Boston Symphony Orchestra Announces 2006 Tanglewood Season

12:00AM / Friday, November 18, 2005Print Story | Email Story

Tanglewood (file photo)

BSO Music Director James Levine To Lead Beethoven'S Ninth Symphony, Schoenberg'S Romantic "Gurrelieder," Concert Performances Of Strauss' "Elektra" And Mozart's "Don Giovanni," And Weekend-long Celebration Of 250th Anniversary Of Mozart'S Birth BSO Music Director Laureate Seiji Ozawa Returns To Boston Symphony Podium To Lead Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink To Lead BSO In Two Performances, Marking The First Time Levine, Ozawa, And Haitink Have Appeared Together In The Same Season With Their Current Titles The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced details of its 2006 Tanglewood season, marking James Levine's second summer season as BSO music director, and also marking the return of BSO Music Director Laureate Seiji Ozawa to the Boston Symphony podium for the first time since he stepped down as music director following his farewell concerts with the BSO at Tanglewood in 2002. Maestro Levine opens the BSO's Tanglewood season with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, a program that begins with Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 (July 7), following that a week later with a BSO performance of Schoenberg's lush, late-Romantic oratorio Gurrelieder for soloists, chorus, and orchestra (July 14). Mr. Levine and the BSO celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth with a full weekend of special programming (July 21-23), featuring a concert performance of Don Giovanni, as well as the Requiem, the Jupiter Symphony, Susan Graham singing the dramatic concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di teâ€¦Non temer, amato bene," Richard Goode as soloist in the composer's elegant final piano concerto, and the Posthorn Serenade. In returning to the BSO podium as Music Director Laureate (August 5) Seiji Ozawa leads a major work, Mahler Symphony Number 2, "Resurrection," with which he enjoyed major success at home and on tour during his 29-year tenure as BSO music director. In addition, Bernard Haitink will lead the BSO in two performances, marking the first time the BSO's Music Director, Music Director Laureate, and Conductor Emeritus will appear together in the same season, and promising to make the 2006 Tanglewood season one of special significance. In addition to his five Boston Symphony programs this summer, James Levine also leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and a stellar roster of internationally acclaimed singers in a concert performance of Strauss' opera Elektra (July 15). With the Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, he leads the American stage premiere of Elliott Carter's opera What Next?, part of an extraordinary operatic triple bill - sung in English - also including Hindemith's Hin und zurÃ¼ck and Stravinsky's Mavra (July 27-28). The Boston Symphony's 2006 Tanglewood season opens on Friday, July 7, with Mr. Levine leading the orchestra in an encore performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 - giving Tanglewood audience members a glimpse at the BSO's two-year examination of the two groundbreaking composers' work. Many of Tanglewood's 2006 orchestral and recital programs are devoted to a single composer. The piano music of Beethoven receives special attention this summer when the American pianist Garrick Ohlsson performs the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas in the course of eight evenings in Seiji Ozawa Hall (June 29-July 20). Eminent guest conductor Rafael FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an all-Brahms program featuring Peter Serkin (August 20) and, to close the BSO's Tanglewood season, an all-Beethoven program with pianist Yefim Bronfman (August 27). The 2006 Ozawa Hall recital series includes the two Schubert piano trios performed by Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, and Truls MÃ¸rk (July 11), Shostakovich quartets with the Emerson String Quartet (July 19), an all-Beethoven recital with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax (August 23), and Gidon Kremer as soloist in the complete Mozart violin concertos with his Kremerata Baltica (August 2-3). In addition, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performs all five Beethoven piano concertos, each with a different soloist: Imogen Cooper (Piano Concerto No. 1; August 25), Emanuel Ax (Piano Concerto No. 2; August 26), AndrÃ© Watts (Piano Concerto No. 3; July 28), Yefim Bronfman (Piano Concerto No. 4; August 27), and Christian Zacharias (Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor; August 6). Other exciting concerto performances feature Joshua Bell in Sibelius (July 9), Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Liszt (July 16), Gil Shaham in Beethoven (July 29), Midori in Bruch (July 30), Yo-Yo Ma in a new cello concerto by Osvaldo Golijov (August 4), and Hilary Hahn in Dvo?