BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES 2008 TANGLEWOOD SEASON

ADDITIONAL TANGLEWOOD SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
INCLUDE ALL-BEETHOVEN AND ALL-MOZART WEEKENDS, CONCERT PERFORMANCE OF TCHAIKOVSKY’S “EUGENE ONEGIN” CONDUCTED BY JAMES LEVINE, BERNSTEIN TRIBUTE WITH KEITH LOCKHART AND THE BOSTON POPS, JOHN WILLIAMS’ ANNUAL FILM NIGHT,

AND TWO JAMES TAYLOR PERFORMANCES, JULY 3 AND 4

FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CELEBRATES THE CENTENARY OF AMERICAN COMPOSER ELLIOTT CARTER

BANK OF AMERICA TO BE EXCLUSIVE SEASON SPONSOR OF TANGLEWOOD;

FIRST-OF-ITS KIND FIVE-YEAR TANGLEWOOD SPONSORSHIP

COMMENCES WITH 2008 SEASON

In an unprecedented presentation of opera at Tanglewood, James Levine will open the Boston Symphony’s 2008 Tanglewood season with a concert performance of Berlioz’ monumental opera Les Troyens, featuring the BSO, a stellar cast of internationally acclaimed singers, and the full-complement Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. This grand work will be performed in two parts: Saturday, July 5 (Part I) and Sunday, July 6 (Part II).  For the first time ever, the festival’s annual Berkshire Night will take place on the evening of the first BSO concert of the season (Saturday, July 5), allowing 1,000 year-round residents of the Berkshires to enjoy Tanglewood’s Opening Night performance for free.

In his fourth summer as BSO music director, Maestro Levine will also lead the BSO in six performances, highlights of which include an all-Brahms program featuring the Piano Concerto No. 1, with pianist Yefim Bronfman, and the Third Symphony; a program pairing Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 with the Tanglewood premiere of John Harbison’s Symphony No. 5, and a concert featuring pianist Peter Serkin performing music of Bach and Mozart on a program with symphonies of Haydn and Schubert. He also leads the BSO as part of Tanglewood on Parade.  The 2008 Tanglewood season will also see Maestro Levine continuing his in-depth work with the Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, capped by a concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, featuring the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and a cast of professional singers, for Tanglewood’s annual Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert. Maestro Levine also conducts a fully-staged TMC production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s satirical opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and he is Director of the 2008 Festival of Contemporary Music, which honors the centenary of Elliott Carter with five days of concerts dedicated to this influential and prolific American composer. 

            Ticket prices for the 2008 Tanglewood season will remain unchanged from last year’s prices for most BSO and Pops concerts and Ozawa Hall concerts.  Tickets go on sale to the public on February 17 through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or online at www.tanglewood.org.  Friends of Tanglewood who contribute $75 or more to the Tanglewood Annual Fund are able to purchase tickets in advance of the public sale dates.  For information about becoming a Friend of Tanglewood, call 617-638-9267.  Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Bank of America will be the exclusive season sponsor for Tanglewood, beginning in 2008 and running through 2012.  This is the first long-term, multi-year season sponsorship for the Tanglewood music festival.

ADDITIONAL 2008 TANGLEWOOD SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

KOUSSEVITZKY MUSIC SHED

Additional highlights of the 2008 Tanglewood season include an all-Mozart weekend (August 8-10), featuring performances of the symphonies nos. 33, 38, and 39, Horn Concerto No. 3 with BSO principal horn James Sommerville, Piano Concerto No. 12 with Leon Fleisher, Violin Concerto No. 2 with Gil Shaham, and the Flute Concerto No. 1 with BSO principal flute Elizabeth Rowe in her solo debut with the BSO.  The BSO will also present an all-Beethoven weekend (August 22-24) to close the BSO’s Tanglewood season. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts the Mass in C and Symphony No. 5 (August 22), and Christoph von Dohnányi leads symphonies nos. 2 and 3 (August 23) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (August 24).  Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink leads the BSO in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, (July 11) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, soprano Heidi Grant Murphy, and mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn (July 12). Cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins the BSO for Lalo’s Cello Concerto (August 3).  Other favorites of the orchestral repertoire to be performed include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (August 1); Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique (August 15), and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade (August 17). 

The 2008 Tanglewood season will present eight of the world’s most beloved violinists including Joshua Bell performing Chausson’s Poème and Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (August 1); Janine Jansen performing Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3 (August 15); Sarah Chang in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto (July 27); Midori in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (July 19); Pinchas Zukerman performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (August 17), and Stefan Jackiw, along with violist Lawrence Power, performing Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, K.364. Violinist Julia Fischer joins pianist Jonathan Biss and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott to perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano, violin, and cello under Bernard Haitink (Jul
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