10 Tix Not To Miss: Music
The hills will be alive with plenty of music. Here are ten of the many performances we look forward to.
Summerscape outdoor stage
Who didn’t privately jump for joy when Tanglewood announced that it would have live programming this summer? But as much as the BSO’s summer home has an outsized importance to our region, it wouldn’t be the Berkshires and beyond without the other venues making music happen, too. The offerings are as varied as always. Other than the fact that most of the venues have chosen to go outdoors, it’s really only the protocols for audience safety that will remind us that we’re coming back from a pandemic. Before you go, be sure to check out the protocols posted on each venue's website to familiarize yourself with their audience guidelines for entrance and seating.
Bard Summerscape returns with a full season of live music, dance, opera and performance. Many of the productions will take place at The Stage at Montgomery Place, the 380-acre estate adjacent to the main Bard College campus and overlooking the Hudson River. You’ll need to bring your own seating and blankets (and food, if you like), but don’t be surprised if you find yourself standing and moving to the Black roots music filling the stage for two July weekends.
1. Three separate programs in the Black Roots Summer series include Mwenso and the Shakes “Love Will Be the Only Way,” an international blend of jazz and blues (May 23-24); “Genius of Mother Mary, A Sonic Retrospective of Mary Lou Williams” (July 29); and The Sound of (Black) Music, presenting “Edelweiss,” “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi” and other favorite songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved final musical as reimagined through an Afrofuturistic lens by 20-plus BIPOC vocalists and instrumentalists. That ought to be interesting. July 30-31.
Norman Garrett, who will sing the title role in "King Arthur" at Bard Summerscape
2. Each summer (exept for last), Summerscape mounts productions of somewhat obscure but worthwhile operas related to the featured composer of that season’s Bard Music Festival. This summer, that opera is “King Arthur” (“Le Roi Arthus”) by Ernest Chausson. Twenty years ago, festival founder and artistic director Leon Botstein conducted the score of the opera with the American Symphony at Avery Fisher Hall, which the New York Times described as “full of glowing beauty and that occasionally rises to an impassioned nobility all its own.” Now you can see the first fully-staged North American production of “King Arthur,” also conducted by Botstein. July 25-Aug. 1 at The Stage at Montgomery Place.
3. And finally, we get to what is perhaps the jewel in the crown over at Annandale-on-Hudson: The Bard Music Festival. Now in its 31st year, this summer is devoted to the work of Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979), the pioneering Parisian pedagogue, composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and indomitable personality who shaped more than a generation of American musicians, among them Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Virgil Thomson. In "Nadia Boulanger and Her World," The Festival will present example of Boulanger’s own music alongside that of her teachers, mentors, and contemporaries (Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel, Gershwin, Stravinsky). Programs are “Music in Paris,” Aug. 6-8, and “The 20th-Century Legacy of Nadia Boulanger," Aug. 13-15.
4. Right from the get-go in 2016, the Berkshire Opera Festival was met with enthusiastic audiences and critical praise. Except for last summer, the BOF has produced fully staged operas, hewing mostly to the classic opera repertoire. This summer, the Mainstage production at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is Verdi’s “Falstaff.” (Aug. 21, 24, 27). But there’s so much to be said for contemporary opera, too, and the BOC is going to prove it with “Glory Denied,” the true story of America’s longest-held prisoner of war. It follows Colonel Jim Thompson from his suffering in southeast Asia to his personal torment following his liberation. Sound heart-wrenching? Yes, but isn’t that one of the things we love about the genre? “Glory Denied," music and libretto by Tom Cipullo, will be fully staged and presented at the Daniel Arts Center McConnell Theater at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. July 22 and 24.
5. Two words: George Gershwin. Who could ask for anything more? Actually, that’s the name of the show (“Who Could Ask for Anything More?) as well as one of Gershwin’s most beloved tunes. A cast of stellar Broadway singers will perform a concert of Gershwin’s glorious music. Location: Outdoors at the BSC Production Center in Pittsfield, near the intersection of Merrill Road and Plastics Avenue. June 10-July 3.
Emily Braden
6. Last summer, The Foundry, a performing arts venue in West Stockbridge, pivoted to socially distanced outdoor programming. Again this year, it has lined up open-air performance every weekend of June through August on The Foundry Green, offering a platform of diverse, unique artists, both local and not. One that stands out: Emily Braden, a powerhouse jazz vocalist and magnetic performer. Idaho-born and Harlem-based, she has performed at NYC’s Blue Note, Birdland and on international festival circuits. At The Foundry, all outdoor events are rain or shine, and you can choose to buy tickets for table seating, which offers table service, or general admission on The Foundry Green (bring your own chairs or blankets). A full bar menu and food truck will be on site. July 31
7. Performance Space for the 21st Century is well suited for this season; its open-air Pavilion Theater ensures safe spaces for audiences, whether they’re there for music, theater, dance, or movement classes. While PS21’s chamber music series will bring in renowned chamber groups such as Escher String Quartet and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the novel "PS21 House Blend’" concerts will bridge the old and new, and feature celebrated soloists and groups in repertoire that spans from Bach to Paul Schoenfield. Like chamber music? Here’s something a little different. July 5, August 8, 19 and 26.
Tanglewood Shed. Photo: Fred Collins
The Tanglewood brochure proclaims “Reconnect. Restore. Rejoice.” That sums it up nicely. The festival has been compressed to a six-week Boston Symphony Orchestra concert season, with about half of the Festival’s usual offerings – and we’re still waiting to hear if and when John Legend and James Taylor will be able to make their commitments from last year’s cancellations. But your favorite guest artists are back, and Andris Nelsons will lead eight orchestra programs. For those who still aren’t comfortable venturing out to public gatherings, there will again be a robust online video streaming program. All concerts will take place in the Shed (seating capacity in the Shed and lawn have been decreased due to physical distancing protocols).
8. That being said, it’s still difficult to select the must-sees. We’ll start by suggesting the BSO concert with Andris Nelsons, who will be joined by John Williams conducting the world premiere of his Violin Concerto No. 2. The soloist is the great Anne-Sophie Mutter, a frequent Tanglewood artist. The concert also includes works by Copland and Stravinsky. July 24
9. From the Recital Series, you really won’t want to miss the All-Beethoven program —it’s Beethoven, after all, played by the all-star trio of Emanuel Ax, piano; Leonidas Kavakos, violin; and Yo-Yo Ma, cello. Last time we checked, the Shed was sold out, but lawn tickets were still available, and still worth it. July 30
10. And because we don’t want to leave out the Tanglewood Learning Institute’s offerings, and because he’s been so generous with his musical gift over the past year — especially in the Berkshires — we want to champion Yo-Yo Ma’s cello masterclass with Tanglewood Music Center fellows, open to the public. Ma’s conversations, pedagogic mastery and zest for life are as inspiring as his playing. Aug. 5.
