tanglewood05

Issue #44

Last Update March 2, 2006

Arts Tanglewood 2005 by Dave Sear October 10, 2005 Every Tanglewood season brings something different. This season, the difference was the debut of James Levine as Musical Director after many seasons in which Seiji Ozawa exercised control over the format and content of this summer concert series. Based on the performances seen by this reviewer, the series and the Boston Symphony are both in good hands.

On Thursday July 21st in Seiji Ozawa Hall three Mendelssohn quartets were performed by the Emerson String Quartet. This stunning ensemble performs while standing and delivers a flawless, well thought out and solid musical experience which left the audience with an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the quartets of Mendelssohn. The second movement of the E-flat quartet featured a gorgeous melody performed with charm and a delightful pizzicato accompaniment on the cello.

The following evening and the evening after, the Boston Symphony Orchestra under their new musical director, James Levine, performed four Brahms symphonies. The second evening presented the second and fourth symphonies and this was this reviewer's introduction to the conducting of Mr. Levine. A few changes were immediately apparent. The violins had a more piercing sound and the strings sounded more solid then before, with the basses moved to the left side behind the first violins. In the space where the basses had been, the brass produced a bright magnificent sound, the best I have ever heard at Tanglewood. Horn and flute solos provided beautiful moments during the symphonies and the young timpanist continues to support the orchestra with his excellent musicianship. The evening might have been enriched by more variety in the programming and I am looking forward to hearing Mr. Levine’s interpretation of other composers.

The next evening the orchestra was back in its traditional seating format, conducted by Jens George Bachmann, who, it appears, is a protégé of James Levine. The performance included Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist. The Boston Symphony played with its usual warm and wonderful sound. Mr. Zuckerman produced a thin piercing tone over all, but showed himself to be a true master of the instrument in the cadenzas and in the second movement. He created a warm mood in an over-all lyrical performance where the sonorities of the orchestra enriched his tone. There was a majestic feeling to the last movement, with nice blends between the soloist, the horns, and the reeds.

A high point of the season was an all-Mozart program conducted by James Conlon. which opened smartly with a brightly conducted Overture to The Impresario, with the brass, woodwinds and strings in the beautifully blending for which the orchestra is famous.

The Overture was followed by Mozart’s Concerto in C for Flute and Harp, with Sir James Galway and Ann Hobson Pilot, first harpist of the BSO, as soloists. There were times when the flute sounded like the chirping of birds and when echoed by the harp it transported the listener on a flight through paradise. This listener heard traces of Eine Kleine Nachtmusic in the concerto. The cadenza of the rondo contained a lovely harp solo accompanied by a trill on the flute and the over all feeling of the afternoon was the genius of Mozart hovering over the beautiful Tanglewood Music Shed. The conducting of James Conlon was almost unnoticeable, which is the highest complement I can pay to a conductor who produces a concert where the music reigns glorious and supreme.

The afternoon delight of Mozart was followed that evening by The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart with a concert, that was billed as "All That Jazz". In actuality there turned out to be very little jazz, with the entire second half of the program turned over to the Broadway singer Linda Eder. When all Ms. Eder could think to say about her songs was on which album they could be found, I knew we were in trouble. She performed a set of Judy Garland songs where she showed she was no Judy Garland. She sang a song about 9/11 which this reviewer found incomprehensible along with her introduction. Even the old warhorse Stars and Stripes, which the Boston Pops is famous for, could not resurrect the evening when it was played as an encore.

The first half of the evening closed with a “Patriotic Sing-Along”, where this folk singer/reviewer felt the emotional content of Woody Guthrie’s most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land", was lost in the arrangement. The high point of the evening was Doodletown Fifers, a suite of traditional American melodies arranged by Patrick Hollenbeck, a percussionist with the orchestra. It was reminiscent of the Hershey Kay suite of British folk tunes which The New York City Ballet turned into the spectacular, grandiloquent ballet Union Jack. If Peter Martin is looking for an America extravaganza, here's the music. This year's Pops concert was disappointing compared to many past years that have been wonderful (See NY Stringer 2004, Tanglewood on Parade) The likes of Kristin Chenoweth, the Four Freedoms and other inspirations of Keith Lockhart will return in the future I'm sure.

With my summer at Tanglewood cut short this year, the season ended for me with an all Beethoven program performed by two of the world’s great musicians, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax. Messrs. Ma and Ax strode onto the stage where Mr. Ax explained that the Ozawa Hall concert grand piano, so familiar to the audience, had been borrowed that night for a wedding. In its place was an Extended Compass 80 note Viennese Fortepiano made by R.J. Regier of Freeport Maine. Mr. Ma explained that he would be playing a modified Strad cello which he held between his legs with no pin. It had a sweet tone with a rich bass on which he gave a highly related expressively played performance. Mr. Ma and Mr. Ax played as one, totally equal players, each as important to the music as the other with all technical problems left far behind. There was an excellent blend between the two period instruments in tone and balance. In the second half of the concert the regular house piano appeared and Mr. Ma came on stage with his modern cello. As in other performances the cello seemed to be at times overpowered by the piano. The evening ended with the Beethoven Cello Sonata No. 3 in A, Opus 69, which this reviewer grew up with as the son of Isaac Sear, a concert cellist. The gorgeous themes of this sonata culminated in the warm flowing melodies of the Adagio Cantabile-Allegro Vivace. It was a rare treat that made this listener want to come back to Tanglewood next year for what will be his sixty-sixth season.