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2009 Tanglewood reviews

Brahms’ A German Requiem at Tanglewood

July 25, 2009 performance reviewed by Dave Conlin Read.

Hei-Kyung Hong, Lames Levine and the BSO perform Brahms' A German Requiem at Tanglewood; Hilary Scott photo
Hei-Kyung Hong, Lames Levine and the BSO perform Brahms' A German Requiem at Tanglewood; Hilary Scott photo

We stepped away from the careening carousel that life in the Berkshires can become by late July to attend Brahms’ A German Requiem, on words from Holy Scripture, performed in the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with James Levine conducting, Hei-Kyung Hong, soprano, Matthias Goerne, baritone, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor.

Our need for a little inner quiet was met fully by this performance of the piece that served dual purposes for Brahms, addressing the deaths of his mother, Christiane, and of his mentor and spiritual father, Robert Schumann.

We arrived early enough to read Jan Swafford’s program notes, as well as the scriptural passages to be sung, drawn from 11 Biblical sources, including Matthew, Peter, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Corinthians, and Revelations. This is not a liturgical work, not a Mass; Brahms assembled the text from the Protestant Bible but omitted Christian dogma in favor of espousing a humanist view.

The opening and closing movements are similarly quiet and sombre, “Selig(Blessed)” the first and last word to be sung; at first, it is the living being blessed, or comforted, and then, finally, the dead, “…that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”

Brahms’ triumph, and tonight’s beautiful performance meant that the listener didn’t need the text in order to experience a full range of emotion, nor to be swept into a meditative state from time to time. For our part, we came away feeling that, as insignificant we may indeed be in the scheme of life, nonetheless there is magnificence to be experienced (or, to the experience) along the way, if we will.

The Truth that life is best lived in community was reenforced by the brilliance of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, which was first among equals in this performance; for all the artistry of tonight’s soloists, it seems that the solo parts could have been sung by ordinary choristers, as stand-ins for every man and every woman.

Their finest moment came with the verse from 1 Corinthians, where they loosed a tremendous, defiant sound, repeating (in German, of course) “O Death, where is they sting? O Death, where is thy victory?” Although the sound couldn’t be more different, we recognized the passage as being the likely source for the classic Bluegrass song “O, Death,” an a capella version of which earned a Grammy award in 2002 for Dr. Ralph Stanley.

2009 A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood review

June 29, 2009 Tanglewood concert review by

How ’bout that Garrison Keillor, ladies and gentlemen, ain’t he something – signs you up for two hours of entertainment, then goes and delivers three! To the two hour live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, in the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood, he appended a twenty minute pre-show and a forty minute after-show that included audience sing-alongs, duets with Heather Masse, and thrilling encore performances by guests Steve Martin with The Steep Canyon Rangers and hometown favorite Arlo Guthrie. (re: Arlo)

This was the tenth time he’s brought the 35 year old show to Tanglewood, and it keeps getting better. Arlo Guthrie, whose Thanksgiving garbage caper took place just down the road 42 years ago, was an unannounced guest; Keillor said he’ll be back next year so they can talk “Berkshire history.” Early afternoon showers had cleared by the time we arrived around 5PM and mother nature delivered a splendid tableau for the festivities. Maybe jealous at being upstaged by the lanky Minnesotan, midway through the show she delivered a steady drizzle that sparkled through bright sunshine to about one-third of the Lawnsters outside the Shed. Keillor asked Guthrie if that was typical Berkshires weather? “Oh yeah, it’s been like that for weeks.”

Actor Martin Sheen was the show’s non-musical guest, delighting the audience in the role of a prickly wi-fi hog at Arlo’s Dew Drop Inn. Sheen and family were seen around Stockbridge throughout the weekend, at Mass on Sunday and then greeting fans on the porch at the Red Lion Inn.

Keillor, Martin, and Guthrie are pretty good talkers

Even though all the music and comedy performed today was as good as it gets, this show is especially memorable because it displayed the powerful beauty of the spoken word; for the satisfying feeling of community that can arise from the plain speaking of artists whose medium is language.

Besides all their other talents, Keillor, Martin, and Guthrie are talking adepts, which raises all the connecting patter of show to the level of the performance. We’re envious, wishing we could summarize more smartly than by declaring that the tenth Tanglewood rendition of A Prairie Home Companion was a titillating picnic of linguistic penache, verbal verve, and jocular jello.

re: Arlo: You may be interested in : Arlo Guthrie concert reviews, photos, and an interview.

