On Saturday, July 14, at 8:30 p.m., luminaries of the classical music world and beyond—including Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, John Williams, Keith Lockhart, Emanuel Ax, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Peter Serkin, Andris Nelsons, and David Zinman gathered to celebrate Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary season with a gala program that also spotlighted the festivals’ three major orchestral forces—the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and the Tanglewood Music Center orchestras, as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
| The program opened with works by two artists closely associated with the festival during its early history; Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, followed by Three Dance Episodes from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town. The Tanglewood 75th Celebration Gala Concert, which brings together some of the festival’s most distinguished and longtime guest artists and patrons, also featured works by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel, and performances by vocal fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s prestigious summer music academy. A full program listing appears at the end of this document. |
A highlight of the gala evening was the presentation by John Williams of the first-ever Tanglewood Medal to Seiji Ozawa in absentia. Yo-Yo Ma read a response from Mr. Ozawa from the stage at approximately 10:30 p.m. In addition to his myriad contributions to the BSO’s performance, touring, and recording activities during his 29-year tenure as BSO music director, Seiji Ozawa has also played a major role in nurturing Tanglewood’s artistic life and expanding its profile as an international festival of the first rank. For further information about the first-ever Tanglewood Medal presented to Seiji Ozawa, click here. Further details about the Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Season are available at www.tanglewood.org.
The décor for the pre-concert Tanglewood 75th Gala Dinner at 5 p.m. reflected the Art Deco style, a period of design that was quite fashionable in 1937, the year of the founding of Tanglewood.
Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Gala Celebration Concert Program Details
| COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man (07); (Boston Pops Orchestra brass/Keith Lockhart) BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On the Town (11); (BPO/Lockhart) Selections from the GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK, (arr. Gil Goldstein) ARLEN & HARBURG “Over the Rainbow” (03) RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN “Shall We Dance?” (03) KERN & HAMMERSTEIN “Ol’ Man River” (03) (James Taylor/BPO/John Williams) HAYDN Piano Concerto in D, 2nd and 3rd movements (10) (Emanuel Ax/Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra/Stefan Asbury) TCHAIKOVSKY Andante cantabile, for cello and strings (08); (Yo-Yo Ma/TMCO) SARASATE Carmen Fantasy, for violin and orchestra (12) (Anne-Sophie Mutter/TMCO/Andris Nelsons) |
20 minute intermission
RAVEL La Valse, Choreographic poem (14); (BSO/Andris Nelsons)
First-ever Tanglewood Medal presented by John Williams to Seiji Ozawa in absentia; Yo-Yo Ma to read a response from Mr. Ozawa from the stage at approximately 10:30 p.m.
BEETHOVEN Fantasia in C minor for piano, chorus, and orchestra, Op. 80 (19)
(Peter Serkin/BSO/TFC/TMC Vocal Fellows/David Zinman)
Pianist Emanual Ax, conductor David Zinamn, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma (Tom Fitzsimmons)
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Tanglewood, one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, celebrates its 75th anniversary season, June 22-September 2, with a spectacular lineup of musical guests and programs that spotlight Tanglewood’s rich tradition of presenting summertime concerts at their best since 1937. Tickets, priced from $9 to $117 for regular season concerts*, are available at tanglewood.org or at 888-266-1200; Tanglewood offers free lawn tickets to young people age 17 and under and a 50% discount on lawn tickets to college and graduate students.