Lenox Library 2025 Tanglewood Pre-Concert Talks

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LENOX, Mass. Dr. — Jeremy Yudkin returns for his 42nd season of Tanglewood pre-concert talks, presented by the Lenox Library Association.

These free programs will take place in the Lenox Town Hall auditorium, located at 6 Walker Street, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoons and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Summer 2025 schedule will be as follows:

Sunday, July 6. All-Beethoven Program.

Why so many Leonore overtures? And: Do you really think you know the Fifth Symphony?

Friday, July 11. Prokofiev on Stage.

How many versions of Romeo and Juliet are there? Shakespeare, Prokofiev, Bernstein...

Sunday, July 13. Sibelius and Smith.

Nature in Finland in 1915 and in California in 2014.

Friday, July 18. Puccini's Tosca.

A masterpiece of Romantic opera or a "shabby little shocker"?

Sunday, July 20. Yuja and Harriet.

Inspiring women now and then: The Fantastical Symphony and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Friday, July 25. Bach, Mahler, and Mendelssohn.

What do all these works have in common?

Sunday, July 27. Special Guest: Edwin Barker, Retiring Principal Bass of the BSO.

Orchestral playing at its most brilliant. Day of the Dead, French carnivals, and Beethoven's Pastoral.

Friday, August 1. Special Guest: Eugene Drucker, Violinist/Founding Member of the Emerson Quartet.

The Korngold Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.

Sunday, August 3. NO LECTURE.

Friday, August 8. Symphony or Concerto?

Lalo's Symphonie espagnole and the "New World."

Sunday, August 10. Another New World.

Pépin, Saint-Saëns, and Mendelssohn in Scotland.

Friday, August 15. Acknowledging the Masters.

Shaw, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven's Fourth.

Sunday, August 17. Memory and Memorial.

Grant Still and Sibelius. Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 2.

Friday, August 22. Music for the Infinite.

Poulenc's Gloria and Gustav Holst's The Planets.

Sunday, August 24. Special Guest: Carlos Simon, Composer Chair/BSO.

New Look - Old Masterpiece.

?Carlos Simon's new work and Beethoven's Ninth.

The pre-concert talks are free thanks to the Lenox Library Association and Margery and Lewis Steinberg.

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

December Ghost Tours at Ventfort Hall

LENOX, Mass. — Join Robert Oakes, author of "Ghosts of the Berkshires," who will lead tours through the rooms and halls of the historic estate sharing tales of its alleged hauntings.
 
The tour will take place at 7 pm on Saturday, Dec. 6.
 
This is not an active investigation.
 
Admission is $30 and minimum age to attend is age 12. Reservations are strongly recommended as tickets are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call 413-637-3206. Note that all tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Payment is required to make a reservation for an event.
 
Robert Oakes is an author, teacher, storyteller, and performing songwriter. He has written three books, "The Ghostly Tales of the Berkshires" (2023), "Ghosts of Northwestern New Jersey" (2022), and "Ghosts of the Berkshires" (2020), all published by Arcadia Publishing. 
 
Since 2010, Robert has led ghost storytelling experiences at historic locations in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, including Ventfort Hall and Edith Wharton's The Mount. He has also given talks and readings and led a writing workshop at Arrowhead, home of Herman Melville. 
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