REVIEW: Boston Pops Orchestra, "Keith Lockhart 30th Anniversary Celebration"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA 

www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 22, 2025 

by Michael J. Moran 

Keith Lockhart, photo by Hilary Scott

Perfect Berkshire weather graced the opening evening of Tanglewood 2025’s closing weekend. Friday’s “Prelude” program featured internationally acclaimed pianist and Smith College music professor Jiayan Sun and four Boston Symphony Orchestra members in forceful accounts of Carl Reinecke’s romantic 1905 “Trio for clarinet, horn, and piano” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s sprightly 1797 “Quintet in E-flat for piano and winds.”  

The evening’s main event was a celebration of Keith Lockhart’s 30th anniversary as conductor of the Boston Pops. The program’s variety show for at showcased the broad repertoire of a typical Pops concert in guest appearances by artists from many musical genres. The Pops opened with lively takes on the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” from Styne and Sondheim’s “Gypsy.” Next, jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli played and sang a soulful “The Nearness of You,” by Carmichael and Washington, and a virtuosic “I Got Rhythm,” by the Gershwins. 

Other performers included genre-bending string trio Time for Three, with a showy excerpt from a concerto by jazz composer Chris Brubeck. Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez sang a tender “Home,” from “The Wiz,” by Smalls. The ageless Bernadette Peters (who promised to return for Lockhart’s 60thanniversary) sang a rousing “Before the Parade Passes By,” from Jerry Herman’s “Hello, Dolly!” Broadway leading man Brian Stokes Mitchell sang a fervent “Impossible Dream,” from “Man of La Mancha,” by Leigh and Darion. Elegant Pops arrangements and lush support by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, prepared by their conductor, James Burton, enhanced many numbers. 

Two of the video sequences shown were particularly effective: excerpts from the documentary film “From Sea to Shining Sea,” about Massachusetts author Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote “America the Beautiful,” stirringly narrated by Boston actress Paula Plum; and a witty adaptation by David Chase of “I’m (He’s) Still Here,” from Sondheim’s “Follies,” with Lockhart-specific lyrics, and cameos by 30+ friends of the Maestro, from Leslie Odom, Jr. to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, toasting Lockhart's longevity. Seamless direction by Broadway veteran Jason Danieley moved everyone smoothly around the stage. 

Reflecting on the Tanglewood 2025 season, this frequent visitor (4 Shed concerts, 11 in Ozawa Hall) was impressed with the high levels of attendance by patrons of all ages, despite heat waves and rainy days, and with the continuing balance of traditions (like “Talks and Walks” by artists and “Tanglewood on Parade”) with new offerings (Linde Hall lectures, etc.). 

REVIEW: Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, "3 Season End Concerts"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 4, 11, & 18, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

The last three TMCO concerts gave the two 2025 TMC conducting fellows two more chances to share the podium with Boston Symphony Orchestra guest conductors and a unique opportunity to co-conduct a one-act opera.

Leonard Weiss, photo by Hilary Scott

That was a magical semi-staged TMC production of Maurice Ravel’s 1925 “The Child and the Spells," of which Leonard Weiss led the first half and Yiran Zhao, the second. In a pre-concert talk, renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw, the lead TMC faculty organizer of the event, called the opera “a series of life lessons.” A seven-year-old boy rebels against doing his homework by harming objects and animals around him, who realize, when he bandages a baby squirrel he’s wounded, that, in Colette’s libretto, “he is a good child after all.” TMC vocal fellows and instrumentalists responded with equal sensitivity and charm to Weiss’ suave, elegant leadership and to Zhao’s more overtly emotional conducting style.

Ravel, photo by Hilary Scott

A week later, Zhao opened the program with a soulful reading of BSO composer Carlos Simon’s BSO commission, “Four Black American Dances,” sharply differentiating the “Ring Shout,” “Waltz,” “Tap!,” and “Holy Dance.” Weiss followed with a lively account of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony, featuring a spacious “Allegro,” a warm “Larghetto,” a stately “Gavotte,” and a brisk “Finale.” Colombian-born conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada closed the concert with a colorful take on Ravel’s orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Standout numbers included: a haunting “Old Castle;” a playful “Ballet of Chicks in Their Shells; and a majestic “Great Gate at Kiev.”

Weiss opened the August 18 concert with a carefully shaped “Chairman Dances: Foxtrot for Orchestra,” an “out-take” from John Adams’ 1987 opera “Nixon in China.” Zhao next led an exuberant rendition of Bartok’s Hungarian-flavored 1923 “Dance Suite.” Finnish conductor Dima Slobodeniouk closed the program with an electrifying performance of Tchaikovsky’s dramatic fourth symphony. The orchestra played an anguished “Andante-Moderato,” a melancholy “Andantino,” a sprightly “Scherzo,” and a whirlwind “Finale” with passion and poise.  

At the end of every 2025 TMCO concert with three conductors, the guest conductor has brought out the TMC conducting fellows for a group bow (and hug), a respectful gesture that literally embraces them as peers in the making.

REVIEW: Tanglewood, "AMOC/Brooklyn Rider/The Sixteen"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 7, 13 & 14, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

The last three concerts in Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall series broadened the range and repertoire offered in several earlier concerts during the 2025 season.

AMOC, photo by Hilary Scott

On August 7, the American Modern Opera Company, under composer/conductor Matthew Aucoin, presented Aucoin’s 2025 one-act opera “Music for New Bodies.” Set to poems by Jorie Graham and imaginatively staged by renowned director Peter Sellars, its five scenes reflect poignantly on surviving a cancer diagnosis and planetary destruction. The adventurous score makes protean demands on five singers, 18 instrumentalists, and electronics. High soprano Song Hee Lee, soprano Meryl Dominguez, mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, tenor Paul Appleby, and bass-baritone Evan Hughes met the challenge, though often singing in motion and sometimes lying prone on platforms across the stage. The stunning performance made a powerful impact.

