It's the last weekend of the Tanglewood season, ending with the traditional Beethoven Ninth Symphony on Sunday. I think I heard Laura Carlo say this morning that Ron Della Chiesa would be retiring as "the voice of the BSO' after these performances, which, if I heard correctly, gives a further incentive to listen.
Friday, August 26, 2022. We look to WCRB for the outline:
Friday, August 26, 2022
8:00 PM
Anna Rakitina leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 3, “The First of May,” and violinist Gil Shaham is the soloist in Dvorak’s rustically brilliant Violin Concerto.
Anna Rakitina, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH Waltz No. 2 from Suite No. 1 for Variety Orchestra
Antonín DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 3, The First of May
Alexander BORODIN Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
Some descriptive verbiage is to be found on the orchestra's own performance detail page:
BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina leads frequent Tanglewood guest soloist Gil Shaham in Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s great Violin Concerto, which sings with pungent Czech traditional rhythms and melodies. Three Russian works complete the program. Part-time composer and full-time scientist Alexander Borodin wrote his tremendously energetic and popular Polovtsian Dances for his opera Prince Igor, which remained unfinished at his early death. Two Dmitri Shostakovich rarities demonstrate his fantastic range. Purely for entertainment, the Suite for Variety Orchestra is a mishmash of pieces from various contexts—the Waltz is from his score from the 1955 film The First Echelon. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 3, The First of May is a serious work for chorus and orchestra in praise of the Soviet revolution predating Joseph Stalin’s cynical crackdown on artistic creativity, which would have dangerous consequences for Shostakovich. This is the first performance of this piece by the BSO, part of its multi-season traversal of the composer’s complete symphonies.
As usual, full program notes are linked there.
I'm not a big fan of the Borodin, although it's generally pretty well liked. On the other hand the Shostakovich symphony will probably be an adventure. The Dvořák should be good.
Saturday, August 27, 2022. Again, we turn first to WCRB:
Saturday, August 27, 2022
8:00 PM
Michael Tilson Thomas returns to the Berkshires to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Copland’s inspirational Symphony No. 3, and pianist Alexander Malofeev is the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s mighty Piano Concerto No. 3.
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Alexander Malofeev, piano
Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Dubinushka
Sergei RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
Aaron COPLAND Symphony No. 3
For more information on Tanglewood concerts, visit the BSO box office.
Click on the player above to hear a preview of the concert with Michael Tilson Thomas, who connects Rimsky-Korsakov's Dubinushka to great musical figures of the past, describes the special qualities he hears in Alexander Malofeev's playing, and recalls conversations with Aaron Copland that reveal the essence of the composer's music.
Transcript:
Brian McCreath Michael Tilson Thomas, it's so good to talk with you. Thank you for a little bit of your time today. We'll talk about the programs that you're conducting at Tanglewood. And the first piece that you'll conduct on Saturday night is Dubinushka.
Michael Tilson Thomas "Du-BEE-nushka."
BMcC "Du-BEE-nushka." Thank you. Thank you for the correction.
As you see, there's a bonus: an interview with the conductor. If you go to the WCRB page, you can see the video or read the transcript. I haven't read the whole thing, but he mentions that he likes to find unfamiliar things. He did that about fifty years ago withthe BSO when he led a performance of "Vespro della beata vergine," composed in 1610 by Claudio Monteverdi. I had never heard anything like it, and I was blown away. It has since been recorded commercially, and I have a couple of those recordings, but I wish I could hear that live performance again sometime.
Further information is available, including a link to the program notes, on the BSO performance detail page:
Renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, whose rich association with the BSO dates back to his time as a TMC Fellow (1968-69), is joined by the remarkable young Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev in his BSO and Tanglewood debut for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Sparkling and lush, it is one of the most beloved and challenging concertos in the repertoire. Aaron Copland’s orchestral music epitomizes a distinctly American sound that persists in the concert hall and in film soundtracks. His Third Symphony, premiered by the BSO and Serge Koussevitzky in 1946, incorporates the bold and familiar Fanfare for the Common Man. The concert opens with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s brief, rousing Dubinushka, based on a tune he heard marching workers sing during the Russian Revolution of 1905 and not performed by the BSO since 1944.
Sunday, August 28, 2022. Michael Tilson Thomas returns to close out the season: https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/beethovens-ninth-at-tanglewood
Sunday, August 28, 2022
7:00 PM (delayed broadcast of 2:30 PM concert)
An incredible cast of soloists joins Michael Tilson Thomas, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Jacquelyn Stucker, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Ben Bliss, tenor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
Charles IVES Psalm 90
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9
There's more at the performance detail page:
Bert L. Smokler Memorial Concert
Michael Tilson Thomas leads the BSO in Tanglewood’s traditional season-ending performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s intensely expressive, innovative, but ultimately uplifting Symphony No. 9. Following three questing instrumental movements, the finale is a setting for soloists and chorus of the German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” The symphony—Beethoven’s last, composed in 1825—was an immense success at its premiere and has since become a symbol of hope for the universal togetherness of humankind.
Ives is unique. His music may take some getting used to, and it would be good if his compositions were played more often so people could get used to it. I recommend reading the program note. I don't think I've ever heard "Psalm 90," and I'm looking forward to it. If you find it too strange, stick around for the Beethoven.
So it's a weekend with the familiar and the adventurous, with the great Ron Della Chiesa as the announcer. Don't forget that the Sunday concert will be delivered an hour earlier than the Friday and Saturday ones.
