Friday, August 24, 2018. We get to hear the BSO et al. perform what they call "the longest symphony in the standard repertoire." The performance detail page, with its usual links to performer bios and background material, describes the concert thus:
(Some emphasis added.)
Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler Symphony No. 3 featuring Susan Graham and the Tanglewood Festival ChorusTanglewood
Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map
Andris Nelsons leads the BSO, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Boston Symphony Children's Choir in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, another work central to Bernstein's repertoire, with Susan Graham as mezzo-soprano soloist. A multi-faceted and emotionally wide-ranging work, the Third Symphony is notable for its length (the longest symphony in the standard repertoire), difficulty, and overwhelming cumulative impact. Across its nearly 100-minute duration, the broad musical canvas incorporates a full range of musical and emotional expression, moving through rousing fanfares, tender lyricism, and melancholy to the height of exaltation.
Need I say more? Well, it's a lot of music, but — while I don't recall specifics of this symphony — Mahler's style of music at this time in his career generally isn't difficult to listen to, and my more general memory of it is that it is quite engaging. So it should be pretty good.
Saturday, August 25, 2018. On Saturday, the summer of Bernstein reaches its grand finale. The performance detail page doesn't give a listing of every piece to be played, but from what we are told, including the long list of performers, we get a feel for what it will be.
(Some emphasis added.)
The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at TanglewoodTanglewood
Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map
Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's ResurrectionSymphony brings the program to a dramatic close.
Sunday, August 25, 2018. The season ends with the traditional Beethoven 9th Symphony, preceded by two brief pieces by Bernstein. The performance detail page has its usual links and gives this synopsis.
(Some emphasis added.)
Christoph Eschenbach conducts BeethovenTanglewood
Koussevitzky Music Shed - Lenox, MA - View Map
Christoph Eschenbach leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, tenor Joseph Kaiser, baritone Thomas Hampson, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
And so we bid farewell to another summer of concerts from Tanglewood, with another massive work, one which is very well known. Although it's not my favorite Beethoven symphony, it's certainly beautiful at times and exciting at times, and it's certainly fitting for the occasion. Enjoy.
The Boston Symphony returns to Symphony Hall to open the season there on October 11, with the first Saturday concert on the 13th. Meanwhile WCRB will fill the six intervening Saturday evenings with concerts previously recorded. I don't see a listng for September 1, but the rest can be found here. As usual, I plan to post about each as it approaches.
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