The Classical Beat: Late July is High Season for Tanglewood, Sevenars

By Stephen DankneriBerkshires columnist
Print Story | Email Story

By late July, the peak of the summer classical music festival high season has arrived, anchored by concerts at Tanglewood in Lenox and at Sevenars Concerts in South Worthington; both festivals offer sure-fire and enticing, yet diverse and innovative contemporary programming. Offerings this week include revelatory chamber and orchestral works, with the focus on the 5-day Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music in Ozawa Hall and at the Linde Center Studio E (read below for the details). Boston Symphony performances include classical works by Bach, Mahler. Mendelssohn and Saint-Saens, as well as a major Festival highlight: the not-to-be-missed premiere in the Shed on Saturday, July 26 of a Piano Concerto composed by John Williams for Emanuel Ax and the Boston Symphony, conducted by maestro Andris Nelsons.   

TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Ortiz curates the Tanglewood's annual five-day Festival of Contemporary Music, from Thursday, July 24-Monday, July28. "She is one of the most vibrant and visionary voices in music today. Her music bridges both tradition and innovation, drawing inspiration from both Mexican folk music and political and social themes." Her works form the core of this summer's Festival, which also includes compositions by other major figures in contemporary Mexican music: Chavez, Ortiz, Lavista, Roldan, and Marquez.

Read on for concert details covering July 25-27:

• Friday, July 25, Shed, at 8:00 p.m.: Maestro Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in a program of Bach (the 'Air' from the Orchestral Suite No. 3,) Mahler (the tragic 'Adagio' from the composer's unfinished Symphony No. 10,) and two works of Mendelssohn – the beloved Violin Concerto, with soloist Maria Duenas, and the concluding overture "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage."

• Saturday, July 26, Shed, at 8:00 p.m.: In an auspicious premiere, John Williams' Piano Concerto, with soloist Emanuel Ax will receive its performance with the BSO under the baton of Maestro Nelsons. Fittingly, Gustav Mahler's jubilant Symphony No. 1 concludes the program.

• Sunday, July 27, Shed, at 2:30 p.m.: The immensely popular pianist Lang Lang is the soloist in Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2. The program opens with Gabriela Ortiz' "La Calaca" for string orchestra and concludes with Beethoven's arcadian Symphony No. 6 ('Pastoral.') Andris Nelsons directs the Boston Symphony.

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

SEVENARS MUSIC FESTIVAL

• Sunday, July 28, at 4:00 p.m. Sevenars Concerts presents its third program, featuring the Springfield Chamber Players clarinet quintet. Described as "a feast of music," the program includes works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alexander Borodin, Paul Chihara, and Bernard Herrmann. The quintet members are Springfield, MA Symphony Orchestra musicians. 

Sevenars' performances take place in The Academy, located at 15 Ireland Street just off Rte. 112 at Ireland Street, South Worthington, MA. For information, call 413-238-5854 (please leave a message for return call.) Online: sevenars.org. Admission is by donation at the door (suggested $20.) Refreshments are included.

As always, the place to be for great classical and stimulating new music is right here in our own intimate corner of the world - the Berkshires - a designated "cultural capital," where artistic boundaries are nonexistent.

 


Tags: The Classical Beat,   

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

A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

View Full Story

More Lenox Stories