Report: Williams Conducts ‘Highwood’s Ghost’ at Tanglewood

(This concert was recorded for an exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere December 28 at 9PM. on PBS. It will also be distributed to major broadcasters throughout Europe and Asia).

See also: Highwood’s Ghost World Premiere reviews & audio (UPDATED with new reviews)

“THE BERNSTEIN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AT TANGLEWOOD”
August 25,2018, Koussevitzky Music Shed, Lenox, MA
Boston Symphony Orchestra, joined by musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival
Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, and JOHN WILLIAMS, conductors
Audra McDonald, host and vocalist. Midori, violin. Yo-Yo Ma, cello. Kian Soltani, cello. Jessica Zhou, harp. Nadine Sierra, soprano. Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano. Thomas Hampson, baritone. Isabel Leonard, Jessica Vosk, Tony Yazbeck, and other Broadway Artists (West Side Story). James Darrah, director. Joshua Bergasse, choreographer. Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor

CONCERT PROGRAM
  • BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide
    (Andris Nelsons)
  • BERNSTEIN “Phaedrus” from Serenade (after Plato’s ‘Symposium’) for violin and orchestra
    (with Midori and Christoph Eschenbach)
  • BERNSTEIN “Kaddish 2” from Symphony No. 3
    (with Nadine Sierra, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Keith Lockhart)
  • BERNSTEIN “Meditation 3” from Mass for cello and orchestra
    (Kian Soltani and Christoph Eschenbach)
  • BERNSTEIN Selections from West Side Story: Prologue, Jet Song, Maria, A boy like that, I have a love, and Tonight quintet
    (Isabel Leonard, Jessica Vosk, Tony Yazbeck, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Joshua Bergasse, Michael Tilson Thomas)
INTERMISSION
  • MAHLER Song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
    (Thomas Hampson and Andris Nelsons)
  • COPLAND Finale of Appalachian Spring
    (Michael Tilson Thomas)
  • WILLIAMS Highwood’s Ghost, An Encounter for Cello, Harp and Orchestra
    (Yo-Yo Ma, Jessica Zhou, John Williams)
  • MAHLER Finale from Symphony No. 2, Resurrection
    (Nadine Sierra, Susan Graham, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Andris Nelsons)

REPORTS

  • Mass Live – Williams then conducted “Highwood’s Ghost,” a composition he wrote and which was premiered last week at Tanglewood. The piece, which features Ma and BSO principal harp Jessica Zhou, was inspired by a story Bernstein told about a ghost sighting in the Highwood manor house on the Tanglewood grounds. And while the music sounded great last week, Saturday’s performance sounded even better – Full article

PHOTOS & TWEETS

Andris Nelsons, John Williams, Steven Spielberg and Bradley Cooper.
(Photo by Hilary Scott, courtesy of Boston Symphony Orchestra)

 

 Alexander Bernstein, Nina Bernstein Simmons, Andris Nelsons, Jamie Bernstein, John Williams, Steven Spielberg, and Bradley Cooper

 

(Photo by Hilary Scott, courtesy of Boston Symphony Orchestra)

(Photo by Ken Ross)