Enjoy Great Music at Tanglewood, Music Mountain, Tannery Pond
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Come late August, classical aficionados are grateful for the cornucopia of musical riches the Boston Symphony bestows to rapt audiences within the incomparably bucolic setting that is Tanglewood. Many of those superlative concerts will reside in our collective memory for a long time.
During this penultimate week of the Tanglewood Festival, the spotlight will focus on a range of classical fare in varied genres: from chamber and vocal music by Bach, Dvořák, Schubert and Mahler to symphonic works by Beethoven, Brahms and Richard Strauss.
Looking ahead, these last two months of magnificent music making are but a prelude to the fall array of area classical offerings on the horizon – mostly chamber music - at Tannery Pond, in New Lebanon, N.Y., into September, and at South Mountain Concerts, in Pittsfield, in September and continuing into October.
For now, here are the particulars for the next several days, also including Tannery Pond, and an upcoming program at Music Mountain in Conn.
Tanglewood
• Wednesday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The Boston Symphony Chamber Players make their annual Tanglewood appearance. Opening the program is Russian-Tatar contemporary composer Sofia Gubaidulina's "Garden of Joy and Sorrow," for flute, viola, and harp, a one-movement piece inspired by Eastern storyteller Iv Oganov's "Sayat-Nova" and verses by 20th-century German poet Francisco Tanzer. The program also features soprano Yulia Van Doren performing Bach's Cantata No. 199, "Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut," and the superb pianist Paul Lewis performing Dvořák's commodious, folk-inflected Quintet in A Major for piano and strings, Op. 81 - one of the composer's finest and beloved chamber works.
• Thursday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The wonderful pianist Emanuel Ax, searching violinist Pamela Frank, and the incomparable cellist Yo-Yo Ma join forces in Ozawa Hall for the fifth installment in Tanglewood's "Schubert’s Summer Journey" series. The program includes Schubert's Sonatina No. 2 in A minor for violin and piano, D. 385; the tuneful and popular "Arpeggione" Sonata, written for that passé instrument and piano, but performed today on the cello; and the composer's second Piano Trio, in E flat, D. 929 - yet another capacious masterpiece of chamber music dating from 1828 - Schubert's final year. In addition, Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows will join Mr. Ax for new songs written by composers Nico Muhly and John Harbison for this performance - both inspired by Schubert's music.
• Friday, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. in the Shed: The superb British baritone Simon Keenlyside makes his Tanglewood debut performing selections from Mahler's "Des Knaben Wunderhorn," based on texts from the eponymous German folk-poetry collection; and the glorious "Rückert-Lieder" – music set to German Romantic poems by the poet Friedrich Rückert, with conductor David Afkham leading the Boston Symphony. Mr. Afkham also conducts Brahms' robust Symphony No. 2, composed in 1877. This masterwork is full of energy and lyricism, even in its most subdued moments, and concludes with a breathless charge to an exultant finale.
Important Notice: Friday, Aug. 18, is Berkshire Night. Berkshire residents may pick up free tickets for this night only between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Tanglewood Main Gate Box Office only on a first come, first served basis. Once the allotment of Shed tickets are gone Tanglewood will distribute lawn tickets. Residents of Berkshire County must show a driver's license, utility bill, library card, or some other form of proof of residence in Berkshire county or adjoining towns in New York State.
• Saturday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m. in the Shed: John Williams' Film Night: The annual appearance of composer/conductor John Williams is always a summer highlight at Tanglewood. The Boston Pops Laureate Conductor shares the podium in this performance with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, who will lead the first half of the concert. The music will include excerpts from classic cinema scores composed by masters Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, and, of course, by John Williams. (Maestro Nelsons made his debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra during the 2015 Tanglewood season, when he stepped in for Mr. Williams to lead "Throne Room and Finale" from "Star Wars" during Tanglewood on Parade). During the second half of the program, Mr. Williams will conduct music excerpted from his own scores, including selections from the "Harry Potter" series, "Indiana Jones," and "Far and Away." Also on the program will be music from Mr. Williams' score to Steven Spielberg's film "Lincoln," featuring a special guest trumpet soloist to be announced from the stage.
• Sunday, Aug. 20, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: BSO Maestro Andris Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in the always-anticipated annual Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert. The brilliant English pianist Paul Lewis joins Mr. Nelsons and the orchestra for Beethoven's turbulent Third Piano Concerto, in which the composer takes a dramatic step beyond the mature, perfectly balanced classical style of Mozart - the towering primal genius of the piano concerto genre - and arrives at a bold, new way forward into the Romantic 19th century for this genre. Strauss's masterly "An Alpine Symphony," the composer's last tone poem, which depicts an eleven-hour hike on an Alpine mountain and which the composer described as “a musical representation of moral purification through one's own strength and emancipation through work, and the adoration of eternal, glorious nature" — closes the program.
For tickets, call 888 266-1200, or go to the website. Music lovers can follow Tanglewood via its new social media accounts on Facebook, on Twitter @TanglewoodMA, and on Instagram @TanglewoodMusicFestival. The Boston Symphony is on Facebook, on Twitter @bostonsymphony, and on Instagram @bostonsymphony. The Boston Pops is on Facebook, on Twitter@thebostonpops, and on Instagram @thebostonpops.
Music Mountain
On Sunday, Aug. 20, at 3 p.m., Music Mountain, among America’s oldest continuing summer chamber music festivals, presents the venerable St. Petersburg Piano Quartet in an outstanding program of classic chamber masterworks: Brahms: Viola Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2; Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67; and Schumann: Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 47.
Music Mountain is located in Falls Village, Connecticut on Music Mountain Road, off Route 7, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. The address is 225 Music Mountain Road, Falls Village, Ct.
Tickets are $35 at the door/$30 in advance. Children ages 5-18 are admitted free when accompanied by a ticket holder. For the series' complete concert schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit the wesbite or call 860-824-7126.
Tannery Pond Concerts
Tannery Pond – that pristine series in stunningly beautiful New Lebanon, N.Y., bordering Pittsfield on Route 20, will be presenting their fifth chamber music concert. As always, this exemplary venue showcases amazing talent performing both classic and 20th century music in a gorgeous and historic setting.
On Saturday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m., young, virtuoso performers cellist Inbal Segev and pianist Alon Goldstein present a duo-recital of great works for cello and piano, and for piano solo. The program: Ravel: "Kaddish," for cello and piano; Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in F Major for cello and piano, Op. 99; Brahms: Sechs Lieder, Op 86 (arrangement for cello and piano of six songs); Liszt: "Paraphrase after Miserere," from 'Il Trovatore,' by Giuseppe Verdi) (piano solo); Dvořák: Rondo in G Minor, for cello and piano, Op. 94.
Tickets are $30 and $39. For credit card purchase by phone, call 888-820-1696. Visit online for more information and upcoming concerts listings, visit the website.
Tannery Pond is located on the grounds of Mount Lebanon Shaker Village and Darrow School, New Lebanon, N.Y., one and a half miles east of the town center on Route 20.
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