Andris Nelsons and BSO continue Shostakovich cycle with new album
BOSTON — Three Grammy Awards and a mountain of rave reviews stand behind Andris Nelsons’ ongoing cycle of the 15 symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich. The conductor’s run of visionary interpretations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, recorded live by Deutsche Grammophon, is set to continue with the release of a double-disc album of the Russian composer’s Symphonies Nos. 1, 14, and 15. The new recording, scheduled for release in physical and digital formats on June 25, connects with both the swaggering energy of youth and the profound reflections of a composer nearing the end of his life. It also includes a searing account of the tragic Chamber Symphony.
The cycle’s latest addition was recorded live during performances given at Boston’s Symphony Hall between November 2018–January 2020. Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais and Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk joined the BSO and its conductor as soloists in Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony.
“Our latest recording spans a creative lifetime,” said Nelsons. “Shostakovich was in his teens and making his way as a student at the Leningrad Conservatory when he began sketching the First Symphony. It echoes the spirit of optimism of the new Soviet society. But there’s also a manic tension in the music, perhaps a reflection of the energy-sapping work Shostakovich did to earn money accompanying silent films at the piano.”
Almost half a century separates Shostakovich’s First Symphony from his final two essays in the genre. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Symphonies were written after the suffering and uncertainty of the Stalin years, the brutal war against the Nazis, and decades of dealing with Soviet censorship and bureaucracy. Above all, they capture Shostakovich’s fear of death and grappling with life’s big questions.
Nelsons and the BSO close their recording with the Chamber Symphony. The piece began life in 1960 as the Eighth String Quartet, which Shostakovich dedicated “To the Memory of Victims of Fascism and War.” It was subsequently arranged for chamber orchestra by the violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai, who became close to the composer in his later years and conducted the premiere of his Fourteenth Symphony in 1969.
—A.K.
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Bidwell House Museum announces 2021 season programming
MONTEREY — The Bidwell House Museum recently announced it will welcome visitors back to celebrate the Museum’s 30th season with a history lecture series with talks by Harvard Professor Tiya Miles, Author Simon Winchester and Yale Professor Emeritus John Demos; the re-opening of the Museum for tours; and a Reenactment Weekend, among other events. The Museum is also offering two self-guided tours of the property including a Native American Interpretive Woodland Walk.
Guided tours of the house will begin July 17 and will be by appointment only on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Tours must be booked 24 hours in advance by calling 413-528-6888 or emailing bidwellhm2@gmail.com. The museum grounds — 192 acres of flower, herb, and heritage vegetable gardens, woods, fields, historic stonewalls, trails, and picnic sites — are open all year free of charge. More programs will be added throughout the summer.
2021 Season Program Schedule
June 9
Online History Talk — All That She Carried by Harvard Professor Tiya Miles
In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose gave a sack filled with a few precious items to her daughter, Ashley, as a token of love and to try to ensure Ashley’s survival as well. Soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. In the illuminating and deeply moving new book, All That She Carried, inspired by Rose’s gift to Ashley, historian Tiya Miles carefully unearths these women’s faint presence in archival records and draws on objects and art, to follow the paths of their lives in a singular and revelatory history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. Members: Free. Non-members: $10. 7 p.m. via Zoom. Attendees must register on the Museum’s Website. Sponsored by The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
June 19 at 10 a.m.
History Talk — Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, by Simon Winchester
Published in January 2021, “Land” examines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually owns the world’s land—and why does it matter? To be held at the Bidwell House Museum for a limited in-person audience and also streamed via Zoom. Members: Free. Non-members: $10. Attendees must register on the Museum’s website.
July 10 at 10 a.m.
History Talk — In the Shadow of the Founders “Greatest Generations” in American History, by John Demos
At several strategic points in the American past, events have cast a particular generational cohort in a special, outsize role. Demos, the award-winning author and Samuel Knight Professor of American History Emeritus at Yale University, will discuss how their lives and deeds have given a distinctive shape to our history, a recurrent and transformative charge of renewal. To be held at the Bidwell House Museum for a limited in-person audience and also streamed via Zoom. Members: Free. Non-members: $10. Attendees must register on the Museum’s website.
July 17
History Talk – Prisons in Colonial America by Princeton professor Wendy Warren
We think of the current carceral crisis in the United States as a purely modern phenomenon. This talk will explain the long history of prisons in North America, and examine what has not changed between the earliest prisons and today. To be held at the Bidwell House Museum for a limited in-person audience and also streamed via Zoom. Members: Free. Non-members: $10. 10 a.m. Attendees must register on the Museum’s website.
July 17, 1–4 p.m.
Maker Day
Spend an afternoon at the Bidwell House Museum watching local artisans perform traditional craft demonstrations. Visitors can also take a self-guided tour of the Native American Interpretive Trail, view the gardens and hike on the trails. Free.
August 27, 4-7 p.m.
Summer Fundraising Party: Hats Off to 30 Years
Join us for our annual fundraising party in the Museum gardens with wonderful music, hors d’oeuvres by Kate Baldwin and a fantastic auction. Tickets go on sale in July.
September 11 at 10 a.m.
