dacm Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 Living as I do in north central CT, it does not take long to drive to my classical summer home, Tanglewood. I have never attended Opening Night with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Conductor, and thought to do so this year. I was enthralled last evening to hear a program with world-musicians playing world-class music at a extremely high-level of musicianship. The program opened with Leonard Bernstein's, Opening Prayer (Benediction), with baritone soloist Jack Canfield to polite applause. Next, Bernstein's The Age of Anxiety, Symphony No. 2, was to be performed by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet with the orchestra. Due to a death in the family, Mr. Thibaudet had to withdraw. In his place, the fabulous and charismatic Yuja Wang performed the Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, to a rousing and prolific performance. Siting near me were several Asian students that were so enamored and enthralled with her, that they screamed at the sight of her taking the stage. At Intermission, the same students went around the Tanglewood Shed to try to meet Yuja and as they waited on her, they acted as if she was a rock star. Yuja is currently among the best in the world and her unique playing style is reason enough to take notice of her, if you have not already done so. If that was not enough, after Intermission the BSO performed the still radical La Sacre du printemps, The Rite of Spring, by Igor Stravinsky. This work I have listened to for 50 years, but never have I had the pleasure of hearing it in this unique live setting. The piece, from 1913, still lives up to its reputation as a cutting-edge symphonic work that revolutionized the classical world and perhaps single-handedly, ushered us into the 20th century and a new form of contemporary orchestral composition. I will not be able to return tonight for this evenings concert. However, the concert will open with a 2021 work by Carlos Simon, a brilliant composer from Washington, D.C. Carlos and I both attended the 2015 NYU Film Scoring Summer Workshop. He has gone on to have great success and is currently the Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His featured work to be performed this evening is entitled Motherboxx Connection. it was quite a remarkable evening. I will be returning again twice more this summer culminating in a concert on August 20th, John Williams - The Tanglewood 90th Birthday Celebration. http://yujawang.com https://www.bso.org/works/motherboxx-connection https://www.bso.org/events/john-williams-90th https://www.carlossimonmusic.com 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamPro Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 A friend and I have made sort of a tradition of attending one of the BSO "rehearsal" performances on Saturday mornings. (Most weekends, Tanglewood will sell at reduced prices tickets to the BSO rehearsal of the show to be presented that night.) We got to see Yo-Yo Ma a couple of different times now. I'd love to see Yuja Wang perform. Great venue; great musical selections; and great performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Quinn Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 Wow, what a wonderful experience. I hope I can see Yuga Wang play live someday. She’s amazing! Quote https://alquinn.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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