Ã¡k (August 19). Additional season highlights include the return to Tanglewood of BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink for two opening-week programs (July 8-9), the BSO debut of British conductor Harry Bicket, for a program featuring acclaimed mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (August 11), the BSO debut of San Francisco Opera music director Donald Runnicles (August 4), the BSO debut of the dynamic 24-year-old Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and the return to Tanglewood of The Philadelphia Orchestra, under its music director Christoph Eschenbach (August 13). The summer's three Boston Pops concerts include Keith Lockhart leading a Bernstein celebration with Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center (July 12) and a program of musical hits from the '70s featuring the vocal group Rockapella (August 20). In addition, Tanglewood's annual Boston Pops Film Night will be held again this year on August 12. In addition, James Levine joins both Mr. Lockhart and John Williams on the Tanglewood podium for another summer favorite, Tanglewood on Parade (July 25). Details about the 2006 Popular Arists Series, Independence Day celebration, and Tanglewood Jazz Festival (to take place Labor Day Weekend, September 1-3) will be announced at a later date. Tickets for the 2006 Tanglewood season go on sale to the public on Sunday, February 12, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or online through the BSO's website, www.bso.org, powered by EMC Corporation. Brochures for the 2006 Tanglewood season will also be available at that time, by phone or online. Seiji Ozawa Returns To The BSO Podium At Tanglewood This summer at Tanglewood - for the first time since he stepped down as BSO music director in 2002 - BSO Music Director Laureate Seiji Ozawa returns to the Boston Symphony podium (August 5). Mr. Ozawa will lead the BSO in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. In 2004 at Tanglewood, Mr. Ozawa led the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in music of Takemitsu and Verdi as part of the gala concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of Seiji Ozawa Hall. Last summer at Tanglewood, as part of Tanglewood on Parade, he led the TMCO in Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3. This summer's appearance marks his first concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since his farewell appearance with them at Tanglewood in 2002. James Levine At Tanglewood In their 2005-06 season at Symphony Hall, James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra initiate an ambitious programming project unlike any previously undertaken by the orchestra - a series of programs juxtaposing works by two seminal geniuses of music history, Ludwig van Beethoven and Arnold Schoenberg, groundbreaking composers who, though working in very different musical styles, opened new vistas in musical language and thought. To be completed in 2006-07, this ambitious project will include 11 programs encompassing a broad overview of both composers' works. The 2006 Tanglewood season revisits two cornerstones of the BSO's Beethoven/Schoenberg Project. The first is the BSO's Opening Night at Tanglewood concert on Friday, July 7, when Mr. Levine leads the Boston Symphony in Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the latter featuring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, mezzo-soprano Wendy White, tenor Clifton Forbis, bass-baritone John Relyea, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. For the second, on Friday, July 14, Mr. Levine and the orchestra perform Schoenberg's great, late-Romantic oratorio Gurrelieder with another stellar cast, including soprano Christine Brewer (Tove), mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier, (Wood Dove), tenors Johan Botha (Waldemar) and Matthew Polenzani (Klaus Narr), baritone Eike Wilm Schulte (Peasant), and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. Last season, James Levine's first collaboration with the young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center for an all-Wagner program was a highlight of the summer, and on Saturday, July 15, in the Shed, Mr. Levine and the TMC Orchestra continue this new tradition with a concert performance of Strauss' opera Elektra, this year's Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert. This special concert features a cast of world-renowned soloists, including Australian Lisa Gasteen making her Tanglewood debut singing the title role, as well as sopranos Christine Brewer (Chrysothemis), Jennifer Check (Maid), Marjorie Elinor Dix (Maid), and Sandra Lopez (Maid), and Claudia Waite (Overseer); mezzo-sopranos Felicity Palmer (Klytemnestra) and Mary Phillips (Maid); alto Ellen Rabiner (Maid); tenor Siegfried Jerusalem (Aegist); bass-baritone Alan Held (Orest); Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. This concert performance will be presented with supertitles. To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth (born January 27, 1756), James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra will present a full weekend of Mozart, July 21-23, in the Shed, including two orchestral programs and a concert performance of the composer's opera Don Giovanni. On Friday, July 21, Mr. Levine leads the orchestra and pianist Richard Goode in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat, K.595. This program opens with the concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di teâ€¦Non temer, amato bene," K.505, with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and Mr. Levine as pianist, and closes with the Symphony No. 41, Jupiter. On Saturday, July 22, Mr. Levine leads the Boston Symphony and an outstanding cast of soloists in a concert performance, with supertitles, of Don Giovanni. The celebrated young Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien makes his Boston Symphony debut in the title role, joined by baritone Michele Pertusi (Leporello), sopranos Barbara Frittoli (Donna Anna), Soile Isokoski (Donna Elvira), and Heidi Grant Murphy (Zerlina), tenor Matthew Polenzani (Don Ottavio), baritone Patrick Carfizzi (Masetto), bass Morris Robinson (Commendatore), and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. To close out the