Six days later, string quartet Brooklyn Rider celebrated their 20th anniversary in a concert that highlighted their eclectic programming taste. The group opened with ensemble violinist Colin Jacobson’s touching tribute to ethnomusicologist Ruth Crawford Seeger, “A Short While To Be Here…,” based on the American folk song “Little Birdie.” Next came Reena Esmail’s haunting “Zeher” (“Poison”), followed by Philip Glass’s hypnotic third string quartet. With special guest Yo-Yo Ma on second cello, they closed with a rhapsodic account of Schubert’s sublime last work, the 1828 String Quintet in C. Their heartfelt encore, an arrangement for quintet (with a juicy solo for Ma) of Osvaldo Golijov’s song “Lua Descolorida” (“Colorless Moon”) delighted the capacity audience, including the composer.

Sixteen, photo by Hilary Scott

The next evening, pioneering British choristers, the Sixteen, and the conductor who founded them in, Harry Christophers, offered a stimulating program of 12 choral works by 12th century Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, Tudor era English composers William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, and contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Part. In shifting combinations, the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices of the ensemble blended with perfect intonation, seamless balance, and ravishing warmth. Standout selections included: Hildegard’s stark “Ave, Generosa” (“Hail, high-born lady”); Part’s sonorous “Da pacem, Domine” (“Give Peace, Lord”); and Byrd’s resonant “Tribue, Domine” (“Grant, Lord”).

A gorgeous encore, Byrd’s motet “Diliges Dominum” (“You Shall Love the Lord”), in which two halves of the chorus sing the same music exactly in reverse, brought another varied Ozawa Hall season to a virtuosic close.

REVIEW: Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, "4 Concerts"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 7, 14, 24 & 28, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

Yiran Zhao, Photo: Hilary Scott

Each summer over 100 young musicians starting their careers, from across and beyond the US, gather for eight weeks at Tanglewood, where, tutored by Boston Symphony Orchestra members and visiting artists, they soon begin to sound as if they’ve been playing together for years. Four recent concerts by 2025’s TMCO confirmed the power of this training model.    

TMC conducting fellows Australian Leonard Weiss and American Yiran Zhao shared leadership duties at these concerts with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons (July 7) and BSO guest conductor Thomas Ades (July 14).

Weiss opened the first concert with an alternately stirring and reflective account of “The High Castle,” the first of six tone poems in Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s 1874-79 cycle “My Country.” Zhao followed with a colorful and dramatic reading of “The Moldau,” also from “My Country.” Nelsons closed the program with a buoyant rendition of Johannes Brahms’ 1877 second symphony, including a mercurial “Allegro non troppo,” serene “Adagio non troppo,” charming “Allegretto grazioso,” and exuberant “Allegro con spirito” finale.

  ``

As part of Tanglewood’s celebration of French composer Maurice Ravel’s 150th birth anniversary this year, Weiss began the second concert with a sensitive take on the Suite from Ravel’s fanciful 1911 ballet, “Mother Goose.” Zhao led a sweeping second suite from Ravel’s more opulent score of the same year for his ballet “Daphnis and Chloe.” Ades drew laser-focused playing from the TMCO that made Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet “The Rite of Spring” sound strikingly modern.

The focus of the 2025 Festival of Contemporary Music was on Mexican music, and FCM Director Gabriela Ortiz included many pieces by her teachers, herself, and her students on its five programs. Highlights of the July 24 opening concert were: Ortiz’s eerily evocative “Rio Bravo,” featuring TMC fellows Danielle Romano, mezzo-soprano, and three percussionists “playing” six tuned wine glasses; and her student Diana Syrse’s pop-inflected “My Song,” with Syrse declaiming her own text and 13 assorted instrumentalists led with verve by Zhao.

On July 28, Zhao and Weiss led the TMCO in mesmerizing works by Gabriella Smith and Ellen Reid. BSO conductor Thomas Wilkins closed the FCM with two powerful works by Ortiz, her “Altar of the Wind” (with sensational solos by Mexican flutist Alejandro Escuer) and “Hominum: Concerto for Orchestra.” These young musicians sounded completely at home playing this often technically demanding and wildly imaginative music.

TMCO concerts continue through August 18.

REVIEW: BSO Chamber Players/Cho

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 10 & 16, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

Each summer Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall hosts world-class artists in many genres from across the globe. Two recent concerts showcased the variety of attractions in this intimate venue.

BSO Chamber Players

The July 10 all-American program by the BSO Chamber Players (mostly members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) opened with four short pieces by living composers Jessie Montgomery and BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon. Lorna McGhee was agile in Simon’s “move it,” for solo flute, and Blaise Dejardin, vibrant in Simon’s “between worlds,” for solo cello. Three Shaker Songs, gorgeously sung by Tanglewood Music Center vocal fellows Eden Bartholomew, soprano; and Danielle Romano, mezzo-soprano; preceded the Suite from Aaron Copland’s ballet “Appalachian Spring,” which famously quotes another Shaker song, “Simple Gifts,” in its original 13-instrument version. BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler led.     

Seeing-Jin Cho

Six days later, rising Korean-born pianist Seong-Jin Cho accomplished the rare feat of performing the complete solo piano music by Maurice Ravel, whose 150th birth anniversary Tanglewood is celebrating this summer. The evening was a marathon not only for Cho but for the audience, as the program ran for three hours, with two intermissions. Three days earlier, Cho played both of Ravel’s piano concertos in the same concert with the BSO, a similar rare tre
at.

Hearing the solo pieces in chronological sequence gave listeners a clear sense both of Ravel’s development as a composer over a quarter century and of the startlingly different sounds he could draw from the piano. The ideal player of this music needs a delicate touch, infinite flexibility, and almost superhuman stamina, all qualities which Cho demonstrated in abundance. Numerous highlights included: a graceful “Pavane for a Dead Princess”; a sparkling “Water Games”; a kaleidoscopic five-part “Mirrors”; a haunting three-movement “Treasurer of the Night”; an exuberant set of “Noble and Sentimental Waltzes”; and a poignant tribute to World War I victims, “Couperin’s Tomb”.      

When the appreciative audience, most of whom stayed until the end, appeared to want an encore, Cho, whose energy never seemed to flag, politely closed the piano lid after several bows, as if to give Ravel the last word. “Recital Series” continues through August 14.

