2014 Tanglewood reviews

Dec. 6, 2014 Article by Dave Read Reading the New Yorker is always an entertaining and edifying activity, and sometimes more, such as when I got a rush of sympatico from an article by Alex Ross in the Dec. 1, 2014 issue, Brushfires; Andris Nelsons energizes the Boston Symphony. The caption of the accompanying illustration […]

Beethoven Symphony 9 at Tanglewood Article by Dave Read The August 24 performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was the final item on the 2014 schedule of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season at Tanglewood, as it almost always is. It is such an immense work of art that to call it a fitting way to […]

Wizard of Oz with Boston Pops at Tanglewood Article by Dave Read Billed as Oz with Orchestra, the Tanglewood presentation of a newly restored print of The Wizard of Oz, vocals and dialogue intact and paired with the Boston Pops’ performance of the original orchestration, made for a thoroughly entertaining experience. Way more than a […]

Beach Boys at Tanglewood, Aug. 18, 2014 Article by Dave Read The Beach Boys, in the persons of Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and replacements for Brian, Carl, Dennis Wilson, and Al Jardine, did an estimable job of re-creating the mid-60s pop music milieu during their concert at Tanglewood for an audience primarily in their mid-60s. […]

Emanuel Ax & Alexander Nevsky headline Aug. 15, 2014 Tanglewood program Article by Dave Read Tanglewood was the place to be tonight for anyone interested in the breadth and depth of music – in sampling the continuum of sound available in the performance of symphonic compositions. On paper, this was a simple program, two composers, […]

August 5, 2014 Article by Dave Read The 2014 Tanglewood on Parade Gala Concert featured Gov. Duval Patrick reciting This Difficult Song: The Star-Spangled Banner at 200, and Maestros Stephane Deneve, Keith Lockhart, Andris Poga, Leonard Slatkin, and John Williams conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and students from the […]

Lizzie Borden opera at Ozawa Hall Tanglewood Article by Dave Read Lizzie Borden, A Chamber Version in Seven Scenes was performed in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, in a presentation by the Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra that brought the house down. Maybe this opera gives the lie to the maxim that the US, in comparison to […]

Verdi delights at Tanglewood July 27, 2014 Article by Dave Read When I organized my Tanglewood calendar, the chief reason I selected this program was because it featured the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC), which I have come to know and enjoy by way of their annual appearance on the season finale program of Beethoven’s Symphony […]

2014 Tanglewood Music Center Fellows video series Article by Dave Read New Tanglewood Tales: Backstage with Rising Artists is a series of videos spotlighting the professional and personal lives of six Fellows from the 2014 class of the Tanglewood Music Center, the summer home in the Berkshires of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The musicians will […]

Andris Nelsons Tanglewood program with Joshua Bell Beethoven’s Fifth Article by Dave Read The program at Tanglewood on Sunday July 20, 2014, a mix of the new, the rare, and the familiar, with Andris Nelsons conducting the BSO, and guest soloist Joshua Bell, attracted a very big audience to the Koussevitsky Music Shed on a […]