Article by Dave Read

Leonard Slatkin celebrates his 70th birthday on Friday, August 8, leading the BSO in a program featuring the world premiere of composer William Bolcom’s Circus Overture, which was commissioned by the BSO to honor Maestro Slatkin. Gil Shaham joins Mr. Slatkin and the Orchestra for Barber’s Violin Concerto, and the concert concludes with Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Then Stephane Deneve leads the BSO in a program with music by Tchaikovsky and two works from the 20th century. First, Mr. Deneve leads the orchestra in Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun, followed by Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with violinist Leonidas Kavakos; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 bring the concert to a close.

Yo-Yo Ma plays Tchaikovsky at Tanglewood

On Sunday, August 10, Yo-Yo Ma is featured in an all-Tchaikovsky program with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Zinman. Mr. Ma is featured in the Andante cantabile and the Variations on a Rococo Theme, both for cello and orchestra. The program also includes the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece Eugene Onegin, and the perennial favorite Symphony No. 6, Pathétique.

Pianist Jeremy Denk gives an Ozawa Hall recital Wednesday, August 13, for a program of Ives’s Sonata No. 2, Concord, and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra comes to Ozawa Hall on Thursday, August 14, for a performance of Handel’s 1713 opera seria Teseo, led by early music specialist Nicholas McGegan. The cast includes sopranos Amanda Forsythe, Amy Freston, Dominique Labelle, and Céline Ricci; countertenors Robin Blaze and Drew Minter; and baritone Jeffrey Fields.

Friday, August 8, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert, Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Friday, August 8, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood, Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, August 8, 8:30 p.m. Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Leonard Slatkin, conductor
• Gil Shaham, violin
• BOLCOM Circus Overture (world premiere; BSO commission)
• BARBER Violin Concerto
• ELGAR Enigma Variations
• Celebrating Leonard Slatkin’s 70th birthday

Saturday, August 9, 9:30 a.m. Shed, Pre-Rehearsal Talk
Saturday, August 9, 10:30 a.m. Shed, Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 9, 8:30 p.m. Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Stephane Deneve, conductor
• Leonidas Kavakos, violin
• DEBUSSY Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun
• SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2
• TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

Sunday, August 10, 2:30 p.m. Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• David Zinman, conductor
• Yo-Yo Ma, cello
• ALL-TCHAIKOVSKY PROGRAM
• Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
• Andante cantabile, for cello and strings
• Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra
• Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

Wednesday, August 13, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

• Jeremy Denk, piano
• IVES Sonata No. 2, Concord
• J.S. BACH Goldberg Variations

Thursday, August 14, 7:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall

• Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
• Nicholas McGegan, conductor
• Amanda Forsythe, soprano (Teseo)
• Amy Freston, soprano (Agilea)
• Dominique Labelle, soprano (Medea)
• Celine Ricci, soprano (Clizia)
• Robin Blaze, countertenor (Arcane)
• Drew Minter, countertenor (Egeo)
• Jeffrey Fields, baritone (Priest of Minerva)
• HANDEL Teseo
• Extended concert; sung in Italian with English supertitles

Tanglewood program August 8-14, 2014

BSO Celebrates Leonard Slatkin’s 70th Birthday, August 8, With World Premiere Of Bolcom’s Circus Overture; Stephane Deneve leads program of Debussy, Szymanowski, And Tchaikovsky, August 9; David Zinman conducts All-Tchaikovsky program with Yo-yo Ma, August 10; Jeremy Denk plays Bach Goldberg Variations and Ives’s Sonata No. 2, August 13; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performs Handel’s Teseo in Ozawa Hall, August 14