Season Preview 2022: Music
Let’s call this the summer of blasts from the pasts — from the 1970s, 1870s, 1770s — and in music, that’s fine with us. Of course, Tanglewood will be offering its always-fresh standards plus its Festival of Contemporary Music along with works by composers of our time sprinkled throughout the season, but some of our favorite folkies, funk and rock artists from earlier years will be making appearances on regional stages. Let’s go!
We wish you good luck in getting tickets to James Taylor’s two concerts —it was sold out before ticket sales even started because the seats (and lawn) were promised to buyers from the two seasons he was absent. But look at your other choices! Tanglewood’s Popular Artists Series includes Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band (June 17) [Editor's Note: Ringo Starr has been rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 5], Bonnie Raitt with special guest Lucinda Williams (June 18), Brandi Carlile (August 30) Judy Collins and Richard Thompson (September 3), Van Morrison (September 4), and others. While by the time you read this many of these concerts may have sold out seating in the Shed, you can usually snag some lawn tickets (which are much more conducive to getting up and dancing). That said, we know most of you will want to know what’s happening over on the classical side. Itzhak Perlman returns to Tanglewood for the first time since 2011; audience favorites Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax Josh Bell and of course Maestro Andris Nelsons will be on the stages.
Silkroad Ensemble at Ozawa Hall. Photo credit: Adam Gurczak
1. Silkroad Ensemble Creator of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble Yo-Yo Ma turned over the artistic directorship to Rhiannon Giddens, who has the bona fides to take on the role, and we’re excited to see what she’s doing with the touring ensemble of world-class musicians from all over the globe. “Phoenix Rising” features four major new commissions by Silkroad artists, plus works from their storied history. This concert will be performed at Ozawa Hall, which has its own beautiful landscape for lawn seating. July 28.
2. Beethoven piano concertos: All of them British pianist Paul Lewis will be performing all five Beethoven piano concertos over three programs conducted by Andris Nelsons. If you’ve never had the opportunity to take in all five in a single weekend, take it now. The chance to immerse yourself in the brilliance of the composer and the admire the mastery of one musician (Lewis is considered a Beethoven specialist) will leave you swelling with the greatness of Beethoven. July 29, 30, 31.
Paul Lewis plays all five Beethoven piano concertos at Tanglewood.
3. Bring on the Brahms. Another ferocious feat follows when American pianist Garrick Ohlsson performs Brahms’ complete works for piano over four programs. That’s variations, sonatas, waltzes, fantasies. It’s a journey as Ohlsson, noted for his masterly performances of the Romantic repertoire, takes listeners from the works of young Brhams — still a teenager when he wrote Opus 2 — to his later works permeated with foreboding of death. August 16, 18, 23 and 25.
4. Cécile McLorin Salvant The jaz singer has it all: stunning vocalist composer, multiple Grammy winner and MacArthur Fellow (not to mention fine artist). She’ll take you on a journey in a concert at Ozawa Hall, part of the Tanglewood Learning Institute’s events lineup. McLorin Salvant will be performing from her new album “Ghost Song,” exploring the way people can be haunted, by memories, roads not taken, ghosts real and imagined. August 21.
5. Graham Nash at The Mahaiwe The Performing Arts Center music lineup promises something for everyone, from Josh Ritter (June 17) and Chris Isaak (July 27) to Michael Feinstein (celebrating the Judy Garland centennial, August 5) , and Pat Metheny (September 3). But we have to put the spotlight on the legendary Graham Nash, a founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash. We love that he’s still touring and performing, because the litany of songs he has written represent, for many of us, the soundtrack of our lives. July 23.
6. Haydn's "Sun Quartets at Music Mountain Kudos to this 93-year-old music festival that offers something for everyone with its classical and jazz programming. This summer it celebrates the 250th anniversay of Haydn's "Sun" Quartets, which are credited to have given birth to the string quartet medium as we know it. Music Mountain has invited both familiar and new-on-the-scene quartets and soloists who will perform all of Papa Haydn's "Sun" quartets over the course of six concerts, while mixing in your other favorite composers and some contemporary ones as well. July 10-September 18.
7. Percussionists every which way at PS21. We love site-specific works, and Performance Space for the 21st Century, better known as PS21, offers Pathways 2022, a multidisciplinary initiative that makes use of its stages and verdant outdoor space. In Michael Gordon’s "Field of Vision," dozen of percussionists will take over PSS21’s land and trails, with Bang on a Can ensembles playing instruments composed of industrial metals, wood and gongs. As an audience member, you’ll follow the sound. Free. July 25.
The Bengsons
8. The Bengsons at Amcram Opera House Located in a former grange hall, Amcram Opera House presents a mix of contemporary theater, alternative cabaret, and community programs. There’s no same old-same old here. (You should get on the mailing list.) Maybe you were introduced to the husband-and-wife electro-folk duo Abigail and Shaun Bengson through their songprayer "The Keep Going Song," which made the rounds on social media during the beginning of the pandemic. They also composed and performed in two autobiographical off-Broadway shows, “The Lucky Ones” and “A Hundred Years”. The Ancram Opera House presents An Evening with the Bengsons at The Circa 1799 Barn in Ancramsdale. In a gentle way, the Bengsons are a force of nature. July 30.
9. Rachmaninoff at Bard The Bard Music Festival presents its 32nd season exploring the life and work of Sergei Rachmaninoff, perhaps the last great exponent of Russian Romanticism. Through a series of themed concert programs, lectures and panel discussions, “Rachmaninoff and His World” may take on new significance in light of current events. The music festival takes place over two weekends, August 5-14.
10. Berkshire Opera Festival’s “Don Giovanni” Right from the get-go in 2016, the Berkshire Opera Festival was met with enthusiastic audiences and critical praise. Except for the summer of 2020, the BOF has produced fully staged operas, hewing mostly to the classic opera repertoire. This year’s offering is Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” a blend of comedy, tragedy and the supernatural, sung here in Italian with projected English translations. Its home for this production is the Mahaiwe. August 20-26.
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