Article posted Feb. 14, 2018 by Dave Read
The 2018 Tanglewood schedule features a season-long celebration of the centennial of the birth, in Lawrence, MA, of Leonard Bernstein, who became the protege of Serge Koussevitsky in 1940 as a member of the first class of what became the Tanglewood Music Center. Bernstein’s last performance was at Tanglewood in 1990, two months before his death.
Leonard Bernstein conducting the BSO in the above photo, by Walter Scott.
Tanglewood’s July 2018 schedule includes these Bernstein compositions:
- July 5 – Variations on an Octatonic Scale, for flute and cello (1988-89)
- July 7 – On the Town (1944)
- July 9 – Opening Prayer (Benediction) (1986)
- July 12 – Trouble in Tahiti (1951)
- July 15 – Chichester Psalms (1965)
- July 21 – alil, Nocturne for flute and orchestra (1981)
- July 28 – West Side Story (1957)
TMC Brass – Winds, and Percussion Extravaganza
Sunday, July 1, 10:30 Seiji Ozawa Hall
String Quartet Marathon – The New Fromm Players
Sunday, July 1, 2:30 Seiji Ozawa Hall
TMC Vocal and Instrumental Fellows – An Evening of Bach Cantatas
Monday, July 2, 8:00 Seiji Ozawa Hall
Steve Miller Band, with Peter Frampton
Monday, July 2, 7:00 Koussevitsky Music Shed
James Taylor
Tuesday, July 3, 8:00 Koussevitsky Music Shed
James Taylor
Wednesday, July 4, 8:00 Koussevitsky Music Shed – Fireworks to follow
Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
Thursday, July 5, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- MOZART Quintet in E-flat for piano and winds, K.452
- WEINBERG Sonata for solo double bass, Op. 108
- BERNSTEIN Variations on an Octatonic Scale, for flute and cello
- SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44
Opening Night at Tanglewood – Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Lang Lang, piano
Friday, July 6, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- ALL-TCHAIKOVSKY PROGRAM
- Piano Concerto No. 1,
- Symphony No. 5
BERNSTEIN On the Town
Saturday, July 7, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Boston Pops Orchestra – Keith Lockhart, conductor
- Singers
- Kathleen Marshall, director
- David Chase, musical director
Andris Nelsons conducts Brahms and Shostakovich
Sunday, July 8, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor
- Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
- BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
- SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor
Monday, July 9, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- TMC Conducting Fellows
- BERNSTEIN Opening Prayer (Benediction)
- SMETANA Vyšehrad
- DVOÁK Carnival Overture
- STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben
Jeremy Denk, piano
Wednesday, July 11, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- PROKOFIEV Visions fugitives
- BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109
- BEETHOVEN (arr. LISZT) An die ferne Geliebte
- SCHUMANN Fantasy in C, Op. 17
Bernstein’s Trouble In Tahiti
Thursday, July 12, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- Instrumental Ensemble
- Charles Prince, conductor
- Alexandra Silber, soprano
- Shuler Hensley, baritone
- Vocal Ensemble, Jamie Bernstein, directo
Boston Symphony Orchestra Moritz Gnann, conductor
Friday, July 13, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Paul Lewis, piano
- WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
- MOZART Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat, K.595
- SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3, Rhenish
Yoga on the Lawn at Tanglewood – July 14, 21, and 28
Once again this summer, in collaboration with the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Tanglewood is pleased to offer hour-long yoga classes taught by fully accredited Kripalu teachers from 10:15-11:15am on Saturday mornings (weather permitting). Located on the lawn near the Tanglewood Visitor Center, these weekly classes are available at no additional charge to Saturday-morning BSO Rehearsal ticket holders on July 14, 21, and 28, and August 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor
Saturday, July 14, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Kristine Opolais, soprano (Mimì)
- Piotr Becza?a, tenor (Rodolfo)
- Susanna Phillips, soprano (Musetta)
- Franco Vassallo, baritone (Marcello)
- Davide Luciano, baritone (Schaunard)
- Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone (Colline)
- Paul Plishka, bass (Benoît/Alcindoro)
- Neal Ferreira, tenor (Parpignol)
- David Cushing, bass (Customs Sergeant)
- Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
- Children’s Choir
- PUCCINI La bohème
- Semi-staged performance sung in Italian with English supertitles
Hotels near Tanglewood
Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor
Sunday, July 15, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Yuja Wang, piano
- Boy soprano
- Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
- MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4, Italian
- BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1
- BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Monday, July 16, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- TMC Conducting Fellows
- MOZART Symphony No. 35, Haffner
- BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3
- BRAHMS Symphony No. 4
Pamela Frank, violin Emanuel Ax, piano – ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
Wednesday, July 18, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- Violin Sonata No. 10 in B-flat, K.378
- Violin Sonata No. 9 in F, K.377
- Piano Sonata No. 15 in F, K.533
- Violin Sonata No. 13 in B-flat, K.454
The Fleisher-Jacobsen Piano Duo
Thursday, July 19, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- Leon Fleisher, piano,
- and Katherine Jacobsen, piano
- J.S. BACH Capriccio in B-flat, BWV 992
- J.S. BACH Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
- J.S. BACH (arr. BRAHMS) Chaconne in D minor for the left hand
- KIRCHNER L.H.