Personal Thoughts: Tanglewood, Top Dozen Reminders & Rules

My Top Dozen Reminders & Rules

by Shera Cohen

(N) = nighttime rules only

1. Parking: Arrive early, always follow the traffic guides in their green vests, do what they tell you to do, you’ll be fine. Remember where you park. Each lot has a name,; i.e. Birchwood, Maple.

2. Rain: Bound to happen at some point. Those seated in the shed will be fine. If seated on the lawn, be prepared with an umbrella, tarp for your belongings, hoodie raincoat. The concert will NOT stop except for power outages and/or danger.

3. Smells: Perfume, cologne, hairspray, or scented soaps are mosquito magnets. However, each year Tanglewood seems to have more and more means to get rid these pests. (N)

4. Clothing, part 1: Wear light-colored clothing. Again, colors like red, purple, deep yellow make mosquitoes happy. (N)

5. Clothing, part 2: Bugs again! Wear long pants. Do not wear capris or bell-bottoms. The plan is to pull your socks up over the bottom of your pants, barring invitations to all bugs and a possible wet lawn. (N)

6.  Restrooms: There are two, either end of the Shed, lots of stalls. However, the problem may be finding your way back to your lawn seats especially after nightfall. Shed seats are fine because there are many volunteer ushers to help. (N)

7. Darkness: Bring flashlights or put your cell phone on shine. For a concert that starts at 8pm, it’s of course dark by 10pm. (N)

8. Golfcarts: Yes, there are some, but only for those with special needs. On occasion, when the audience is exiting, there may be some helpful young drivers who are eager to please walkers carrying lots of stuff.

9. Wheelchairs: You should bring your own, although Tanglewood has some. CALL AHEAD for rules, costs, and scheduling. Again, more helpful teens/20somethings appear for direct door to shed and return service. 

 
10. Food: 4 options. BYOFood, purchase at the nice and huge cafeteria, a combination, or neither. Because the cafeteria is not open for rehearsals, most people bring picnic lunches or return home. Concerts usually end around 12noon – 1pm; perfect time for lunch. No eating in the shed except water and maybe a crunchy bar. There are many picnic tables, benches, beer garden tables, and the pristine lawn to serve as a table.

11. Kids: For me, it is one of my favorite things on the planet to see little kids at Tanglewood. Somehow, even when they aren’t listening to the exceptional musicians and composers’ pieces, I think that by osmosis, the kids seep up the notes. Then there’s the flip side, at least for me. I have an unnatural fear of frisbees. Kids play on the lawn, mostly away from others. 

12. Personal Phone Calls: Oftentimes, novice concertgoers think that since the venue is a large tent-like bandshell, that this is somewhat like being outside and okay to use cell phones. Lawn seating, as well, is NOT an invitation to call anyone.

Personal thoughts: Tanglewood’s Open Rehearsals

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org

Summer, 2025

by Shera Cohen

Rehearsal v. Concert

Regular Tanglewood visitors are aware that programs are scheduled every Saturday morning; these are orchestra rehearsals for the next day’s concert. Take out your calendars, write these dates down, and try to get to Tanglewood just once this summer. I ask no more.

The scheduled conductor and guest soloists take the stage along with the full Boston Symphony Orchestra. There’s only one noticeable change between the two days’ concerts; it’s casual Saturday as everyone wears summer pastels and shorts, and dress-up Sunday when the musicians wear the traditional classical music “uniforms”. As for the audience, whatever fits and is cool.

Is the rehearsal the exact program at the next day’s “real concert”? Sometimes, but not often. Some can be 2+ hours of start, stop, over, and over, as the conductor talks to various sections of the orchestra, making suggestions on how to perform with perfection. I fully trust the conductor’s decisions. Anything the BSO does is perfect in my book.

Most times, the rehearsal plays straight through until the end of each piece. Only then are segments extrapolated and rehearsed again. To have such a keen ear, I am amazed by the talents of conductors. 

For me, rehearsals are learning experiences in one of the most beautiful settings in this country. Prior to attending, I usually don’t pay attention to who’s performing, which composer, etc. Melding the sounds of classical music with the sights, smells, and touch of Tanglewood as a backdrop, just can’t get better on any Saturday morning.

Tanglewood: Rehearsal: Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2

Camille Saint-Saens

The rehearsal program on July 26 included “La Calaca,” a contemporary work by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz; one of Beethoven’s well-known compositions, Pastoral Symphony No. 6; and Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, highlighting Lang Lang. Resident artistic director and conductor Andris Nelsons held the baton.

In the span of time it takes to perform only one composition, pianist Lang Lang (whose name I had only heard of) jumped to the Top Ten of My Favorite Musicians of All Time List”. 

I often enjoy sitting on the Tanglewood lawn in order to hear a somewhat different sound than when seated in the Shed. This was not the time!

Large monitors at stage left and right as well as outside the building project the soloist at his or her instrument. Up close, the audience can see the sticks against the drumhead, the bow along the violin strings, and fingers on the piano.

In Lang’s case, his skills exuded from his ten fingers, fists, arms, and entire torso. This man has to be seen, not just heard. It’s no surprise that numerous articles call Lang “superstar” and “rock-like musician”.

Learning piano at age 2 in China, and playing “The Nutcracker” publicly at age 5, Lang remembered that his first years of studying were like playing with a toy in his hands. Yet, the piano wasn’t as easy as his violinist father expected it to be. When Lang turned 9, his piano teacher fired him as a student. Mr. Lang was also sharp to criticize his son. “That was very, very difficult for me. I thought my piano career is over,” said Lang.

Jump ahead 8-years, Lang had a solid plan; to play with the biggest orchestra in America. “But in reality, I always play as a sub, waiting for somebody to get sick. You have to be ready all the time, because the opportunity comes in very fast. And if you catch it in the right way, you are in a game,” remembered Lang.

Andris Nelsons

His opening came with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia Festival, subbing for pianist Andre Watts.

Lang is comfortable on all stages throughout the world; from small groups of children to his largest audience of millions at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

This is a musician who plays fast with energy on full-power, exaggeration, and arms flailing. It seems he might bounce off the bench. He loves the piano, it’s obvious. Those of us listening at this particular rehearsal, love him.

Note: Quotes paraphrased from Lang’s interview on NPR

REVIEW: Tanglewood "John Williams, Concerto w/ Emanuel Ax, Mahler, Symphony No. 1 in D"

Tanglewood, Lenox MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

by Frank Aronson

 

Two composers known for their dramatic compositions provided a diverse evening of music.