Tanglewood lawn Diana Krall concert

Here is video shot with our trusty Flip camera made while strolling the lawn outside the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood before Diana Krall’s concert on July 4, 2009 (during guitarist, songwriter Federico Aubele’s opening set). Despite all the chilly wet weather of the preceding hours and days, you’ll see that there was a pretty big audience. We guarantee that the final 20 seconds will be worth your time, showing the audience reflected in the Steinway grand piano while Ms. Krall’s tuner works on it.

Review of Tanglewood performances during July, 2008.

July 5, 6, 12, 20, 27, 2008 performances reviewed by Dave Conlin Read

We attended four concerts at Tanglewood during July: one illustrated the aphorism “vita brevis, ars longa;” another reminded us that the Tanglewood Festival Chorus are the world’s poorest paid pros; the third showed that the baton works equally well on the distaff side; and finally we saw that nature can impose a felicitous collaboration upon art, even while being otherwise mischevious.

B.S.O. music director James Levine chose to open the 2008 Tanglewood season (July 5 & 6) with a reprising of Hector Berlioz’ Les Troyans, which the orchestra had performed in April during their Symphony Hall subscription season. Not only is this a long piece of music, rarely played, but it never was performed entirely until long after Berlioz was dead – 100 years. Ars longa, vita brevis, indeed.

Maestro Levine divided the work in two, conducting the first 2 acts Saturday night before a Shed full of the usual opening night throng, followed by acts 3, 4, and 5 on Sunday afternoon to a much smaller assemblage.

As one learns from Hugh MacDonald’s extensive program notes, Berlioz had in his mind Virgil’s story of the death of Dido (The Aeneid) from childhood. He completed the composition in 1858 and got to work on having it performed, even lobbying the support of Emperor, who rejected it in favor of Wagner’s Tannhauser. Berlioz only ever heard truncated versions of Part ll.

And so to open the 2008 Tanglewood season, Levine conducted the BSO, eleven vocal soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in what he calls “one of the most amazing works ever created by anyone.”

It was a triumph of brilliant artistry, followed soon by the news that Mr. Levine, who looked exuberant and fit on the podium all weekend, would require surgery and miss the rest of the Tanglewood season. (He is expected to be ready to resume his full schedule with the Metropolitan Opera and the BSO in September.)

On July 12, Bernard Haitnik conducted the BSO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, with soloists Heidi Grant Murphy and Christianne Stotijn, and John Oliver conducting the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, fresh from their six-hours on stage the previous week.

Calling them the world’s poorest paid pros is just a trick to call attention to the TFC, which is made up of members who donate their services, meaning they are amateurs in the true sense of the word, but who perform at a level usually seen only among top-level professionals.

John Oliver founded the TFC in 1970, comprised today of 32 sopranos, 32 mezzo-sopranos, 29 tenors, and 35 basses. This performance was one of seven during their summer season. They toured Europe last fall with James Levine and the BSO and also have performed in Europe with Maestro Haitnik and in the Far East with Seiji Ozawa.

On July 20, BSO Assistant conductor Shi-Yeon Sung made her BSO and Tanglewood debut with a program of Schumann and Mendelssohn, with Garrick Ohlsson playing the Schumman Piano Concerto in A. Winner of the top prize in the Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamburg, she is scheduled to make her BSO subscription series debut at Symphony Hall in April 2009.

Ms. Sung was a captivating presence at the podium, alternating between a frenetic yet fluid dynamism and utter stillness according to the requirements of the score. And judging from the beautiful performances by Ohlsson and the BSO, she has the musicians’ full confidence, affection, and respect.

The special feature scheduled for the July 27 program in the Koussevitsky Music Shed was the performance of Joan Tower’s In Memory, performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Roberto Abbado conducting, with Ms. Tower in the audience.

Intruding upon the occasion was the weather, which resulted in a patron being struck by lightning earlier in the afternoon, torrential downpours delaying the start of the program, and finally, rolling thunder that seemed to us not so much a distraction from Ms. Tower’s elegaic composition, but somehow served to frame it, if not provide an uncalled-for embellishment.

Ms. Tower began work on In Memory, which is about death and loss, during the summer of 2001 after the death of a close friend, then the events of September 11 amplified the feeling of loss and suffering in the world and so increased the intensity of the music.

The injured patron’s condition has improved; that unfortunate event and nature’s unscheduled accompaniment only serve to make Ms. Tower’s composition and the rest of the day’s performance all the more memorable.