weekend, on Sunday, July 23, Mr. Levine and the BSO are joined by yet another group of outstanding vocal artists - soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, tenor Kenneth Tarver, and bass-baritone John Relyea - and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for Mozart's Requiem. This program opens with the Serenade No. 9 in D, K.320, Posthorn. Regarded worldwide as America's finest operatic conductor, James Levine - also a steadfast champion of new music - leads his first staged operatic production with the Tanglewood Music Center on Thursday, July 27, and Friday, July 28: the American stage premiere of Elliott Carter's What Next?, part of a triple bill - with all three works to be fully staged and sung in English - also to include Hindemith's Hin und zurÃ¼ck and Stravinsky's Mavra. This triple bill initiates the 2006 Festival of Contemporary Music. All three works will be directed and designed by Doug Fitch. In addition to his other appearances with the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Levine will also take part in the 2006 Tanglewood on Parade on Tuesday, July 25, joining Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart and Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams. Other Boston Symphony Orchestra Highlights The 2006 Boston Symphony season at Tanglewood features an extraordinary lineup of master conductors and up-and-coming stars, as well as some of the world's great instrumentalists and vocalists, including BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Harry Bicket, Herbert Blomstedt, Yefim Bronfman, Corey Cerovsek, Josep Colom, Imogen Cooper, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Hans Graf, Hilary Hahn, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Yo-Yo Ma, Kurt Masur, Midori, Ludovic Morlot, Donald Runnicles, Peter Serkin, Gil Shaham, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, AndrÃ© Watts, and Christian Zacharias. BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink returns to Tanglewood in 2006 for his first concerts there since August 2001. Mr. Haitink leads two programs with the BSO in the first weekend of orchestral concerts, the first on Saturday, July 8, with Emanuel Ax as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482. This program opens with Ravel's Alborada del gracioso, closes with Roussel's Symphony No. 3, and also includes Debussy's PrÃ©lude Ã l'AprÃ¨s-midi d'un faune. For his second BSO program, on Sunday, July 9, Mr. Haitink and the orchestra are joined by Joshua Bell for Sibelius' Violin Concerto, on a program with Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Sir Andrew Davis leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 on Sunday, July 16, in the Shed. This program opens with KodÃ¡ly's Dances of GalÃ¡nta and closes with Dvo?Ã¡k's Symphony No. 6. The fourth week of Tanglewood's 2006 orchestra schedule features the first concert in the Boston Symphony's Beethoven piano concerto cycle, as AndrÃ© Watts joins BSO Assistant Conductor Ludovic Morlot and the orchestra for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 on Friday, July 28. This program also includes Berlioz' Le Corsaire Overture, Ravel's La Valse, and American composer George Perle's Transcendental Modulations. On Saturday, July 29, Gil Shaham will be featured with the Boston Symphony in Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Hans Graf leads this program, which closes with the complete score of Stravinsky's The Firebird. Former New York Philharmonic Music Director Kurt Masur leads the Boston Symphony in the Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Memorial Concert on Sunday, July 30, with Midori as guest soloist in Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. This program opens with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, Italian, and closes with Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles - who has appeared at Tanglewood in the past with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and currently serves as music director of San Francisco Opera - makes his Boston Symphony debut this summer leading two BSO concerts. The first, on Friday, August 4, features Yo-Yo Ma as soloist in Boston-based composer Osvaldo Golijov's Cello Concerto, on a program with JanÃ¡?ek's Idyll for strings and Elgar's Enigma Variations. The second, on Sunday, August 6, continues the Beethoven piano concerto cycle with Christian Zacharias as soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor. This program opens with Mozart's Symphony No. 38, Prague, and also includes the Suite from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson joins conductor Harry Bicket - in his BSO debut - and the Boston Symphony on Friday, August 11, singing a selection of Handel arias. This program will also include J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D, Handel's Royal Fireworks Music, and J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto in E, with the talented young Canadian violinist Corey Cerovsek in his BSO debut. Veteran Spanish conductor Rafael FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos - a Tanglewood audience favorite since he closed the 2000 season with a particularly acclaimed Beethoven Ninth - returns to the Berkshires for three BSO concerts in 2006. On Friday, August 18, Mr. FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos leads the orchestra and his fellow Spaniard, Josep Colom, in Manuel de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain, for piano and orchestra. Mr. Colom, renowned for his interpretation of the work, makes his Boston Symphony debut with this performance. Also featured on this program is BSO Principal Harp Ann Hobson Pilot as soloist in Mr. FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos's own orchestration of Turina's Theme and Variations, for harp and strings. This program also includes Debussy's La Mer and Ravel's BolÃ©ro. American violinist Hilary Hahn - already an international sensation at age 25 - makes her Tanglewood debut on Saturday, August 19, joining esteemed conductor Herbert Blomstedt and the Boston Symphony as soloist in Dvo?