 

The first piece by John Williams was begun in 2022 and had its world premiere on this night by the BSO and the incomparable Emanuel Ax. The second piece, Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony, was originally composed between 1884-1888, though the version conducted by Andris Nelsons premiered in Hamburg in 1893. 

 

Just as Mahler stood on the shoulders of Beethoven and Bruckner before him, Williams has drawn inspiration throughout his career from late Romantic composers like Mahler. What the two works had in common was a reliance upon the density of a full orchestra paired with the use of smaller ensembles within.

 

Andris Nelson, Photo: Lisa-Marie-Mazzucco

Williams’ concerto is a piece devised in three movements, each section being an homage to jazz piano greats: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. The dissonant chord clusters and Rachmaninoff-like virtuosity of Tatum; the lyrical, dream-like qualities of Evans; and the frenetic muscularity of Peterson were readily apparent in this work. Williams uses the orchestra in its fullest form, even including a celesta in his orchestration, sometimes doubling Ax’s artistry.

 

Upon the conclusion of first portion of the evening, the audience was treated to the thrill of an appearance by Mr. Williams himself, who acknowledged the thunderous applause of appreciation. A perennial favorite and former conductor of the Boston Pops, Williams seemed overjoyed by the response.

 

The concert continued after the intermission with a somewhat enlarged orchestra, which is always the case with a Mahler symphony. This music often draws upon themes developed in the composer's song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” (“Songs of the Wayfarer”) and is bathed in the sounds of nature.

 

The concert sections flow from the slow awakening of morning in the first movement, complete with the sounds of cuckoos and other fauna in the orchestration, to the “sturm und drang” of the 4th movement, which also manages to restore the themes and sound explored earlier in the work. Mahler uses the orchestra in all its fullness to great effect but is also capable of paring it down to small ensembles and solo passages that give the piece an enormously complex dynamic range.

 

Andris Nelsons has proven himself to be a gifted interpreter of Mahler, continuing in the practice of a long line of Boston Symphony Orchestra conductors. It’s a delight to see this happen.

REVIEW: Tanglewood, “A Tanglewood Weekend”

Tanglewood, Lenox MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 18-21, 2025

by Shera Cohen

Three different orchestras in one weekend! Where? Where else but Tanglewood.

Boston University Music Center Orchestra

Andris Nelson

World-renowned conductor, and Tanglewood’s resident music director, Andris Nelsons led this full orchestra of 20-somethings; all exceptional students about to take their Tanglewood diplomas and resumes to orchestras throughout the world. This is what they have trained for. At first, I hadn’t realized that the musicians looked younger than I had expected. Actually, this was the first rehearsal that I’ve attended when the BSO was not onstage. How encouraging to see so many young musicians!

A constant at Tanglewood at 10:30am are rehearsals of the following Sunday’s afternoon concert. On this Saturday were works by two composers, who in my opinion, are not the easiest to perform: Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique,” and Sergei Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor”. The latter piece featured pianist Yuja Wang.

For the most part, Nelsons directed the orchestra straight through; later going back to improve on selected sections, in particular the rousing ending. As for me, I never heard a single note that needed fixing yet can appreciate what the young musicians must learn from the prominent man at center stage with the baton.

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Of the three performances, it was the BSO that hosted the concert dedicated to kids and their families. This annual event in July fills the Tanglewood Shed with countless little boys and girls. I mean little – not the teens who hopefully have already had a taste of Classical music – but toddlers standing approximately 30” or are carried. 

Conductor Thomas Wilkins runs the show. The man is charming, speaking directly to the kids, leaving out highbrow language and musical jargon. This is a participatory program; one which the adults in the audience can enjoy especially when watching their kid’s enjoyment. Wilkins throws in anecdotes about composers, music, BSO, and himself. Everyone laughs.

The program was eclectic, featuring music by Gould, Dvorak, Faure, Britten, and Beethoven; just the right length to hold a child’s attention; and varied. Some pieces, while familiar to many adults, are likely unfamiliar to anyone under age 12 and/or under 30”. Isn’t it amazing to watch children (some seated, some walking or running around) listen to professional artists, particularly those of the BSO, in a huge tent-like building as birds fly and chirp?

I had been introduced to Tanglewood at a young age; although not as young as these little ones. Yet, no one is ever too young or too old to experience symphonic music in a group setting.

Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI)

BUTI photo by bu.edu

This unbelievably talented group are high school age whose homes are as near as MA and NY, and as far as Mexico and Taiwan. They are the proverbial “cream of the crop” of young Classical music talent, sincere in their future careers as musicians. At the concert’s start, the introduction from BUTI’s Executive Director Nicole Wendl, were words to hold onto; the relationship between the selection of talent onstage, coupled with the audience seated in Ozawa Hall make the music extraordinary, providing an energy to be acknowledged and appreciated. 

For me, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” was the selling point to attend. A jazz version of RIB highlighting  the Marcus Roberts Trio, backed by the young artists, was a nice change to an old standard. Conductor Alexander Jimenez was very engaging throughout. It was obvious that the orchestra’s presentation of the melodic “Negro Folk Symphony” in three parts was as enjoyable to those onstage as in the audience. It was when the musicians brought out the fully equipped percussion section for Zhou Long’s “The Rhyme of Taigu” that the audience couldn’t stop their collective bodies from swaying and stopping their feet. The heavy use of drums and brass, almost sounding like stampeding elephants, was electrifying!

There’s still over a month left of a Tanglewood Summer!

REVIEW: Boston Symphony Orchestra, "Romeo and Juliet"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 11, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

Fridays and Saturdays at Tanglewood offer free short “Prelude” programs before most evening concerts. Tonight’s “Prelude,” performed mostly by BSO members in Ozawa Hall, presented three selections by Maurice Ravel, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the French composer’s birth, and one piece by his teacher, Gabriel Faure.

