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A CurtainUp Berkshire Feature
Tanglewood Music Festival's All American Concert with John Douglas Thompson Thrilling Narration for Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait"
By Elyse Sommer
|
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. — excerpt from Lincoln's Collected Works, incorporated into Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." |
L-R: John Douglas Thompson and the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Conductor Jacques Lacombe, Speaker (Photo: Hilary Scott) |
Like Thanksgiving, the 4th of July is a distincly American holiday, so the all-American program, with Jacques Lacombe on the conductor's podium, couldn't have been more apt. The Festival's equivelant of a theatrical curtain raiser was John Harbison's "Remembering Gatsby" a fox trot for orchestra that culminated with the composer brought on stage to take a bow.
Next up was George Gershwin's gorgeous "Concerto in F." Commissioned in 1925 by conductor and director Walter Damrosch it did not abandon the jazz influence of his "Rhapsody in Blue" but came closer in form to the traditional classic concerto. The Tanglewood audiences couldn't have wished for a finer pianist than Kirill Gerstein, a virtuoso with an affinity for both jazz and classical works.
Gershwin's music is of course a winning choice any time. It probably reached its widest audience as one of the stand-out musical features in the movie An American in Paris, a stage adaptation of which is currently one of biggest musical hits on Broadway. ( my review ).
Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" followed the intermission. This is, of course, an ever moving musical tribute to one of our greatest presidents. The rousing music is interspersed with spoken excerpts from Abraham Lincoln's speeches turning it into a mini musical history drama. Having followed the magnificent John Douglas Thompson's acting career both here in the Berkshires and on and off Broadway, I knew his rendition would be special. And so it was! The emotion stirring Copland was followed by a swinging "Harlem" by another contemporary American legend, Duke Ellingon.
If you missed Thompson's richly nuanced, all too brief appearance at Tanglewood, no worries. He's going to be at Shakeeare & Comapny in Lenox again in August. He'll be starring in Red Velvet about the first African American actor to play Othello on tthe English stage — and this time for a longer run (August 6 to September 13).
Where but in the Berkshires do we have a chance to feast on so many cultural goodies and also enjoy nature's bounties?
Fun Home -CD
The King and I -CD
American in Paris -CD