Ã¡k's Violin Concerto. This concert, marking Mr. Blomstedt's first Tanglewood appearance since 1980, closes with Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica. To close the penultimate weekend of orchestral concerts at Tanglewood next summer, Rafael FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos returns to the BSO podium for an all-Brahms program on Sunday, August 20. This concert features Peter Serkin as soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 2, on a program with the Symphony No. 2. The final weekend of Tanglewood orchestral concerts features three great pianists concluding the BSO's Beethoven piano concerto cycle. On Friday, August 25, Imogen Cooper joins the Boston Symphony and acclaimed young Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel - making his BSO debut - in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, on a program with Bernstein's Shivaree and Falla's complete The Three-cornered Hat. Emanuel Ax will be featured in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 on Saturday, August 26, in a Boston Symphony program led by Herbert Blomstedt that also includes Bruckner's Symphony No. 7. Rafael FrÃ¼hbeck de Burgos closes the BSO's 2006 season at Tanglewood on Sunday, August 27, with an all-Beethoven program including the Beethoven Symphony No. 7 and featuring Yefim Bronfman as soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 4. The Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra last performed at Tanglewood in 1999, and has never been at Tanglewood under its current music director, Christoph Eschenbach. On Sunday, August 13, Tanglewood welcomes The Philadelphia Orchestra and Mr. Eschenbach to the Koussevitzky Music Shed for a program to include the Overture to Beethoven's The Creatures of Prometheus, Beethoven's Symphony No. 8, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. Tanglewood On Parade Tanglewood on Parade, the annual daylong celebration of Tanglewood, takes place this year on Tuesday, July 25. BSO Music Director James Levine, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, and Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams will share the Koussevitzky Music Shed stage for this gala concert, marking the first-ever collaboration of these three Boston Symphony artistic leaders. Tanglewood on Parade will feature the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras performing a program to include the traditional performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, featuring cannon and a fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl following the concert. The Boston Pops Following up on the success of last summer's Stephen Sondheim Celebration with the Tanglewood Music Center, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops will again team up with a group of TMC Vocal Fellows to pay tribute to another giant in American music, Leonard Bernstein. The Boston Pops' Bernstein on Broadway - a program also scheduled for performances during the Boston Pops' 2006 spring season at Symphony Hall - will be performed in the Shed on Wednesday, July 12, featuring Mr. Lockhart, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and guest vocalists from the Great White Way and the Tanglewood Music Center, all saluting Bernstein's unique musical voice. The Boston Pops will present Film Night at Tanglewood, an annual favorite of the summer season, on Saturday, August 12. Additional details of Film Night at Tanglewood will be released at a later date. Keith Lockhart returns to the podium on Sunday, August 20, to lead the Boston Pops in Our '70s Show, an evening of musical hits from the 1970s and beyond, featuring America's leading a cappella vocal group, Rockapella, in the group's Tanglewood debut. Garrick Ohlsson And The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas The 2006 Seiji Ozawa Hall recital series is highlighted by an event unprecedented in Tanglewood history: an eight-concert exploration of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven given by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. These eight concerts - two each week from June 29 through July 20 - mark the first time this entire body of work is performed in one summer at Tanglewood, and the most performances ever by a single soloist in one Tanglewood season. For a complete schedule of Mr. Ohlsson's Beethoven piano sonata cycle - to be performed on June 29, July 2, July 6, July 9, July 13, July 16, July 18, and July 20 - please see the 2006 Tanglewood full season listing. Seiji Ozawa Hall The Juilliard String Quartet returns to Tanglewood on Friday, June 30, for a program to include Schubert's Quartet in A minor, D.804, Rosamunde, ViÃ±ao's Quartet No. 2, The Loss and the Silence, and Brahms' Quartet No. 3 in B-flat, Op.67. Pianist Yefim Bronfman, violinist Gil Shaham, and cellist Truls MÃ¸rk give an all-Schubert program of the composer's Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat, D.898, and Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D.929, on Tuesday, July 11, in Ozawa Hall. In honor of the centennial of Dmitri Shostakovich's