Ravel’s three “Songs of Madagascar” (1925-26), set to texts by Evariste de Parny, featured Eve Gigliotti, whose voluptuous mezzo-soprano was haunting in “Nahandove,” startlingly ferocious in “Aoua! Beware of the white men,” and languorous in “It is good to lie down.” Violinist Julianne Lee and cellist Mickey Katz were eloquent in Ravel’s “Piece in the form of a Habanera” and “Kaddish” respectively. Lee and Katz joined violist Rebecca Gitter and pianist Benjamin Hochman for a vibrant account of Faure’s 1885-86 second piano quartet. 

The main event was an 80-minute (without intermission) “theatrical concert for orchestra,” a world premiere, in the Shed which combined 15 numbers from Sergei Prokofiev’s 1935 ballet “Romeo and Juliet,” played by the BSO under their Music Director, Andris Nelsons, with excerpts from the text of Shakespeare’s play, adapted and directed by Bill Barclay, and performed by six actors from Barclay’s company, Concert Theatre Works.  

Barclay’s imaginative staging made full use of the Shed’s wide stage, where minimal props were seamlessly moved on, off, and around the stage by actors. The top step of a high staircase served as Juliet’s balcony. Riveting stage action included what Barclay called in a program note “the wildly thrilling world of live swordplay.” The immersive production even had an exuberant Romeo racing off stage around the Shed to the lawn after he and Juliet profess their love in the balcony scene. Elegant costume design was by Arthur Oliver.

Photo by Hilary Scott

The well-miked cast was uniformly strong. Kelley Curran and James Udom conveyed the full emotional range of the star-crossed lovers and the depth of their mutual attraction. Nigel Gore (from Shakespeare & Company) was a commanding Capulet. Caleb Mayo was a hyperactive Mercutio, and Carman Lacivita (Friar Laurence at Hartford Stage in May), a boisterous Tybalt. Robert Walsh was hilarious and impressive in the dual roles of the friar and Juliet’s nurse, at one point changing roles (and costumes) mid-scene.

Musical highlights from Prokofiev’s colorful score included: two dramatic conflict scenes with swordplay (“The Fight;” “Tybalt and Mercutio Fight”); several graceful dances (“Arrival of the Guests;” “Dance of the Knights”); a magical balcony scene; and an achingly poignant closing “Death of Juliet.” The entire BSO played with elegance and passion, but special plaudits go to the large percussion and brass sections.

This powerful amalgam of music and theatre, which clearly enthralled the multi-generational live audience, is a major achievement by Barclay and Nelsons.

 

REVIEW: Boston Symphony Orchestra, "A Tanglewood Weekend"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 17-18, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

Three of the 12 music experiences offered last weekend at Tanglewood highlighted the multi-faceted approach this leader of summer festivals takes to presenting, promoting, and preserving classical music.

Saturday afternoon featured the last of six concerts in Ozawa Hall by the Young Artists Orchestra of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (a younger version of Tanglewood Music Center training program). Conductor Justin Casinghino led the musicians, ages 14-20, in a colorful reading of 18-year-old BUTI composer Billy Waldman’s “Stellification,” which depicted how a planet becomes a star. This was followed by a fiery account of Gustav Mahler’s sprawling 1902 fifth symphony under Paul Haas’ dynamic baton. They played both demanding scores with a maturity and professionalism that belied their youth.

Later that day, the Linde Center hosted an enlightening lecture by Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) violist emeritus and Holocaust music scholar Mark Ludwig on “Trauma, Memory & Transcendence in Music.” It included Ludwig's video interview of composer Osvaldo Golijov about his song cycle “Falling Out of Time,” based on Israeli writer David Grossman’s novel of that name on the death of his son in the Lebanon War; and a moving performance by BSO members Si-Jing Huang and Takumi Taguchi, violins; Steven O. Laraia, viola; and Adam Esbensen, cello; of the third string quartet by Czech composer Viktor Ullmann. This was written in the Terezin concentration camp shortly before Ullmann's execution at Auschwitz in 1944. With these and other sources, Ludwig perceptively showed how music can lift the human spirit from profound grief to unexpected joy.  

Photo by Hilary Scott

An overflow BSO audience on Sunday afternoon found joy in the return of Yo-Yo Ma to the Shed after Covid forced the renowned cellist to cancel last summer. Before soloing in Robert Schumann’s poignant 1850 cello concerto, the ever-genial Ma thanked maestro Earl Lee, also a cellist, for his three years as BSO Assistant Conductor and asked him why he likes Schumann’s music. Lee’s answer: its “emotional conflict,” a quality well captured by the full, rich tone and trademark depth of feeling in Ma’s impassioned playing, with committed support from Lee and the BSO.      

The concert opened with Carlos Simon’s 2020 "Fate Now Conquers,” modestly introduced by the composer as a “riff” on Beethoven’s seventh symphony. The five-minute piece’s title quotes a Beethoven diary entry, based on which Simon remixes fragments of the symphony’s “Allegretto” second movement to suggest “the unpredictable ways of fate.” Lee and the BSO gave the mercurial work a playful and dynamic spin.  

Their thrilling performance of Beethoven’s 1813 symphony recalled the grace, humor, and verve of Leonard Bernstein’s classic BSO/Tanglewood performance in his last concert 34 years ago. Throughout the symphony, those in the Shed seemed to be having great fun, from a Berkshire wren loudly chirping along with the Allegretto in its ceiling perch. An instant standing ovation suggested that there’s no better way to end a typically varied and historic weekend at Tanglewood.   

ON THE ROAD: End of season thoughts on Tanglewood 2024

The Berkshires Summer is almost over?

www.tanglewood.org

by Shera Cohen

My introduction to the Berkshires was at, what I realize now, is the epicenter: Tanglewood. In fact, I had thought that this region of MA had two wonders going for it: the natural beauty of the landscape, and Tanglewood.

This young thespian in grade school knew nothing about Berkshire Theatre, Williamstown Theatre, or Shakespeare & Company. I omit the rest of the current theatres because they didn’t exist at that time.

To me, the Berkshires is over with the final wave of the conductor’s baton at Tanglewood’s perennial finale; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, complete with five soloists, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and full Boston Symphony Orchestra, all beneath the giant white, acoustically excellent shed. This year's epic performance will be Sunday, August 25, 2024.