Housatonic Heritage Walk: Walking the Royal Hemlock Trail with Richard Greene
A guided walk on Bidwell lands as well as the BNRC’s Hudson-Howard property, tracing the route of the early settlers of Township No. 1 to their first meeting house on the hill near the Bidwell House Museum. Dr. Richard Greene will lead the group on the old roadways, past foundations and stone walls of long-ago homesteads, and explore flora and fauna along the way. This walk last approximately 3 hours. Please dress for the weather and wear hiking boots. Terrain is steep and rocky in a few places. Bring water and a snack. FREE.
September 18 & 19
Raid on Township #1: Reenactment Weekend
Experience a recreation of raids conducted by British Regular Forces along with Native and Loyalist allies in the Mohawk Valley after the Saratoga Campaign, 1778-1783. Reenactors will put on two public battle demonstrations to show how the raids were conducted, as well as provide visitors an idea of what the military camps looked like when both the British and Continental Armies were in Campaign. Cooking and sewing projects as well as fatigue duty will help bring to life a camp during the American Revolution. Reenactment open 10 a.m–4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. on Sunday. Pre-registration is required. Tickets are $15/person for Members and $20/person for non-Members. Children 12 and under are Free. Tickets go on sale in August.
October 2 at 10 a.m.
Housatonic Heritage Walk: A Walk through History with Rob Hoogs
Join Rob Hoogs, President of the Bidwell House Museum Board of Trustees, as he leads you on a historical hike along old, rough colonial roads. You will investigate cellar holes, a charcoal hearth, and beautiful old stone walls, ending on a hillside overlooking Stedman Pond, with filtered views into the Tyringham Valley. The walk is approximately 3 miles and will take around 3 hours. Wear appropriate shoes and bring water and a snack. Free.
October 9 & 10
Scary Stories Around the Fire with Robert Oakes
Hear Robert Oakes share some local ghost stories around the bonfire and then take a short tour through Bidwell House to hear some ghost stories from recent caretakers of the Museum. Refreshments will be available. Pre-registration required. More details to come in September.
—A.K.
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Marilyn Atlas to lead pitching and writing workshops
PITTSFIELD —Hollywood talent/literary manager and award-winning producer Marilyn R. Atlas returns (virtually) Thursday, June 10 with another practical online workshop for anyone hoping to get into the movie-making game.
Perfect Pitch: Creating a Powerful Treatment and Pitch Deck/Look Book
In this hands-on interactive workshop, Atlas examines essential pitching tools necessary to generate interest in a screenplay and score a deal: the treatment, the pitch deck (aka look book), and the logline. The class will review and discuss examples of treatments and pitch decks, polish their loglines, and learn how to develop their own power pitches. Participants will have the rare opportunity to sharpen their presentation by using their logline to pitch to a Hollywood pro. Class size is limited to 20 to ensure participants have time to practice and polish their pitch. Perfect Pitch will be held online on Thursday, June 10, 6–8 p.m. Tickets: $65; student tickets $45.
Atlas will lead another hands-on workshop later this month, Navigating Character Arcs: Hone Your Script by Deepening Your Character on Thursday, June 24. This class is also limited to 20 participants. It’s appropriate for screenwriters as well as playwrights, novelists, producers, and directors.
Complete details and ticket information are available at Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative and via eventbrite.
—A.K.
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Berkshire Agricultural Ventures announces two additional grants
GREAT BARRINGTON — Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) announces two new grants. A $3,020 matching grant to Shaker Creek Farm located in Stephentown, New York will expand the farm’s pasture-raised poultry enterprise.
Specifically, this grant will help provide up to 3,000 chicks, staggered batches of 500 at a time, who will be raised on pasture land with local, organic, soy-free grain feed. This grant also allows farm owners Alison Basdekis and Keegan Schelling to purchase and build five new chicken tractors, which allows a chicken flock to move around their pasture, constantly having fresh vegetation and allowing used sections to be fertilized by chicken waste.
“Like BAV, we believe in the possibility of regional food systems for a healthier and more just society. BAV’s investments in small operations like ours have allowed us to scale to a level that can meet more demand, and give us the chance to make our enterprise viable. Without this support, we wouldn’t have been able to build infrastructure that has allowed us to make the leap to farm full time,” said Basdekis.
Shaker Creek Farm will be offering fresh and frozen pasteurized whole chickens by order or at the New Lebanon Farmers Markets, Hudson Valley Farmers Markets, and Random Harvest Market.
BAV also announces a $5,000 matching grant to Smoke & Honey Co., a socially and environmentally conscientious beekeeping and farm-based business located in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley. The grant advances educational programming by providing free hives, bees, and beekeeping lessons to aspiring beekeepers of color in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley.
“As a fourth-generation beekeeper in a field largely dominated by older white men, I recognize my role as a gatekeeper to agricultural resources and knowledge,” said Curtis Mraz, owner of Smoke & Honey Co. “With our recent grant from BAV, we have been able to leverage some of this privilege to help teach and empower a diverse next generation of beekeepers. Like us, BAV also understands that our food systems are dependent on these crucial pollinators, and that we can’t have bees without another generation of well-trained beekeepers.”
—A.K.
