No other single decision did more to shape Pittsfield during the 20th Century than the loss of local control of the Stanley Works and the entrance of GE.
It was 81 years of squabbles between Lenox and Pittsfield. The message was always the same and quite simple: viewing Berkshire County north to south, Pittsfield was the center, not Lenox.
So once there was a flash across the New England hills – loud and strong and shocking -- if tempered with a touch of New England restraint, it may have been the recipe for success and longevity.
The 24 songs comprising Franz Schubert’s 'Winterreise' (Winter Journey) were sung with penetrating intelligence by bass-baritone Matthais Goerne. This masterpiece of Viennese lieder was written as Schubert wasted away from a chronically debilitating illness.
I have never seen such a beautiful setup in my life. I’ve been conducting the orchestra every morning & I’m playing my first concert tomorrow night. Kousss gave me the hardest & longest number of all – the second symphony of Randall Thompson. 30 minutes long – a modern American work – as my first performance, and Kouss is so pleased with my work.
-- Leonard Bernstein
“We feel it our duty to hand down the old treasures of Musical Culture to American Youth. Enriched by this culture, the Young People of America will carry it further to new achievement.”
-- Serge Koussevitsky, upon the opening of Tanglewood Music Center in 1940
Stefan Asbury has served on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center and currently holds the Sana H. Sabbagh master teacher chair on the Conducting Faculty which he has held since 2005.
“Throughout my life I have envisioned the establishment of a great music and art center in the world. The United States of America can and are destined to have such a center. American freedom is the best soil for it.”
-- Serge Koussevitzky
If any conductor “owns” Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, it’s Michael Tilson Thomas. He certainly lived up to his Mahlerian reputation. When it comes to Mahler, Michael Tilson Thomas and the BSO are peerless.
My music appeals to amateurs and specialists. The amateurs because they just love it without knowing why; the professionals because they can hear everything I am doing.
--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lenox -- Ludwig van Beethoven inscribed his last string quartet, “The hard-won resolution” (Der schwer gefasste Entschluss). Toward the end of its second, final...
Robert Zuidam’s “Tanglewood Concerto” (classification: Fun) was the perfect vehicle for Emanuel Ax to show everyone how much fun he has performing new music with players of the Tanglewood Music Center. But it certainly doesn’t look easy, even for Manny.