The Gift of Music

Through the courtesy of Tanglewood, I recently gifted special friends something that could never be regifted: two tickets to “John Williams’ Film Night” to help them check an item off their Berkshire bucket-list. This specific concert is one of the venue’s top, fill-the-tent, crowd-the-lawn, best sellers. Even without Mr. Williams (unfortunately, ill and recovering from a hospital stay), the draw of movie music always makes for a winning concert.

Comments from my giftees were: the audience reacts to the conductors like they are rock stars, with their mere entrances on to the stage eliciting whoops of delight.The Lawn People are dedicated, many just hunker down in the pouring rain to enjoy the whole evening, layered up in raincoats, ponchos and bucket hats, with no discernible effect on their enthusiasm. Pops concerts automatically include multiple encores. Hmm? Why not include such well-known music in the program listing, especially when everyone knows that the encores are coming.

Violinist Midori

Mementos of the season

I’m a saver… program books and/or ticket stubs from every concert, play, dance, museum, festival, historic home, lecture, etc. since the 1960’s. They fill at least 5 large baskets. Admittedly, I don’t remember all of these events. Yet, among the standouts drumming in my memory include Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” performed by the BSO and Chorus at Tanglewood.

As of this posting date, Tanglewood’s 2024 Summer is not over, with 25 music events still on its calendar: BSO concerts, Chamber Music, Rehearsals, Talks & Walks, Chorus. concerts, and the Boston Pops.

REVIEW: Tanglewood, "Festival of Contemporary Music"

Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 25-29, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

Co-curators Tania Leon and Steven Mackey focused their selection of music for Tanglewood’s 60th annual Festival of Contemporary Music on the theme of “personal and public storytelling” by “the astonishing variety of musical voices active in the U.S.,” including their own. Three of the six FCM programs, performed mostly by Tanglewood Music Center fellows, illustrated their success in achieving this goal.

Zhaoyuan Qin

Thursday’s opening concert presented music for mixed ensembles by seven composers, starting with Leila Adu-Gilmore’s astonishing “United Underdog,” a loose variation for solo piano on “America the Beautiful,” performed with staggering virtuosity by Zhaoyuan Qin. Leon’s Cuban-inflected “Indigena” (“Indigenous”) featured sensational solos by trumpeter Michail Thompson. Trevor Weston’s ethereal “A.N.S. (A New Sound)” was sensitively played by flutist Elizabeth McCormack and marimbist Soojin Kang. Protean singing by mezzo-soprano Carmen Edano of touching poems by Nathaniel Bellows, accompanied by four nimble percussionists (Jack Rutledge, Matthew A. West, Jeremy D. Sreejayan, and Michael Rogers) playing 25 instruments, captured the fearless energy of Mackey’s rock-based “Afterlife.”

Friday’s concert followed a similar pattern of music by five composers for small instrumental groups. Standouts included: jazz pianist Vijay Iyer’s cross-genre “The Law of Returns” for piano quartet, which includes some improvised passages, and whose title denotes reinforcing interaction between performers and audience; and Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s stunning “Aid for Sex,” inspired by 2018 reports of sexual exploitation by UN aid distributors in war-torn Syria. 

Monday’s closing concert was performed by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. TMC conducting fellow Ross Jamie Collins led cogent accounts of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s declamatory curtain-raiser “Celebration” and Leon’s dazzling tribute to her Afro-Cuban ancestors, “Ser” (“Being”). TMC conducting fellow Na’Zir McFadden directed a vibrant take on T. J. Anderson’s challenging “Squares,” a dense collage of gospel, bop, and avant-garde classical traditions.

Orli Shaham & Stefan Asbury

Stefan Asbury, head of the TMC conducting program, took the podium for electrifying
renditions of the program’s two highlights. Mackey wrote his 2011 “Stumble to Grace” piano concerto for soloist Orli Shaham, who displayed a deep mastery of its technical and interpretive demands. She, Asbury, and the TMCO found infectious fun in its five “stages” of a child’s growing up and uninhibited joy in the exhilarating final fugue. Leon’s kaleidoscopic “Pasajes” (“Passages”) combined sharply contrasting sonorities from all sections of the orchestra to end the concert and the entire FCM on what felt like a note of all-embracing love. 

Many FCM composers were present at these concerts. Their frequent bows to enthusiastic audiences reinforced the power of classical music as a living art form. The composers’ thanks to the accomplished young performers will be priceless milestones in their brilliant musical careers.

REVIEW: Tanglewood , "Serge Koussevitzky Day"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 26, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

Three events today celebrated the 150th anniversary of Koussevitzky’s birth in Russia and the 100th anniversary of his arrival in Boston as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. By 15 years later he had also founded the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center.

First came an insightful conversation before a packed house in the Linde Center’s Studio E, with music scholar Harlow Robinson, NPR radio host Tom Godell, and Koussevitzky biographer Victor Yuzefovich, who turned 600 boxes of scattered memorabilia into the Library of Congress’s Serge Koussevitzky archive. Clips of Koussevitzky speaking and excerpts from his BSO recordings conveyed his charismatic personality, his transformative effect on the BSO, and his championship of new music, especially by American composers. Russian-born Yuzefovich, while assisted by Boston-based translator Olga Birioukova, quipped that he speaks better English than Koussevitzky ever did.

Koussevitzky’s legacy as a double bass virtuoso before he became a conductor was showcased at the evening’s “Prelude” concert in Ozawa Hall, where BSO double bassists Carl Anderson and Benjamin Levy demonstrated the unwieldy instrument’s versatility in Giovanni Bottesini’s lively “Gran Duetto No. 3.” Levy joined BSO violinist Bonnie Bewick for a rollicking “Three Forks of Cheat,” based on a West Virgina fiddle tune. With BSO colleagues Danny Kim, viola, and Mickey Katz, cello, they revelled in Bewick’s arrangement of Bottesini’s “Tarantella” for double bass and string trio. The trio’s sprightly take on Erno Dohnanyi’s “Serenade” opened the concert.

The evening’s main event in the Music Shed highlighted its namesake’s small but notable output as a composer with Koussevitzky’s rarely heard 1903 concerto for double bass and orchestra. BSO principal double bass Edwin Barker and his colleagues under their Music Director Andris Nelsons played the 20-minute Tchaikovsky-influenced showpiece with technical polish and Romantic bravado. The concert opener, an evocative account of Steven Mackey’s colorful 2013 “Urban Ocean,” which Mackey introduced as depicting the mysterious interaction of the sea with humanity, recalled Koussevitzky’s legendary support for American composers.  

