Tanglewood

The Boston Symphony Orchestra releases its first major recordings with Music Director James Levine—Ravel's complete Daphnis and Chloé, Brahms's A German Requiem, Mahler's Symphony No. 6, William Bolcom's Eighth Symphony, and Bolcom's Lyric Concerto for flute and orchestra—available on the orchestra's own BSO Classics label through its website at bso.org.

The $50 million for the arts in the $787 billion stimulus bill has been added to the existing budget of $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. But that is small change compared to recent appropriations for the arts of $2 billion by Germany and $4 billion in France. There is a prevailing attitude that goverment support for the arts in the U.S. is an agenda of a "cultural elite" and "liberals." But after the disaster of the eight Bush years "liberal" is no longer a dirty word.

Given the poor economy, artistic director, Nicholas Martin, has reduced the number of Nikos Stage productions from five to three plays and shortened the seaon (July 1 through August 23) by two weeks. By making these cuts he has avoided any compromise of the quality of productions for one of the nation's most renowned theatre companies.

Spending money it can ill afford during a time of financial crisis, Jehudah Reinharz, President of Brandeis University hired Rasky Baerlein Stategic Communications, a PR firm than specializes in crisis management, to draft a carefully worded apology for a rash and irresponsible decision to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its renowned collection.

Barbara Cook will kick off the 2009 season of the Boston Pops on May 9. For the 15th year Keith Lockhart will conduct. Overall there is a great Pops tradition which is now 124 years old. The Pops will debut material from its new Red Sox CD. Other higlights include tributes to Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman.

With $4 a gallon gas and a sinking economy 2008 was a challenge for arts and tourism in the Berkshires. But our contibutors covered not only the Berkshires but arts and culture in New York, Boston, London, New Orleans and Shanghai. We reflect on some of the highlights.

In the span of the past few years the Tanglewood Jazz Festival has quickly become established as a Labor Day Weekend tradition in the Berkshires. For 2009 it will come following an extra week of programming featuring James Taylor. So the Second Line will rock and goove home titubating the last gasp of summer.

For the first time since his debut in 1992 Seiji Ozawa returned to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct "The Queen of Spades" by Tchaikovsky. The production stars Ben Heppner as Ghermann and Maria Guleghina as Lisa. Since leaving the BSO in 2002 Ozawa has been the music director of the Vienna State Opera.

It will be Jingle Bells at Symphony Hall from December 11 through 28 as Keith Lockhart conducts the Boston Pops in a marathon of 32 concerts including the premiere of a commissioned work The Polar Express. Bundle up and enjoy a great Boston tradition.

Despite a tough economy the Tanglewood Music Festival is planning a spectacular 2009 season. Although there is a dense schedule another week has been added between the official end of the BSO performnances and the annual Jazz Festival. During the interim James Taylor will be in residence from August 27-30.

In a special outreach to a younger audience the Boston Symphony Orchestra has launched a new program with special ticket prices targeted at those under 40. Our report includes a full schedule of available events.

There was a full weekend schedule of events celebrating the opening of a new building on the campus of Mass MoCA which, for the next 25 years, will house "Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective."

This is the third, self published book by artist/ entrepreneur, Eric Rudd. The superb images in this picture book were photographed by Kelly Lee who worked for ABC News and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in D.C. before he settled in the Berkshires.

Ned Rorem celebrates his 85th birthday this week. His opera "Our Town"is based on the Thornton Wilder play. It will make its New England premiere on November 14-16 in Peterborough, NH and February 12-16 of 2009 at Tufts University. This chamber opera, according to Musical America, has "emerged as one of those rare new operas that seem destined to survive." Writer Lawrence Johnson catches up with Ned.

Memories of many wonderful nights in the Shed and under the stars on the lawn at Tanglewood. As well as superb Berkshire theatre.

Despite the challenges of rainy weather,gas at $4 a gallon, and a bad economy it was a superb season of theatre in the Berkshires. Nicholas Martin was the MVP for putting the venerable Williamstown Theatre Festival back on its feet.

There was a sense of the passing of the torch as Marian McPartland celebrated her 9oth birthday taping her NPR program with the emerging artists Nnenna Freelon and Spencer Day

The pianist Donal Fox and his quintet, featuring the young trumpet player,Christian Scott, presented a confluence of Baroque music and jazz feeling. While hailed as represeting the "future" of jazz there is in fact a long tradition of this experimentation.

As New Orleans based musician, Terence Blanchard, led his quintet and a 34 piece orchetstra through his evening long composition "A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for Katrina" just three years after that tragedy, ironically, the city was evacuated and braced for Hurricane Gustav which again battered the Crescent City. It made the music all the more powerful and emotionally charged.

The much anticipated Tanglewood Jazz Festival, an annual Labor Day Weekend event, got off to a swinging start last night with the Edmar Castaneda Quartet, with Joe Locke, and the Brazilian pianist, Eliane Elias and her trio.

All the cats and hipsters plan to groove at Ozawa Hall for the annual, Labor Day Weekend celebration of the Tanglewod Jazz Festival. Terence Blanchard will conduct a 30 piece orchestra in his Grammy Award winning "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)."

A perfect storm of cool, rainy weather, $4 a gallon gas, and a lousy economy caused the coining of a new term "Staycation" during the summer of 2008. While clearly an off year Berkshire arts and tourism held their own largely through its range of world class offerings.

While Tanglewood has been hesitant to respond to demands for more diverse programming last night there was a full house for the leading rock band Wilco. The summer home of the BSO will never be the same.

It is hard to believe that Janis Joplin performed at Tanglewood in 1969. As well as The Who and Miles Davis. There was a false start to revive rock in 2007 with a literally washed out Cars. But last night Wilco brought rock once again to Tanglewood. After three plus decades it's about time.

During the annual Tanglewood on Parade there was a lively round of musical chairs as Hans Graf, Sir Andrew Davis, Keith Lockhart, John Williams and Andre Previn took turns as conductors.