James Levine Withdraws from Tanglewood
Slots Filled by Renowned Conductors
By: Charles Giuliano - Jun 14, 2010
Immediately following the opening performances during the launch of the 2008 Tanglewood season its music director, James Levine underwent emergency surgery. There was a scramble to fills the slots left by his absence He returned to the podium during the 2009 season.
In April Levine underwent major back surgery. It had been hoped that he would return to Tanglewood. But the organization has announced that he requires additional rest to return for the fall season of both the Boston Syphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera.
With Levine's ever more frequent absences and reduced schedule of performances there is speculation of how long he will continue this grueling pace. Word class conductors are normally booked years in advance. Just how long with Mark Volpe of the BSO be willing and able to find replacements. Currently it is difficult to make long term plans. Eventually this destabalizes the orchestra and impacts its artistic integrity.
There are the additional challenges of maintaining the orchestra during a time of recession and financiao pressures on all arts organizations. In the past the BSO/ Tanglewood has resisted demands for a more diverse program.
Two summers ago the old guard howled in protest when Tanglewod hosted the rock band Wilco. This summer, from August 13 to 15, they are partnering with Mass MoCA to stage a rock festival in North Adams. If this succeeds it may prove to be the template for an annual event.
The rocky season last years was salvaged by a block of concerts by James Taylor. This time he returns for three sold out concerts with his colleague Carole King. With a keen eye on ticket sales Tangelwood is slowly initiating those much desired changes. Tanglewood’s popular artists include James Taylor and Carole King, on July 3, 4, and 5; Simon & Garfunkel on July 27; Herbie Hancock on August 9, and Crosby, Stills and Nash on September 1. Mark Morris Dance Group on June 27 and 28; Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble on August 8; and the Festival of Contemporary Music, this year celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, August 12-16, are also among the 2010 Tanglewood season highlights.
What follows is the Tanglewood press release.
BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe today announced that BSO Music Director James Levine will withdraw from his Tanglewood concert appearances due to further recuperation time needed after major back surgery in April. Several of the world’s most prestigious conductors will fill in for the six BSO concerts and three Tanglewood Music Center programs to have been led by James Levine, including Michael Tilson Thomas (July 9, 16, and 17), Christoph von Dohnányi (August 1 and 2), and Hans Graf (July 25). In addition, Johannes Debus, music director of the Canadian Opera Company, will make his BSO debut on July 23. A program listing with complete performance details appears at the end of this press release.
“This has been a tough year for all of us associated with the BSO, but for no one more than James Levine,” said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe. “Since there is typically a long recovery period needed after major back surgery, we understand that it is the best course of action for Jim to take the summer off, and we hope that his convalescence continues to go well. Jim’s determination to successfully complete his course of rehabilitation has been remarkable—and reminds me of the singular focus he has brought to his greatest musical achievements over the years. We have deep admiration and respect for all Jim has accomplished with the BSO, and we look forward to next season when he is in better health and returns to what he loves doing more than anything else—leading performances of the highest, uncompromised standards.”
“It is with great personal disappointment that I must withdraw from the upcoming Tanglewood season, and my work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center,” said James Levine, BSO Music Director. “My doctors have told me I have made great progress—even beyond their expectations—but have advised me to err on the side of caution and take the summer off to recuperate more fully from the two back surgeries of this past year. The most important thing is to not risk any delay in my recovery so I can return to good health and my conducting duties at the BSO and MET this fall without further interruptions. I am incredibly grateful for the tremendous support and understanding I’ve received from my colleagues and friends throughout the music world, all of which is helping me more than I can say in getting through this most challenging time. Though I will miss being with you all, I wish my BSO and Tanglewood colleagues a successful summer season.”
Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, will lead the BSO’s Opening Night program of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with vocalists Layla Claire and Stephanie Blythe, on July 9, and the BSO program of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s Requiem on July 16. Mr. Tilson Thomas will also lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 on July 17. In addition, Mr. Tilson Thomas, along with Stefan Asbury, will work with TMC Conducting Fellows during the rehearsal process for the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra July 12 program (Bach’s Ricercare from The Musical Offering, arranged by Webern, Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, and Strauss’s Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme).
In addition to his originally scheduled BSO concerts of August 6 and 8, Christoph von Dohnányi, former music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, will lead the Tanglewood Music Center production of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos on August 1 and 2. Mr. Dohnányi will be in residency at Tanglewood for the month leading up to these performances, working closely, in individual sessions with the singers, orchestra, and stage director Ira Siff, as well as TMC Conducting Fellow Keitaro Harada, who will lead the August 4 performance of the opera.
