BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons Returns to Tanglewood, 8/19-27 to Lead Four Programs

One of Tanglewood's most popular summer traditions, John Williams' Film Night, takes place on Saturday, August 19. Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams shares the podium for this performance with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, who will lead the first half of the concert, including music from classic cinema scores by

Erich Korngold, Bernard Herrmann, and Alex North. Mr. Nelsons made his debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra during the 2015 Tanglewood season, when he stepped in for Mr. Williams to lead "Throne Room and Finale" from Star Wars during Tanglewood on Parade. The second half of the program sees Mr. Williams leading music from his own scores, including selections from the Harry Potter series, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and Far and Away. Also on the program is music from Mr. Williams' score to Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, with a special guest trumpet soloist to be announced at a later date.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20 - ANDRIS NELSONS LEADS THE LEONARD BERNSTEIN MEMORIAL CONCERT, FEATURING PAUL LEWIS

Andris Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in the Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert on Sunday, August 20, in the Shed. Brilliant English pianist Paul Lewis joins Mr. Nelsons and the orchestra for Beethoven's dramatic and tumultuous Third Piano Concerto. Strauss's large-scale An Alpine Symphony, the composer's last tone poem, depicting an eleven-hour hike of an Alpine mountain, closes the program.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 - ANDRIS NELSONS LEADS AN OPERA GALA PROGRAM FEATURING KRISTINE OPOLAIS AND SIR BRYN TERFEL

On Saturday, August 26, Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the orchestra in Act II of Puccini's Tosca, featuring soprano Kristine Opolais

in the title role, along with bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel as Scarpia. The performance will also feature tenor Russell Thomas as Cavaradossi; tenor Matthew DiBattista as Spoletta, and baritone Douglas Williams as Sciarrone (in his BSO debut). The Opera Gala program will also feature songs and arias from composers including Smetana, Dvo?ák, and Mozart. Ms. Opolais and Sir Bryn recently performed Tosca in concert together at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on July 4, 2017, under conductor Gareth Jones.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 27 - BSO'S TANGLEWOOD 2017 SEASON CLOSES WITH PERFORMANCE OF BEETHOVEN'S NINTH SYMPHONY

For the second year in a row, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Sunday, August 27. The performance features soprano Katie Van Kooten in her BSO and Tanglewood debuts; mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford; tenor Russell Thomas; and bass-baritone John Relyea, along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Maestro Nelsons and the BSO open the program with Charles Ives's tribute to Western Massachusetts, "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from Three Places in New England.

ANDRIS NELSONS PAST PERFORMANCES DURING THE 2017 TANGLEWOOD SEASON

Mr. Nelsons led the BSO's Opening Night Tanglewood concert: Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with soloists Malin Christensson and Bernarda Fink (7/7). In what was one of the highlights of the 2017 Tanglewood season, and a significant event in the world of opera, Mr. Nelsons led the first BSO concert performance of the complete Das Rheingold, the first of the four dramas that make up Wagner's masterpiece Der Ring des Nibelungen. The performance featured Thomas J. Mayer as Wotan, Dame Sarah Connolly as Fricka, and Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich, among other eminent and prestigious singers known the world over for their acclaimed performances of Wagner's music (7/15). Kristine Opolais joined Mr. Nelsons and the BSO for a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 on a program with Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in A, with teenaged violinist Daniel Lozakovich in his BSO debut (7/9). Mr. Nelsons also conducted BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès's Three Studies from Couperin, on a program with music of Haydn and Ravel, and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with Daniil Trifonov as soloist (7/14).Prior to the BSO's Opening Night concert on July 7, Music Director Andris Nelsons spent time coaching the exceptionally talented Tanglewood Music Center Fellows ahead of their Brass Extravaganza concert on Sunday, July 2; he was featured as both conductor and trumpeter in this program, which also showcased the talents of acclaimed Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, as well as BSO principals Thomas Rolfs, Richard Sebring, Toby Oft, and Michael Roylance. Additionally, Maestro Nelsons led the Tanglewood Music Center's traditional Opening Exercises performance of Randall Thompson's Alleluia (7/6).

In another close association with Mr. Williams, Mr. Nelsons led the world premiere of the composer's Markings, written for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on July 16. Ms. Mutter also performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto on a program that closed with a BSO signature work, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Mr. Nelsons also led the TMCO in an Ozawa Hall program featuring Håkan Hardenberger in two works by Mark-Anthony Turnage: From the Wreckage, for trumpet and orchestra and, along with BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs, Dispelling the Fears, for two trumpets and orchestra. The program also included Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1, Classical, and Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements, conducted by TMC Fellows (7/10).

TICKET INFORMATION AND BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TANGLEWOOD
Tickets for the 2017 Tanglewood, season, $12-$124, are available through Tanglewood's website, www.tanglewood.org, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. Tickets will also be available for purchase in person at the Tanglewood Box Office at Tanglewood's Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, MA, in June 2017. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Discover, and cash are all accepted. For further information and box office hours, please call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492 or visit www.tanglewood.org. $20 tickets for attendees under 40, one of the BSO's most popular discount ticket offers, will be available for select BSO and Boston Pops performances in the Shed. In addition, Tanglewood continues to offer free lawn tickets to young people age 17 and under, as well as a variety of special programs for children, including Kids' Corner, Watch and Play, and the annual Family Concert, this year to take place July 22. Additional ticket information appears near the end of this press release.

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