[LENOX, Mass.]—Perfect summer weather is in the forecast for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s second weekend at Tanglewood, which promises to be a stellar one, from the Boston Pops Orchestra salute to the great songwriter Cole Porter to an all-Sibelius evening with the BSO to a pair of concerts of Ravel’s compositions for solo piano performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
The weekend begins with conductor Kurt Masur, a frequent presence on the podium, leading the BSO in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, Spring, on Friday evening, July 15, in the Shed. Internationally known cellist Lynn Harrell will perform the Dvořák piece with the orchestra, one of the composer’s most popular works since it was first performed in 1896.
On Saturday evening, John Storgaards, chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, will make his Tanglewood debut, conductin
g the BSO for his first time. Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider, who is not only an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician but the principal guest conductor of the Maarinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg, joins Storgaards and the orchestra in an all-Sibelius program featuring the soaring Violin Concerto, the majestic Symphony No. 5, the beloved tone poem Finlandia, and Valse triste. Storgaards, a violin virtuoso as well as an accomplished conductor, is also the artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland, frequently giving concerts north of the Arctic Circle.
On Sunday, July 17, celebrated Broadway stars Kelli O’Hara and Jason Danieley join conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra for an afternoon concert of Pops orchestral favorites and a tribute to the great Cole Porter. Danieley, who has been hailed by the New York Times as “the most exquisite tenor on Broadway,” and the three-time Tony nominated O’Hara recently joined the Boston Pops on tour with this tribute program, garnering rave reviews. Porter, the Indiana-born, classically trained
master of musical theater, wrote many hit songs including such classics as “It’s De-lovely,” “You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes,” “So in Love,” and “In the Still of the Night.” Porter’s bewitching melodies and smart lyrics have established him as one of the most beloved and prolific contributors to the American Songbook.
On July 20 and 21, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Ravel, offers the rare opportunity to hear the composer’s complete music for solo piano in two Ozawa Hall concerts. Ravel’s unique body of work in this genre—a total of about 2 hours and 20 minutes of music—is considered to rank with the finest piano music ever written. Highlights include Miroirs, Gaspard de la nuit, Jeux d’eau, Valses nobles et sentimentales, and Le Tombeau de Couperin. On July 24, Thibaudet will join the BSO in the Shed for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Piano Concerto in D for the left hand, as part of a program concentrating on the music of this great French composer.
The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestr
a performs an eclectic program in Ozawa Hall July 17 under the direction of Kurt Masur and TMC Conducting Fellows. Masur leads the orchestra in Schumann’s turbulent and ultimately triumphant Symphony No. 2 and Strauss’s colorful symphonic poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. Also on the program are Dukas’s well-known The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, conducted by TMC Conducting Fellow Robert Trevino, and Kodály’s orchestral suite from the opera Háry János, conducted by TMC Conducting Fellow Case Scaglione.
Tickets are available at www.tanglewood.org, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, or at the Tanglewood box office at Tanglewood’s Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, Mass.