San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor, reprise one of the highlights of last fall’s Symphony Hall subscription series, the pairing of Mozart’s beloved Requiem with Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, written to celebrate the BSO’s 50th anniversary, Friday, July 16, at 8:30 p.m.
Mr. Tilson Thomas returns to the podium on Saturday, July 17, to lead Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra; mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill; the Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor; and the American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director.
Rounding out the weekend events are a special Sunday-afternoon Shed performance by the Boston Pops Orchestra and conductor Keith Lockhart, joined by Alec Baldwin, who will narrate The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, and folk music legend Arlo Guthrie; and an evening recital in Ozawa Hall by Broadway/television songstress Audra McDonald.
FRIDAY, JULY 16, 8:30 P.M., SHED –
BSO, MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS, AND TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL CHORUS IN MOZART AND STRAVINSKY
In a repeat performance of one of the most popular concerts in last fall’s Symphony Hall subscription series, the BSO, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas˚ present Mozart’s glorious Requiem and Stravinsky’s neoclassical Symphony of Psalms. The Symphony of Psalms, completed in 1930, was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Written about 140 years earlier, Mozart’s Requiem dates from the last year of Mozart’s life and was left incomplete when the composer died. Michael Tilson Thomas is the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony.
SATURDAY, JULY 17, AT 8:30 P.M., SHED –
TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER ORCHESTRA, LED BY TILSON THOMAS, EXPLORE MAHLER’S THIRD
Maestro Tilson Thomas leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in its first Shed performance of the season, joined by the Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director, and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill. In addition to the massive forces required, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 stretches to approximately 100 minutes, making it the longest piece in the standard orchestral repertoire.
SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2:30 P.M., SHED –
KEITH LOCKHART AND BOSTON POPS WITH ALEC BALDWIN AND ARLO GUTHRIE
Arlo Guthrie at Tanglewood with the Boston Pops.
Currently in its 125th anniversary season, the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart, along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver˚, conductor, welcome renowned folk musician Arlo Guthrie and Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin. Alec Baldwin joins the orchestra and chorus to narrate The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, by composer Peter Boyer and Tony Award-winning lyricist Lynn Ahrens.
This new multi-media work, commissioned for the Pops, combines quotes from speeches by the Kennedy brothers with original text and video, accompanied by a dramatic orchestral score. Arlo Guthrie will join the Pops for a set that includes favorites like “This Land Is Your Land,” “Coming into L.A.,” and “City of New Orleans.”
The world premiere performance of The Dream Lives On took place at Symphony Hall on May 18 and 19 with actors Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Cherry Jones narrating. On July 4, the Boston Pops released a recording of the world premiere performances of The Dream Lives On, available for purchase as a CD on www.bostonpops.org/shop, Amazon.com, and at the Symphony Shop in Boston and Glass Houses at Tanglewood. The album is also available for download as a complete CD www.bostonpops.org/digital.
SUNDAY, JULY 18, 8 P.M., OZAWA HALL –
AUDRA MCDONALD REVISITS AND REINVENTS THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK
Audra McDonald
Sunday night at 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall, beloved singer/actress Audra McDonald, accompanied by pianist Ted Sperling, makes her Ozawa Hall debut in “A New American Songbook,” a recital offering an eclectic mix of standard favorites and songs written expressly for her by today’s finest musical theater composers. Ms. McDonald, who currently stars in the television series Private Practice, seamlessly blends musical genres and has won four Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 8 P.M., OZAWA HALL –
TROUBADOR BENJAMIN BAGBY IN BEOWULF
In one of the season’s more unusual performances, harpist, vocalist, and medievalist Benjamin Bagby draws us back into the world of tribal society and Nordic legend, recreating in concert the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, the oldest extant complete poem in English. Mr. Bagby, through song, speech, and playing his six-string harp, relates in Old English (with modern English supertitles) the story of the chieftain Beowulf, who defeats the monster Grendel in battle.
THURSDAY, JULY 22, 8 P.M., OZAWA HALL –
CELLIST PIETER WISPELWEY OFFERS A FEAST OF BACH
Pieter Wispelwey
Bach’s Suites for solo cello, popularized in the first quarter of the 20th century by the legendary Pablo Casals, are the pinnacles of the solo repertoire for the instrument. At 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey offers a rare opportunity to hear all six suites in a single night, giving an extended-performance concert with two intermissions.
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TANGLEWOOD TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are available through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA. Shed tickets are priced from $9-$115, with Open Rehearsals priced at $17. Ozawa Hall tickets are priced from $11 to $97.
To Week Three Schedule: July 23-29