- BRAHMS Sixteen Waltzes, Op. 39, for piano four-hands
- RAVEL La Valse, for piano four-hands
- Celebrating Leon Fleisher’s 90th birthday
Boston Symphony Orchestra Herbert Blomstedt, conductor – ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
Friday, July 20, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Emanuel Ax, piano
- Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K.453
- Symphony No. 41, Jupiter
- UnderScore Friday Concert
Tanglewood Date Night Packages Available July 20 and 27
Date Night packages are available on July 20 and 27, and August 3 and 17. The package includes a preconcert dinner for two at Highwood and two premium tickets in the Shed for $180, or two lawn tickets and two lawn chairs plus a pre-concert dinner at Highwood for $150. Both packages include a tour of the grounds. Purchase tickets >
Boston Symphony Orchestra Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Saturday, July 21, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Elizabeth Rowe, flute
- Hannah Morrison, soprano
- Elisabeth Kulman, mezzo-soprano
- Nicholas Phan, tenor
- Michael Nagy, baritone
- Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
- MOZART Symphony No. 34
- BERNSTEIN Halil, Nocturne for flute and orchestra
- HAYDN Missa in angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass)
Boston Symphony Orchestra Thomas Adès, conductor
Sunday, July 22, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Christian Tetzlaff, violin
- Thomas ADES Suite from Powder Her Face
- SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
- SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Stefan Asbury, conductor
Monday, July 23, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- TMC Conducting Fellows
- TMC Vocal Fellows
- BERNSTEIN Facsimile, Choreographic Essay for Orchestra
- Michael GANDOLFI New work for six voices and orchestra (world premiere; TMC commission)
- COPLAND Symphony No. 3
Emerson String Quartet ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM
Tuesday, July 24, 8 p.m. 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat, Op. 127
- String Quartet No. 16 in F, Op. 135
- String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Emerson String Quartet ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM
Wednesday, July 25, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
- String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat, Op. 130
- Grosse Fuge in B-flat, Op. 133
2018 Festival of Contemporary Music, July 26-30
BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès, Director
Tanglewood’s 2018 Festival of Contemporary Music—the first of two with BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès as Festival Director—will feature chamber music programs for large and small ensembles, encompassing works by Gerald Barry, Harrison Birtwistle, Francisco Coll, Veronika Krausas, György Kurtág, Andrew Norman, Sean Shepherd, Conlon Nancarrow, and Per Nørgård, among other composers to be announced. The Festival will also include the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by English composer Oliver Christophe Leith for two voices and large chamber ensemble.
Boston Symphony Orchestra Juanjo Mena, conductor
Friday, July 27, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Garrick Ohlsson, piano
- BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
- MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271
- BRAHMS Symphony No. 3
Boston Symphony Orchestra David Newman, conductor – BERNSTEIN West Side Story
Saturday, July 28, 8 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
The Boston Symphony plays Leonard Bernstein’s electrifying score live, while the newly remastered film is shown on large screens in high definition with the original vocals and dialogue intact.
Boston Symphony Orchestra Juanjo Mena, conductor
Sunday, July 29, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed
- Gil Shaham, violin
- HAYDN Symphony No. 88
- PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1
- MOZART Symphony No. 40
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Thomas Adès, conductor
Monday, July 30, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall
- TMC Conducting Fellows
- Kirill Gerstein, piano
- Poul RUDERS Thus Saw Saint John
- Thomas ADÈS In Seven Days, for piano and orchestra
- Gerald BARRY Of Queens’ Gardens
- LUTOSLAWSKI Symphony No. 3
Hotels near Tanglewood
Tanglewood tickets and box office information
Tickets for the 2018 Tanglewood season, $12-$160, are available through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. Download the 2018 Tanglewood season brochure.
Getting around the Tanglewood campus
The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds. This dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds includes photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.
