Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
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| Photo Credit: Hilary Scott |
by Michael J. Moran
Three recent concerts in Tanglewood's smaller performance venues showcased the growing diversity of musical styles available to discerning listeners there.
On August 3, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra played familiar symphonic music by three well-known composers under different conductors in Seiji Ozawa Hall. First, TMC conducting fellow and Louisiana native Lauren Smith led them in a sensitive reading of Ravel's 1917 "Le Tombeau de Couperin," a tribute to several friends killed in World War I. Using older French dance forms, it featured a swirling "Prelude," a poignant "Forlane," a graceful "Menuet," and an ebullient "Rigaudon." Polish TMC conducting fellow Julian Gilewski next led a buoyant account of Debussy's 1905 "La Mer, Three Symphonic Sketches," with a sparkling "From Dawn to Noon on the Sea," a joyous "Play of the Waves," and a powerful "Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea."
Superstar Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen closed the program with a blazing rendition of Bartok's masterful 1945 "Concerto for Orchestra." A dramatic "Andante...Allegro vivace," a playful "Game of Pairs," showcasing woodwind duets, a haunting "Elegy," and a rollicking "Interrupted Intermezzo" all culminated in an exhilarating "Finale: Presto," in which Salonen pressed his young colleagues with a daringly fast tempo - they never faltered.
A week later in Ozawa Hall, the TMCO and nine TMC vocal fellows presented a fascinating selection of music from ten American operas under the TMC conducting fellows. Highlights under Gilewski included: a yearning aria, "The world so wide," with soprano Diana Agasian, from Copland's "The Tender Land;" and a sensual "Waiting," with mezzo-soprano Ya Gao, and pensive "I remember long ago," with bass-baritone Raphael Laden-Guindon, from Harbison's "The Great Gatsby."
Among highlights led by Smith were: a radiant "Magnificat," with soprano Eden Bartholomew, from Adams' "El Nino;" a shattering "El Mundo," with mezzo-soprano Danielle Casos, from Frank's "Frida and Diego's Last Dream;" and four numbers from Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," including a transfixing "No word from Tom...I go to him," by soprano Zoe McCormick.
Two nights later, in the Linde Center's intimate Studio E, American pianist Adam Tendler played all 16 short piano pieces he commissioned from composer friends in memory of his father. Most memorable were: Laurie Anderson's perky "Remember/I Created You," with playful snatches of J. S. Bach and Elvis Presley; Missy Mazzoli's "mechanical and heartbreaking" (her own instructions) "Forgiveness Machine;" inti figgis-vizueta's riotous "hushing" (with video of Tendler's youth); Marcos Balter's lyrical "False Memories;" Darian Donavan Thomas's hyperactive "We don't need to tend this garden. They're wildflowers" (with Tendler speak-singing a live monologue); Nico Muhly's gorgeous "Eiris, Sones;" and Devonte Hynes' sublime "Morning Piece," closing Tendler's "Inheritances" cycle on a note of quiet peace. Tendler performed throughout with deep affection and boundless virtuosity.
