, is simply hoping beyond hope that he’ll have one more season running the show here in the halcyon hills before his retirement takes effect next February?

Who could blame him? Or, maybe it is political, as with all things today as the American Dream vaporizes before our eyes? We know Trump has Boston’s most popular cultural institution, Tom Brady, in his pocket, and we know that former MA governor Joseph Volpe was a died-in-the-wool Republican. And we know that Hitler liked Wagner, and that Latvia native Andris Nelsons does too…

I jest, a bit of gallows humor in a time of crisis unseen since the run-up to the Civil War. Won’t it be good to turn things around, to put America headed toward the proper direction – there’s hope yet for America, isn’t there?

Berkshires trails effected by coronavirus

Berkshire Natural Resources Council (BNRC) will leave most of its trails open to the public for the time being, with the exception of Parsons Marsh Reserve and accessible trail, where it is impossible to maintain appropriate social distance on the narrow boardwalks.

All upcoming hikes and happenings are cancelled until further notice.

Public enjoyment of the natural beauty of the Berkshires is essential to the BNRC mission that you make possible every day. We urge you to follow these common-sense guidelines for all your outdoor visits:

Stay local and avoid high-traffic destinations.
If you are over 70 or medically vulnerable, stay home. If you are not feeling well, stay home.
Avoid crowds; conduct your outings solo or with other members of your household.
Be ready to step aside or move quickly through areas where people congregate such as parking lots and trailheads. If you arrive at a location and there are more than a handful of cars in the parking lot, please come back another time.
Please be safe: maintain at least a 6-foot distance between yourself and others. Be prepared to step aside, and let people know you are near if they can’t see you.

Please note that, for the most part, our staff and volunteers will not be out clearing fallen trees or addressing other trail needs, so you may find the trails in rougher shape than usual. Please always feel free to let us know of any maintenance or safety issues you discover on BNRC properties, by emailing FrontDesk@bnrc.org. Top BNRC trail information here.

BSO cancels Asia trip due to China virus

Article updated January 31, 2020 by Dave Read

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has canceled its trip to Asia that was on their February schedule because of the virus emanating from China. The trip would have been the 29th since the organization was founded in 1881. Earlier international tours by the BSO that resulted in cancellations include the 1960 Asia-Australasia tour when “political unrest” led the BSO to call off an appearance in Seoul, South Korea, and the 1999 tour when the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia caused them to cancel concerts in Beijing.

Boston Symphony cancels Asia trip due to China virus. — Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, in Boston. (Photo by Winslow Townson)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Olivier Latry, organ
John Ferrillo, oboe
Richard Svoboda, bassoon
Frank-Michael Erben, violin
Christian Giger, cello

Here’s an excerpt from the BSO marketing department:

“The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s four-city tour to East Asia (Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, and Hong Kong) with Andris Nelsons, February 6–16, has been canceled due to increasing concerns over widely documented official news and government agency reports assessing the spread of the new coronavirus. These concerns, along with discussions with the Shanghai Oriental Art Center—whose leadership informed the BSO about the official cancellations of their upcoming performances—followed by consultations with the tour’s presenters in Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong, combined to play an influential role in the cancellation of the BSO’s East Asia tour.”

These are the concerts that have been canceled:

Thursday, February 6
Seoul Arts Center
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Friday, February 7
Seoul Arts Center
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARBER Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Sunday, February 9
Taipei, National Concert Hall
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARBER Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Monday, February 10
Taipei, National Concert Hall
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Wednesday, February 12
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Thursday, February 13
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARBER Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Saturday, February 15
Shanghai Oriental Art Center
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Sunday, February 16
Shanghai Oriental Art Center
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BARBER Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

BSO under Seiji Ozawa rock China with Stars and Stripes Forever in 1979

Their 1979 trip to the People’s Republic of China, with Seiji Ozawa on the podium, produced one of the most improbable and flat-out awesome musical mashups of all time – America’s most exciting patriotic march, The Stars and Stripes Forever, given a most convincing reading in Beijing.

CDC coronavirus report

Here is an external link to a January 27, 2020 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: CDC coronavirus report.

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

Tickets for the James Taylor concert on July 4 go on sale Monday, February 3, at 10 a.m.

Tickets for all other Tanglewood 2020 season concerts, including all other Popular Artist concerts, go on sale on Sunday, February 9, at 10 a.m.

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 2020 season pop music schedule

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has canceled all performances at Symphony Hall in Boston and at the Linde Center at Tanglewood from Friday, March 13 through Saturday, March 28 due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

For all the head space they’ve occupied since the big bang that fateful February 1964 Sunday on TV, the lads never did much on stage in America. Their fans were so senseless and unable to control themselves, that the Beatles hung it up a little over two years later, following half an hour under the assault of a ball park full of crazy kids in San Francisco.

– canceled -Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band – Friday, June 19, 7:00
Trey Anastasio with the Boston Pops – Saturday, June 20, 7:30
Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie – Sunday, June 21, 2:30
Brandi Carlile – Friday, June 26, 7:00
The Mavericks and Los Lobos – Sunday, June 28, 2:30
James Taylor – Saturday, July 4, 8:00
Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! – Thursday, August 27, 8:00

Hotels in the Berkshires

2020 Tanglewood tickets

Tickets for the James Taylor concert on July 4 go on sale Monday, February 3, at 10 a.m.

Tickets for all other Tanglewood 2020 season concerts, including all other Popular Artist concerts, go on sale on Sunday, February 9, at 10 a.m.