In Monday’s (7/14) Boston Globe, Jeremy Eichler writes, “Even the serene and bucolic grounds of Tanglewood can sometimes pulse with a certain caffeinated energy, and this weekend it came from a new source: Andris Nelsons was here for his first visit to Tanglewood since his appointment last year as the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s next music director. The Shed was bustling, and critics and cultural journalists from various US and European press outlets were in attendance.… Perhaps reflecting these high hopes, the crowd for Friday night’s all-Dvorák program greeted Nelsons with a standing ovation before a single note was played. For his part, Nelsons looked happy to finally be here.” Nelsons led the BSO in an all-Dvorák program: its first-ever performance of “The Noonday Witch”; the Violin Concerto with soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter “electrifying the crowd”; and a “handsomely dispatched account” of Dvorák’s Eighth Symphony. “This weekend’s repertoire tended toward bread-and-butter staples, but next weekend will give Nelsons a chance to introduce newer works by Christopher Rouse and the Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson. Meanwhile, programming heats up at Ozawa Hall this week, beginning with medieval music courtesy of Sequentia, and ending many centuries later, with the annual Festival of Contemporary Music.”
Posted July 15, 2014