birth (born September 25, 1906), the Emerson String Quartet will give an all-Shostakovich program on Wednesday, July 19, in Ozawa Hall. This special concert will include the composer's final three quartets: Quartet No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 138, Quartet No. 14 in F-sharp, Op. 142, and Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144. The incomparable Gidon Kremer brings his Kremerata Baltica to Ozawa Hall in early August for two concerts encompassing the complete Mozart violin concerto cycle, part of Tanglewood's Mozart 250th-birthday celebration. On Wednesday, August 2, Mr. Kremer will join Kremerata Baltica as soloist in the composer's Violin Concerto No. 2 in D, K.211, Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat, K.207, and Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K.216, a program also to include Mozart's Serenade No. 6 in D, K.239, Serenata notturna. On Thursday, August 3, Mr. Kremer is featured in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4 in D, K.218, and Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, K.219, on a program with Mozart's Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546, and Raskatov's Five Minutes in the Life of WAM. The Boston Symphony Chamber Players give their annual Ozawa Hall concert on Tuesday, August 15, a program also to include Mozart's Serenade No. 12 in C minor for winds, K.388, Michael Gandolfi's Plain Song, Fantastic Dances - given its world premiere performance by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in October 2005, and Schubert's String Quintet in C, D.956. On Thursday, August 17, the Tallis Scholars make their Tanglewood debut in Ozawa Hall with a program entitled "From Dresden to Innsbruck." Recognized as one of the world's leading Renaissance choirs, the Tallis Scholars will perform a program to include music by Isaac, SchÃ¼tz, and Hassler, plus the Miserere by Allegri. Last season's all-Beethoven recital by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax drew the largest Ozawa Hall crowd of the summer. The two virtuosos return to Ozawa Hall this summer on Wednesday, August 23, with another all-Beethoven program, to include the composer's Variations in G on "See the Conquering Hero Comes" from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, WoO 45, Cello Sonata No. 5 in D, Op. 102, No. 2, and Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5, No. 2. The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra schedule for 2006 includes a concert performance of Strauss' Elektra in the Koussevitzky Music Shed under BSO Music Director James Levine (Saturday, July 15, the Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert; see above for more details) and programs in Seiji Ozawa Hall under BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink, and Herbert Blomstedt, as well as the annual Tanglewood on Parade celebration (Tuesday, July 25). On Monday, July 3, BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink and TMC Conducting Fellows lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in a program to include Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, Mozart's Symphony No. 35, Haffner, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10. Herbert Blomstedt and TMC Conducting Fellows lead the final Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra concert of the 2006 summer season on Monday, August 14, a program to include Lidholm's Kontakion, Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4. Details about the Tanglewood Music Center's 2006 season and the 2006 Festival of Contemporary Music will be announced at a later date. "A Prairie Home Companion" Garrison Keillor will host a live broadcast of Minnesota Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion from the Koussevitzky Music Shed on Saturday, July 1. This now-annual event has become the wildly popular radio program's season finale and a Tanglewood tradition since the program's first live Tanglewood broadcast in 1998. Other Concerts At Tanglewood In addition to the BSO's weekend symphonic concerts in the Koussevitzky Music Shed and the weeknight chamber concerts and recitals in Ozawa Hall, the Tanglewood season also includes Saturday-morning general admission Open Rehearsals in the Shed (preceded by informative free talks employing recorded examples from the music being rehearsed); and Friday-evening Prelude Concerts in Ozawa Hall featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, often joined by distinguished guest performers. In addition, Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center offer Saturday-evening and Sunday-afternoon Prelude Concerts in the Theatre prior to the Saturday and Sunday orchestra concerts. Prelude Concerts are available free of charge to patrons attending the respective day's orchestra concert in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic The Fourth Annual Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic will be held August 3-5 on the Tanglewood grounds. Festivities include a wine auction and dinner, winemaker reception, and Grand Tasting. This year's Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic offers tastings of premium wines from over 100 vintners from the leading producing regions of the world, as well as breads, meats, and other specialty foods. Participants will have the opportunity to meet renowned chefs from the Berkshires, Boston, and New York who will demonstrate their skills while answering questions and sharing kitchen secrets at events throughout the weekend. The Fourth Annual Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic is sponsored by Viking, Saveur, Moet & Chandon. Subscription Options In 2006, Tanglewood patrons will have a number of different subscription options, including ticket packages for Open Rehearsals, lawn seating, and the Festival of Contemporary Music. For Open Rehearsal subscriptions, patrons may choose series of four or eight general-admission Open Rehearsals, at $64 or $128, respectively. Tanglewood Lawn Pass Books offer 11 lawn passes for the price of 10, valid for use at all BSO and Boston Pops concerts in the Koussevitzky Music Shed or Seiji Ozawa Hall except for Tanglewood on Parade. Lawn Pass Books are also not valid for the Yo-Yo Ma/Emanuel Ax recital on August 23, TMC Orchestra concerts, Popular Artists, A Prairie Home Companion, or the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Lawn Pass Books are priced at $160 if purchased before June 29, after which they will be priced at $170. Video Screens At Tanglewood For the Boston Pops concerts, Tanglewood on Parade, and all Friday and Saturday night BSO concerts in the Shed, large screens mounted on the exterior of the Shed will allow lawn patrons to view the concert up close. Lawn Ticket Rain Upgrades Lawn tickets for selected concerts may be upgraded for tickets inside the Shed for the cost of the difference between the lawn ticket price and the price of the seat in the Shed, an offer valid for all BSO and Pops concerts in the Shed, subject to availability of tickets. This offer is not valid for lawn tickets that have no dollar value (i.e., complimentary tickets, passes, etc.). Tanglewood Children'S Lawn Ticket Program This summer, Tanglewood continues its Children's Lawn Ticket Program, offering free lawn tickets for children under the age of 12. Up to four free children's tickets are available per parent/legal guardian per concert at the Tanglewood Box Office the day of the concert. Children admitted without charge must sit with their parent/legal guardian on the lawn, and those under age 5 must sit on the rear half of the lawn. Children under the age of 5 are not permitted in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, Seiji Ozawa Hall, or the Theatre during concerts. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket. This policy does not apply to organized groups of children. In addition, a 50-percent discount on Friday-evening lawn tickets is available to students age 13 or older; this offer is valid only with student ID. Tanglewood History Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home located in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, had its beginnings in 1936 when the BSO gave its first outdoor concerts in the area, a three-concert series held under a tent for a total crowd of 15,000. In 1937 the BSO returned to the Berkshires for an all-Beethoven program, but this time at Tanglewood, the 210-acre estate donated by the Tappan family, initiating a new era in the history of the American summer music festival. In 1938 the 5,100-seat Shed was inaugurated, giving the BSO a permanent open-air structure in which to perform at Tanglewood. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed in the Koussevitzky Music Shed every summer since, except for the war years 1942-45, and Tanglewood has become almost a place of pilgrimage to millions of concertgoers. The 1986 acquisition of the Highwood estate next to Tanglewood increased the festival's public grounds by 40 percent and allowed for the construction of Seiji Ozawa Hall, which opened in 1994 along with the Leonard Bernstein Campus, which became the center for most Tanglewood Music Center activities. Seiji Ozawa Hall serves not only as a performance home for the Tanglewood Music Center, but as a thoroughly modern venue for the BSO's varied recital and chamber music offerings. Today Tanglewood annually draws more than 350,000 visitors for orchestral and chamber music concerts, instrumental and vocal recitals, student performances, and the annual Festival of Contemporary Music, as well as performances by popular artists and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, held each year over Labor Day Weekend. The season offers not only a vast quantity of music, but also a vast range of musical forms and styles, all of it presented with a regard for artistic excellence that makes the festival unique. In consideration of all patrons, Tanglewood offers a smoke-free environment. All programs and artists are subject to change. Tickets for the 2006 Tanglewood season go on sale to the public on Sunday, February 12, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or online through the BSO's website, www.bso.org, powered by EMC Corporation. Brochures for the 2006 Tanglewood season will also be available at that time, by phone or online. Tickets will be available in person at the Tanglewood Box Office in Lenox beginning on Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. All ticket prices include a $1 Tanglewood Grounds Maintenance Fee. For further information, please call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492.

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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

02:13PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."

The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School.

The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday.

The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season.

The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations.

"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.

"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."

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