The program closed with lesser-known pieces by two Koussevitzky contemporaries whose music he especially favored. Jean Sibelius drew on Finnish mythology for his 1902 “The Origin of Fire,” for baritone, men’s chorus, and orchestra. Alexander Scriabin based his version of the story on Greek mythology in his 1910 “Prometheus, Poem of Fire,” for piano, chorus, and orchestra, which Koussevitzky premiered in Moscow, with the composer at the piano. Will Liverman was a forceful soloist in Sibelius, and Yefim Bronfman, seductive at the keyboard in Scriabin. Nelsons, the BSO, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, prepared by their conductor, James Burton, offered sumptuous backing in both these fascinating scores.

More background information is available at the BSO’s Koussevitzky 150th anniversary website: https://www.bso.org/exhibits/koussevitzky-150th-anniversary

 

REVIEW: Boston Pops Orchestra, "Broadway Today! Broadway’s Modern Masters"

Boston Pops Orchestra, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/tanglewood

July 6, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

Joan Tower

One special joy of Tanglewood is the free short “Prelude” concerts which precede many weekend evening concerts. Tonight’s “Prelude” in the Linde Center’s bright and airy Studio E featured chamber music by three composers, played by 15 fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center. Spry-looking, 88-year-old Joan Tower cheerfully announced, “I’m still alive!,” in introducing her effervescent 15-minute 2020 string quintet “Purple Rain.”

Next came George Walker’s colorful two-movement 1999 woodwind quintet “Wind Set.” The program closed with the young Beethoven’s energetic 1796 quintet for piano and winds. All three pieces received polished and invigorating performances.

The main event was a semi-staged concert in the Koussevitzky Music Shed of highlights from 11 Broadway musicals of the 21st century, written by nine composers and/or lyricists, played in sumptuous arrangements by the full Boston Pops Orchestra under Keith Lockhart, and sung by six current Broadway stars. The shows, their creators, and the singers included many Tony Award recipients.  

An opening suite from Adam Guettel’s “The Light in the Piazza” featured a plush overture, Scarlett Strallen’s ravishing take on the stirring title song, and Victoria Clark’s poignant recreation of her Tony-winning role in the heartrending “Fable.” Bryce Pinkham revisited his starring title performance in Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” with a winsome “Foolish to Think” and a hilarious “Poison in My Pocket.”

Mandy Gonzalez, Darius de Haas, and Joshua Henry were all impressive in excerpts from David Yazbek’s “The Band’s Visit.” Pinkham sang a powerful “You Will Be Found” from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s “Dear Evan Hansen.” A Latin-flavored orchestral “In the Club” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” preceded Henry, Strallen, and Pinkham in three piercing selections from Jason Robert Brown’s “Parade.”

Photo by Hilary Scott

Gonzalez was as sensational in “Our Lady of the Underground” from Anais Mitchell’s “Hadestown” as de Haas was mesmerizing in “Memory Song” from Michael R. Jackson’s “A Strange Loop.” Clark movingly reprised her Tony-winning title role in two songs from Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Kimberly Akimbo.”

She completed her evening star turn as King George III in Miranda’s blockbuster “Hamilton,” turning the chorus of “You’ll Be Back” into a riotous crowd singalong; Henry was a forceful Aaron Burr in “The Room Where It Happened.” The full cast ended on a hopeful note with a rousing “Wait ‘til You See What’s Next” from Brown’s “Prince of Broadway.”

Subtle direction by the evening’s creator, Broadway star and frequent Pops collaborator Jason Danieley, and music supervision by Georgia Stitt further enhanced this memorable musical event.

REVIEW: "Tanglewood's Exceptional Work - Not Just 1, but 4 Concerts"

Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA 
www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 6, 9, 16 & 22, 2023 
by Michael J. Moran 

Every summer Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall hosts world-class artists in many genres from across the globe. Four August concerts showcased the remarkable range of these attractions. 

The centerpiece of pianist Aaron Diehl’s August 6 program, with drummer Aaron Kimmel and bassist David Wong, was a sensitive reading of the first 12 in jazz pianist-composer Sir Roland Hanna’s rarely heard 1976 cycle of 24 Preludes. Diehl’s arrangements for trio of these expansive miniatures were faithful to their mixed classical and jazz roots, reflecting Debussy, bebop, and Rachmaninoff in equal measure. A dreamy account of Diehl’s own “Polaris,” a gently swinging take on his “Stella’s Groove,” honoring his mother, and Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma” in tango rhythm were other highlights of this imaginative show.   

Alisa Weilerstein photo by Hilary Scott 

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s hour-long August 9 program, entitled “Fragments 2,” defied tradition by mixing excerpts from newly commissioned multi-movement works with selections from Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello, playing them without pauses, and identifying them only after the performance. Varied lighting against a background of scenic elements, according to director Elkhanah Pulitzer, aimed to focus listeners on “the primacy of varying musical voices in dialogue.” Most affecting among the 18 pieces Weilerstein played with conviction and virtuosity, were seven by Bach and three each by Ana Sokolovic and Caroline Shaw, one of whose “Microfictions” included a touching vocalise by the cellist.    

  

O'Hara & Lipton photo by Hilary Scott

Pianist Bruce Liu’s concert a week later followed a more conventional format, though his repertoire was highly eclectic. First Prize winner at the 2021 Chopin International Piano Competition with Canadian, French, and Chinese roots, he moved fluidly through: an elegant selection of Rameau harpsichord pieces; a dramatic Beethoven “Waldstein” sonata; three glowing Chopin “Nouvelles Etudes;” a visceral Chopin “Funeral March” sonata; and a jazzy set of Variations, Opus 41, by Ukrainian Nikolai Kapustin. He capped the evening with a ravishing encore, Chopin’s posthumously published Nocturne #20 in C-sharp minor. 

