There are many reasons to love the Berkshires but none is more important than the existence of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tanglewood is the vortex of the Berkshires.
Let’s face it: The reason why so many people have discovered our area is that they have come for the music. They come from far and wide. They come from Europe. They come from Japan. They come from Latin America. Put simply, there is no other orchestra in the world that comes close to what we have here: The esprit de corps of the orchestra, the management of the symphony, the often well-heeled board of directors (trustees), and the generosity that surrounds the institution all mean that when we have the kind of national tragedy we are now experiencing, there will at least be something in the kitty to get by in hard times. Congratulations on that.
I have said it before and I say it again: Their leader, Mark Volpe, is unrivaled in his ability to run it all. He is one bright and funny man. No one gets over on the guy. He is just plain smart. The symphony itself, the Pops and the individual talents can all be laid at his door. As a former professional clarinetist, he knows what it’s like to be in an orchestra and to fight for a standard of living. He has made sure that his people are well-paid. The fact that those people spend their summers among us make the Berkshires a desirable place to be. Volpe has announced his retirement at a relatively young age and if I were the BSO’s board of trustees, I would handcuff the guy, sue him, yell at him and appeal to his loyalty — anything to make him stay. He has agreed to stay on until a replacement can be found, but having been around for a while, I can only say that it can’t be done. His legal abilities, his charisma and his decency are irreplaceable. We just have to make him stay.
Volpe’s major asset is Tony Fogg. The guy is incredible. His knowledge is encyclopedic. As a scheduler, he knows what the orchestra should be playing. Like a great pitcher, he can mix his stuff. He teaches us about music we might not understand, and he makes sure that he mixes in the standards that even the least musically educated of us know. Inevitably, some great conductor or featured artist will fall ill or won’t be able to get to Tanglewood. Fogg seems to know where every major talent in the world is and he gets them to the campus at Stockbridge/Lenox. He is the equivalent of the best players in the orchestra, and they are the best in the world. It’s amazing.
We won’t forget what I have always called the “summer camp” part of Tanglewood: all the young, brilliant musicians who will study at the feet of the great masters. You can’t even begin to name all of the great musicians who came up through the ranks.
What about all those people who keep the grounds as beautiful as they are? Every blade of grass seems perfect. The trees, the bushes, the flowers are examples of what can be done.
You would have to reach down into the bureaucracy to see all the people who make their jobs look so easy, people like my personal favorite, Bernadette Horgan, who will hate me for mentioning her. But, as the old saying goes, if a tree falls in the woods and we don’t hear it, we can suggest that it just didn’t happen. She makes sure that we do.
So now the furloughs have happened. The orchestra and administration have taken pay cuts. We are sitting on pins and needles, hoping that we will see them all back here next summer. Somehow, someway, we made it without them this summer, but we’ve got to have our Tanglewood.