Also substituting for Mr. Levine, Hans Graf, music director of the Houston Symphony, will lead the BSO in a program of marches, waltzes, and polkas from the great Viennese tradition of the Strauss family, also featuring cellist Lynn Harrell and BSO principal violist Steven Ansell in Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, on July 25. Johannes Debus, music director of the Canadian Opera Company, will lead the BSO’s concert performance of Mozart’s The Abduction from Seraglio, with soloists Lisette Oropesa, Ashley Emerson, Eric Cutler, Anthony Stevenson, and Morris Robinson, on July 23.
Details about a substitute conductor for the July 31 program of Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, Strauss’s Four Last Songs, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, which Mr. Levine was to have led, will be forthcoming.
Details about a substitute conductor for the July 24 all-Brahms concert, which Seiji Ozawa was to have led (he withdrew in April due to recuperative time needed after recent surgery), will be forthcoming.
ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO THE ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED 2010 TANGLEWOOD SCHEDULE
Soprano Hei-Kyung Hong will join the Boston Symphony on July 31 to perform Strauss’s Four Last Songs and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Other recently announced additions to the Tanglewood 2010 schedule include Broadway star Idina Menzel and trumpet legend Doc Severinsen performing with the Boston Pops on July 2; Alec Baldwin as narrator for the July 18 Boston Pops performance of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers; Simon and Garfunkel on July 27; Herbie Hancock on August 9; and Crosby, Stills, and Nash on September 1. Making their Boston Symphony Orchestra debuts, violinist Arabella Steinbacher will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the BSO, August 8, and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian will join the BSO for Poulenc’s Gloria, August 27. The 2010 Tanglewood Jazz Festival will feature Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, the Laurence Hobgood Trio, Kurt Elling, the Eddie Daniels-Bob James Quartet, the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra, the Julian Lage Group, and the Donal Fox Quartet.
Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in the Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, MA. The Boston Symphony Orchestra performs its first concert of the Tanglewood season on July 9 and closes its portion of the season August 29, presenting 22 programs, Friday- and Saturday-evenings and Sunday afternoons, throughout the summer. Prior to the BSO’s opening night performance, Tanglewood opens on June 26 with a Prairie Home Companion and closes with the annual Tanglewood Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, September 4 and 5. For more information, visit www.tanglewood.org.
ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 TANGLEWOOD SEASON
The Boston Symphony Orchestra performs its first concert of the Tanglewood season on July 9, with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with soprano Layla Claire and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and closes its portion of the season on August 29, with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under the direction of Kurt Masur, presenting a total of 22 programs on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons throughout the summer. Prior to the BSO’s opening night performance, Tanglewood opens on June 26 with A Prairie Home Companion and closes with the annual Tanglewood Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, September 4 and 5. In addition to these programs, the 2010 Tanglewood schedule also features a series of chamber music and recital programs in Ozawa Hall, highlighted this year by a special appearance by Audra McDonald on July 18 and a program featuring Bach’s Complete Suites for solo cello with Pieter Wispelwey. The Boston Pops makes three special appearances, including Film Night with John Williams on August 14; a celebration of the Boston Pops 125th anniversary season, with special guests Idina Menzel and Doc Severinsen, led by Keith Lockhart on July 2; and the Tanglewood premiere of The Dream Lives: A Tribute to the Kennedy Brothers with narrator Alec Baldwin on a program with folk icon Arlo Guthrie on July 18.
The Boston Pops, along with the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, also makes a special appearance in Tanglewood on Parade (August 3), one of the festival’s favorite annual events featuring afternoon and evening performances by the BSO’s prestigious music academy, the Tanglewood Music Center, and culminating in a concert in the Shed, led by Keith Lockhart, John Williams, and Stefan Asbury, celebrating John Williams’s 30th anniversary season at Tanglewood.
Tanglewood’s popular artists include James Taylor and Carole King, on July 3, 4, and 5; Simon & Garfunkel on July 27; Herbie Hancock on August 9, and Crosby, Stills and Nash on September 1. Mark Morris Dance Group on June 27 and 28; Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble on August 8; and the Festival of Contemporary Music, this year celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, August 12-16, are also among the 2010 Tanglewood season highlights.