Lenox — Tanglewood’s closing weekend offers an embarrassment of riches. On Friday, Gil Shaham plays the Dvořák violin concerto conducted by Anna Rakitina, who also leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 3, along with Borodin’s spectacular Polovtsian Dances. Alexander Malofeev plays Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto on Saturday, and on Sunday Michael Tilson Thomas leads the BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The weather will be perfect.
No one enjoys playing the violin more than Gil Shaham, and he lets everyone know it: His is the smile that shines ’round the world, and you’ll see him light up the Shed with it on Friday, August 26 at 8 p.m. He will have the time of his life performing Dvořák’s perennially crowd-pleasing violin concerto, and the precision of his playing will take your breath away. Gil has appeared at Tanglewood 36 times since his 1993 debut, so you can call him a fixture there. (He’s even filled in for other players on short notice.)
Anna Rakitina has been the BSO’s Assistant Conductor since September, 2019. Born in Russia and educated at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Rakitina is the ideal conductor for Friday’s program of Shostakovich, Dvořák, and Borodin. (She and the BSO have also done well with Prokofiev and Stravinsky.) You can read an interview I did in early 2021 with Rakitina here.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that not all performances of Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances are given with chorus. Friday’s performance is. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, led by British choral conductor James Burton, is in town for its annual performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Sunday, but their singing on Shostakovich and Borodin on Friday night will be a hard act to follow.
On Saturday evening, Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Russian-born Alexander Malofeev in Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto. Malofeev, born in 2001, may appear a bit on the youthful side to be tackling such knuckle-busting repertoire, but, in fact, he routinely crushes the piece.
Don’t expect a mere display of power, though. Look at what Boston Classical Review wrote about Malofeev’s playing: “Malofeev is no ordinary prodigy … Though only 20, the Russian pianist plays with the probing interpretative depths of renowned artists twice his age.”
Winchester Today gushed over Malofeev’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto in Basingstoke, Hampshire: “This was, quite simply, one of those ‘I was there’ moments…”
If you check out Malofeev’s YouTube channel, you’ll find performances of a wide range of repertoire, and you’ll get some insight into how the young pianist managed to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at the age of thirteen.
The Tanglewood summer season ends on Sunday with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the world’s best known and most beloved piece of classical music. Soloists include Jacquelyn Stucker, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Ben Bliss, tenor; and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone.
Tickets are still available for Tanglewood’s closing summer weekend Friday, August 26; Saturday, August 27; and Sunday, August 28.
