Lenox — Because Georgia O’Keeffe was a painter, not a composer, a Tanglewood weekend dedicated to her work wanted a bit of music to go along with the program. Eastman School of Music alum Kevin Puts, with the help of fellow Eastman alum Renée Fleming and baritone Rod Gilfry (not to mention Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), met this need handily on the evening of July 20 with the world premiere performance of “The Brightness of Light,” an orchestral song cycle based on the composer’s earlier “Letters from Georgia.” Puts had based “Letters” on written correspondence between O’Keeffe and her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, but did not include a role for Stieglitz. “Brightness” adds Alfred’s voice to the mix.
“Brightness of Light” combines traditional recitative with an orchestral score reminiscent at times of a blockbuster movie. One Shed patron was actually heard to whisper, “Star Wars!” when the orchestra rose to full force early in the piece.
This would be a good time to note that 13 days following a Tanglewood concert consisting entirely of John Williams’ music, a young composer who grew up admiring Williams’ film scores — Kevin Puts — had a piece performed at Tanglewood that demonstrated his own mastery of the cinematic style of orchestration Williams practically invented. If this is a trend, it’s a good one.
First on Saturday evening’s program was Elgar.
It seems reasonable to assume that a Latvian conductor might have less of a feel for — or at least less experience with — the music of British composers compared to those closer to home. And perhaps the assumption is plausible. If so, it still does not apply to Andris Nelsons — at least not when it comes to Edward Elgar’s music. Watching him conduct Elgar on Saturday night, how would anyone possibly guess that he was not born in Oxfordshire or that, as a toddler, he did not study Elgar’s music? Under Nelsons’ baton, the BSO’s performance of Elgar’s “Enigma” was seamless from start to finish. Maybe extra-seamless. In any case, perfectly stunning.
“Enigma” strongly tempts an audience to clap between certain variations. But during Saturday’s performance, there was absolute silence throughout. Sweet.
On Sunday, Jean-Yves Thibaudet dazzled the crowd with some of George Gershwin’s best piano music. As usual, the French pianist made the concerto in F and Variations on “I Got Rhythm” look easy—some of the time. At other times, though, his face evinced signs of the challenge (but maybe just as a nod to Gershwin’s keyboard skills). Not that he perspired much, even on the very hottest, most humid day of summer. Thibaudet is listed in the program book as “Guest Artist,” but anyone who spends much time at Tanglewood knows he’s a regular, one of the BSO’s “house” pianists.
Sunday’s concert concluded with Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.” For most orchestras, this score is a monster. For pianists especially, it can be a nightmare of left hand jumps, polyrhythms, bizarre fingerings and a thousand other performance hazards. (Even Stravinsky couldn’t play it at full speed!) But the BSO always seems to breeze through this piece. They fool us every time.
