Tanglewood — 2018/07/20-22

This weekend the broadcasts/online streams from Tanglewood will include an all-Mozart program, more Mozart along with Bernstein and Haydn, and Adès and Sibelius. All three should be well worth hearing.



Friday, July 20, 2018.  The orchestra's program detail page has the usual links to background information and gives the following description of the program:

All-Mozart Program with Emanuel Ax
UnderScore Friday Concert

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

The Jackie and Larry Horn Family Concert

Patrons will hear comments about the program directly from onstage BSO musician Kathryn Sievers (viola). 

Herbert Blomstedt, a longtime collaborator with the BSO, conducts the orchestra in an all-Mozart program. Emanuel Ax joins the orchestra for the Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K.453, a work Bernstein returned to frequently and performed several times at Tanglewood. The second half of the program is dedicated to the Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, the composer's final work in the genre and one of history's great symphonies.

(Some emphasis added.)

As noted last time Maestro Blomstedt conducted the BSO, although he is Swedish and grew up in Sweden, he was born in the U.S.A. — Springfield, MA IIRC.

I'll be listening to this even during the Red Sox game, although I may have the TV on in the living room and multitask until it's time to prepare dinner.


Saturday, July 21, 2018.  Again, from the performance detail page:

Herbert Blomstedt conducts Mozart, Bernstein and Haydn

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

Maestro Blomstedt conducts the BSO in a second performance, featuring Haydn's majestic Missa in angustiis(Lord Nelson Mass)-a work Bernstein conducted at Tanglewood in 1977 as part of a years-long survey of the Haydn masses-with soprano Hannah Morrison, mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Michael Nagy, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. At the heart of the program is Bernstein's own Ḥalil, Nocturne for flute and orchestra, with BSO principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe as soloist. Maestro Blomstedt begins the program by conducting Mozart's Symphony No. 34.

(Some emphasis added.)

Don't forget, you can see performer bios for conductor and soloists by clicking on the thumbnail photos.

My brother's call from Japan will take me away from the Haydn Mass, but I've heard it before and I think it's well worth hearing — as are his other Masses — so stick around after intermission. I'm not familiar with the Bernstein, and I'm looking forward to hearing it. Again, the concert will crowd out the Red Sox on the airwaves.


Sunday, July 22, 2018.  On Sunday, we get to hear a delayed broadcast as Thomas Adès conducts his own music and that of Sibelius. This synopsis appears in the orchestra's performance detail page:

Thomas Adès conducts Adès and Sibelius with Christian Tetzlaff

Tanglewood 

Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map

BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès makes his first Tanglewood appearance of 2018, taking the podium to lead the BSO in his own Suite from Powder Her Face, the composer's 1995 chamber opera, which helped cement an already impressive reputation. Mr. Adès will also lead the orchestra in Sibelius's Symphony No. 5, and renowned German violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins the orchestra for Sibelius's Violin Concerto.

(Some emphasis added.)

I make no guarantees about "Powder Her Face," but I like Sibelius. His music is among the most tonal and least dissonant of works by prominent composers of the early 20th Century.


Again, a reminder that WCRB presents the Friday and Saturday evening concerts virtually live at 8:00, Boston Time, and the Sunday concert at 7:00 p.m. This looks like a great weekend for listening to the BSO.