Mozart Coming, Berlin, Too, and One Small Rant

    Classical music in public spaces — I have written on this subject before, but in a hotel dining room yesterday I heard the Debussy Quartet and Beethoven’s Ninth played in succession, and it just struck me that while these pieces are a welcome departure from some of the insipid soft rock/pop that wafts through so many places we visit, they were never intended to be used in this way. There is plenty of lovely music by Telemann, Haydn, Mozart and others that was written as background music.

   So I felt sad at having to munch my blueberry muffin while the profound music of Debussy and Beethoven struggled to be heard over the clatter of silverware and the chatter of guests discussing their daughter’s wedding. Worse yet, however, is the cheesy cocktail piano that accompanies the safety announcements on Continental Airlines flights. What are they thinking of? OK, rant over.

   Tanglewood is in its third week, and this Friday, July 23 at 8:30 p.m. there will be a concert performance of Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio†led by Johannes Debus, with professional soloists including Lisette Oropesa along with singers from the Tanglewood Music Center.  Then, on Saturday, July 24 at 8:30 p.m., Herbert Blomstedt will conduct an all-Brahms program. The Piano Concerto No. 1 will have Peter Serkin as soloist, and the evening will conclude with the Symphony No. 2. Serkin, recently heard at Music Mountain in the Ravel Trio, is reason enough to attend.

   Sunday, July 25 at 2:30 p.m., Richard Strauss’s “Don Quixote†will be played by cellist Lynn Harell with Hans Graf conducting, with some waltzes and polkas by another Strauss, Johann, for dessert.

   Skipping ahead, audience members can sing along at a lecture/performance by cabaret artist and music historian Harvey Granat on Saturday, Aug. 14 at 3:30 p.m., as he explores Irving Berlin’s contributions to the Great American Songbook. It will be casual and cozy at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center, on Route 203 in Spencertown, NY. Tickets $25/$20 members at 518-392-3693 or www.spencertownacademy.org.

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