  

On August 22, classically trained soprano, Broadway star, and Metropolitan Opera diva Kelli
O’Hara sang songs, some from shows she starred in, and shared memories from her career with engaging charisma. Her clear, radiant voice and expressive acting skills, backed by Dan Lipton’s agile piano, delivered gems like: an ebullient “What More Do I Need?,” from Sondheim’s “Saturday Night;” an ecstatic title song from Adam Guettel’s “Light in the Piazza;” a winning “Sun Went Out,” by her husband, Greg Naughton, with sweet vocal harmony from Lipton; a stirring “To Build a House,” from Jason Robert Brown’s “Bridges of Madison County;” and a vibrant “La Vie en Rose,” by Edith Piaf, in idiomatic French.   

Her jubilant encore, “I Could Have Danced All Night,” from Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady,” brought this far-reaching Ozawa Hall season to a festive close.

REVIEW: Boston Symphony Orchestra, "Adolphe/Strauss/Stravinsky"

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA 

www.bso.org/tanglewood

August 13, 2023 

by Michael J. Moran 

The program for Sunday’s (8/13) afternoon concert led by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons proved as changeable as the Berkshire weather that afternoon. Days earlier, cellist Yo-Yo Ma cancelled his planned appearance after testing positive for COVID-19, and soprano Renee Fleming graciously stepped in. Thus, Dmitri Shostakovich’s first cello concerto was replaced by six songs with orchestra by Richard Strauss. The other two works on the program were unchanged. 

The concert opened with a rousing account of Julia Adolphe’s mercurial 2022 BSO commission “Makeshift Castle.” The 15-minute piece evokes a childhood memory of her father crying at the beauty of a sunset, her reflection on the joy of that moment, and her recent grief at his passing. The large orchestra vividly evoked its striking instrumental effects and frequent mood shifts. The rising American composer took a well-earned post-performance bow before an appreciative audience.

 

Renee Fleming

Fleming then received a hero’s welcome, not just for saving the day but for the warm charisma she brings to every performance. Her selection of six non-operatic songs composed or orchestrated throughout Strauss’s long career, between 1885 and 1948, was ideally suited to her lush, creamy soprano, and each found her in radiant voice. She was richly partnered by Nelsons and the BSO, who reveled in the sumptuous accompaniments. 

Standouts included: an ebullient “Muttertandelei” (“Mother Chatter”), with a text by Gottfried August Burger about a new mother’s delight in her young child; a dramatic Zueignung” (“Dedication”), to a text by Hermann von Gilm about gratitude for love; and a rapturous “Morgen” (“Tomorrow”), with a text by John Henry Mackay of hope for happiness, featuring gorgeous solos by associate concertmaster Alexander Velinzon and principal harp Jessica Zhou. By the end of Fleming’s set, a sudden rain shower outside the Koussevitzky Music Shed even gave way to sunshine. 

The program closed with a brilliant reading of Igor Stravinsky’s 1947 revision of his 1911 ballet “Petrushka.” Like much of Stravinsky’s music, “Petrushka” draws on Russian folk traditions. Its four scenes are set at a Shrovetide (pre-Lenten) Fair in 1830’s St. Petersburg, where three puppets – the trickster title character, a ballerina, and a Moor – enact their loves and jealousies. Nelsons and his musicians (including pianist Vytas Baksys as Petrushka) played this dazzling score with the same virtuosic flair they showcased all afternoon.  

When is an Artist a Genius? A Tribute to John Williams at Tanglewood

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org/profiles/john-williams

August 5, 2023

by Shera Cohen

Photo Credit: BSO.org

If I was asked to define the work of composer/conductor John Williams in a single word, I would quickly answer, “genius”. Whether this is Webster’s definition or not, I really don’t care for the purposes of this article. I doubt that many would disagree with my description of this amazingly talented man.

On the evening of August 5, 2023, I was among the thousands charmed by the skills of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Adding the magnificent grounds and ambiance of Tanglewood, a clear sky, and 75-degree weather made for the proverbial perfect day. My usual Tanglewood excursion includes dousing myself in bug spray. For some reason, I forgot this part of my regime; surprisingly the site seemed mosquito-free.

Tanglewood hosts Mr. Williams annually, or with the luck of precise scheduling, twice each summer. To date, I have been lucky enough to attend most of these glorious concerts, even the year that I broke my leg. If John Williams can stand to conduct the Boston Pops hour-long Act II of “Film Night” then walk across the stage and back countless times – each time earning more accolades than the last – then I can hobble on the grass with or without broken body parts. Yes, this 91-year-old man is a genius.

David Newman, an accomplished composer and conductor himself, lead the BSO in the first part of the evening’s program, all the while praising the talents of Mr. Williams. 

The program offered the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists and Vocal Program Chorus the unforgettable opportunity to sing some of Williams’ scores from the Olympics Anthems as well as “Star Wars”. I can only imagine how the members of these youth choruses will feel about this moment 50-years from now.

Although I hadn’t picked up a program book until the concert’s end, it was obvious that the Suite from “Far and Away” was imbedded with an Irish lilt, “Superman” focused on the Love Theme for a softer section rather than the “up in the air…it’s Superman” segment.

My favorite music piece was “The Cowboys Overture,” not movie music, but television. The fast-paced rousing segments brought back memories of good westerns which I’d seen as a child, as well as the theme of “The Marlboro Man”.

This concert focused on the lesser-known works by Williams rather than Indiana Jones I – 5. The second part of the concert was heavy with “Star Wars”. Accompanying those onstage, was a superbly edited montage of Olympian to Williams’ “Call of the Champions,” which I hadn’t realized was yet another display of genius.

If I am not wrong, “The Theme from Shindler’s List” is included at each Film Night. Mr. Williams’ music is not all pomp, circumstance, marches, and continuously embellished themes. Elita Kang’s violin set a serious, melancholy tone. Sometimes, it is amazing that the man who brought us the “crushing” music of Indie, Luke, ET, Superman, et al, can compose the softness and sadness of “Shindler’s List”.

In his own words, “Writing a tune is like sculpting. You get four or five notes, you take one out and move one around, and you do a bit more and eventually, in that rock there is a statue, we have to go find it”.

I have never met Mr. Williams. Although he once sat six rows in front of me, I doubt that that counts. His stance onstage, his appreciation of the audience implies to me that he is a humble man, just doing his job – the job of a genius.