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Classical Beat: Enjoy Great Music at Tanglewood, Sevenars Festivals

By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires
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As Tanglewood enters its fourth week, stellar performances will take center stage in Ozawa Hall and in the Koussevitsky Shed.

Why go? To experience world-class instrumental soloists, such as the stellar piano virtuoso Yuja Wang. Also not to be missed are the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, as well as visiting guest ensembles and BSO and TMC soloists as they perform chamber and orchestral masterworks by iconic composers Purcell, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams and Ives.

In addition to Tanglewood, there are also outstanding performances to be enjoyed at the Sevenars Music Festival in South Worthington. Both venues present great music performed in acoustically resonant venues by marvelous performers.

Read below for the details for concerts from Wednesday, July 17-Tuesday, July 22.

Tanglewood

• Wednesday, July 17, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall • Recital Series: The phenomenal world-class piano virtuoso Yuja Wang presents a piano recital in Ozawa Hall.

• Thursday July 18, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall • Recital SeriesLes Arts Florissants, William Christie, Director and Mourad Merzouki, Choreographer presents a performance of Henry Purcell's ‘semi-opera'/Restoration Drama "The Fairy Queen."

• Friday, July 19, 8 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program of Leonard Bernstein (the deeply moving, jazz-tinged Symphony No. 2 ("Age of Anxiety") and Brahms' glorious Symphony No. 3.

• Saturday, July 20, 8 p.m. in the Shed: BSO Maestro Andris Nelsons leads the Orchestra in a concert version of Richard Wagner's thrilling concluding music drama from his "Ring" cycle-tetralogy, "Götterdämmerung." The stellar vocal soloists include sopranos Christine Goerke and Amanda Majeske, tenor Michael Weinius, baritone James Rutherford, bass Morris Robinson and Rhine maidens Diana Newman, Renée Tatum and Annie Rosen.

• Sunday, July 21, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO) in a program of Ives (the amazingly evocative "Three Places in New England"), Beethoven (the powerful Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Emanuel Ax) and Richard Strauss ("Also sprach Zarathustra" — you'll recognize its iconic "sunrise" opening).

• Tuesday, July 22, 7:00 p.m. in the Shed • Popular Artist Series: Beck, with the Boston Pops, Edwin Outwater, conductor.

For tickets to all Tanglewood events, call 888-266-1200, or go to tanglewood.org.

Sevenars Music Festival

Founded in 1968, Sevenars Concerts, Inc., presents its 56th anniversary season of six summer concerts, held at the Academy in South Worthington, located at 15 Ireland St., just off Route 112.

• Sunday, July 21, at 4 p.m.: Sevenars is delighted to present violist Ron Gorevic, returning to Sevenars after his stunning Bach recital in 2023. This year, Gorevic will offer a groundbreaking program including music of Kenji Bunch, Sal Macchia, Larry Wallach, and Tasia Wu, the latter three composing especially for him. In addition, he'll offer Bach's magnificent Chaconne in D minor and Max Reger's 3rd Suite.

Hailed by The New York Times, Gorevic continues a long and distinguished career as a performer on both violin and viola. Along with solo recitals, he has toured the United States, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Australia, performing most of the quartet repertoire. In London, he gave the British premieres of pieces by Donald Erb and Ned Rorem. He has recorded for Centaur Records as soloist and member of the Prometheus Piano Quartet, and for Koch Records as a member of the Chester String Quartet.

Concert dates and times: Sundays at 4 p.m., July 21-Aug. 18.

Tickets: 413-238-5854 (leave a message for a return call), www.sevenars.org or Sevenars@aol.com.


Tags: The Classical Beat,   

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Taconic High Closed Wednesday for Cleanup

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A sewer backup forced the closure of Taconic High School on Tuesday afternoon and canceled all afternoon activities and classes on Wednesday. 
 
According to a message sent to the school community by Principal Matthew Bishop, plumbers working at the school removed a drain cap at about 1:50 p.m., which allowed sewage to spill into the Career Technical Education hallway. 
 
Students were taken to the gym and auditorium, and then released from the building at about 2:25 p.m., a few minutes earlier than normal. The girls basketball team did meet at the school to take the bus to the game at Putnam Vocational in Springfield. 
 
Bishop had messaged that crews were being coordinated to clean the building and reopen it on Wednesday but by early evening that was found to not be possible. 
 
Classes were canceled Wednesday, he wrote, "to allow for the sewer drain issue in the building to be fully resolved. 
 
"Professional sanitation and cleaning teams are on site in cooperation with city maintenance officials, to ensure our building is thoroughly cleaned before students and staff return."
 
The school community will be updated if there are any changes. 
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