Tanglewood Music Festival Late Season Events

Crosby Stills and Nash (photo, courtesy of BSO)

In this post, you'll find listings for the final events at Tanglewood this season. Situated beautifully amidst rolling hills in Lenox, Mass.  -- one of New England's prettiest small towns -- Tanglewood has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937.  Attracting more than 300,000 music lovers for 10 weeks of concerts and recitals, Tanglewood is a harmonious, world-renowned sight to behold in the heart of the scenic Berkshire Mountains.



The 2010 season concludes with some of the most recognizable tunes in classical music.  The Boston Symphony Orchestra will perform "The Planets" by Gustav Holst on Friday, August 27, and bring the summer to a dramatic close on Sunday, August 29 with Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  On Wednesday, September 1 Crosby, Stills, and Nash will play the Koussavitsky Music Shed, and the annual Jazz Festival will run on Saturday and Sunday September 4 and 5, featuring Kurt Elling and the nationally broadcast Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molasky.

Tuesday, August 24, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

ALL-CHOPIN PROGRAM

Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp, Op. 36

Ballade No. 3 in A-flat, Op. 47

Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49

Two Nocturnes, Op. 27

Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39

Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 28

Tickets $18 - $60 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Thursday, August 26, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

ALL-CHOPIN PROGRAM

Three Nocturnes, Op. 9

Scherzo No. 4 in E, Op. 54

Barcarolle in F-sharp, Op. 60

Mazurka No. 5 in B-flat, Op. 7, No. 1

Mazurka No. 6 in A minor, Op. 7, No. 2

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Variations brillantes in B-flat, Op. 12, on a rondo from Halévy's Ludovic

Mazurka No. 32 in C-sharp minor, Op. 50, No. 3

Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

Tickets $18 - $60 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Friday, August 27, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert

Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Free to evening ticket holders

Friday, August 27, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood

Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Free to evening ticket holders

Friday, August 27, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

David Zinman, conductor˚

Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

POULENC Gloria

HOLST The Planets

Tickets $18-$89 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Saturday, August 28, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Free to open rehearsal ticket holders

Saturday, August 28, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Tickets $17 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Saturday, August 28, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

David Zinman, conductor˚

Emanuel Ax, piano

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2

DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Tickets $18-$89 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Sunday, August 29, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Kurt Masur, conductor

John Oliver, conductor (Bach)

Nicole Cabell, soprano

Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano

Marcus Haddock, tenor˚

John Relyea, bass-baritone

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

J.S. BACH Jesu meine Freude, for chorus

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

Tickets $19-$99 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Wednesday, September 1, 7:30 p.m. Shed

Crosby, Stills, and Nash

Tickets $24-$96 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

TANGLEWOOD JAZZ FESTIVAL

Saturday, September 4, 2 p.m., Ozawa Hall

Radio Deluxe

with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey

and special guests to be announced

Tickets $19-$56 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Saturday, September 4, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Laurence Hobgood Trio

Kurt Elling

Tickets $19-$77 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Sunday, September 5, 2 p.m. Ozawa Hall

The Eddie Daniels-Bob James Quartet: “Broadway Boogie”
The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra

Tickets $19-$56 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

Sunday, September 5, 8 p.m., Ozawa Hall

The Julian Lage Group

The Donal Fox Quartet: “Piazzolla to Bach Project”

    with special guest Maya Beiser, cello          

 Tickets $18-$62 (box office, tanglewood.org, or 888-266-1200)

For more information on Tanglewood, log onto http://www.bso.org/bso/index.jsp?id=bcat5240070 

Article and photo source (Crosby Stills and Nash), courtesy of Sam Brewer, public relations at the Boston Symphony Orchestra

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Hampton Court Palace: A Place Like No Other

Hampton Court Palace is a palace situated in the south west of London, England. This palace is located near River Thames and Charing Cross. This place is indeed very historical since this is where the British royal family used to live until the 18th century. This is one of the two palaces owned by Henry VIII that survived up until now (the other one is St. James' Palace).

Hampton Court Palace has already been opened to the public. It is now a tourist destination. This palace is taken cared by Historic Royal Places – an independent charity.

At Hampton Court Palace, there's a place called Hampton Court Park, sometimes called Home Park. This is where Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and Hampton Court Palace Festival is held annually.

Hampton Court Palace Festival is a musical event held every month of June. During this festive event, artists coming from different genres present a concert to the crowd of people to continue the traditional entertainment.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show started way back in 1990 and was originally organized by the Royal Horticultural Society. This event is held in 25 acres of the Hampton Court Palace Park. Other people much prefer to call this flower show as Chelsea Flower Show because this is one of the largest flower festival in the world.

There is also a tree named Mediaeval Oak, or Methuselah's Oak, in the southern part of the park. This tree is said to be 750 years old and has also become one of the attractions in the palace.

No wonder why this palace is a place like no other. It has already become one of the most famous
palace in the world. And it surely is a great privilege to have visited Hampton Court Palace!

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Alton Towers Theme Park

Alton Towers Theme Park is one of the most visited park in United Kingdom. This theme park is

located in Staffordshire, England. It has many new attractions this year. Some of them are: Th13teen, Submission, Ripsaw and Rita.

Th13teen – This is the most challenging ride in the park. You must have enough guts to ride it, else it will trouble your imagination once you're inside the Dark Forest.

Submission – This ride is ultimately thrilling since it will leave you hanging vertically. You should hold on very tight when experiencing this ride.

Ripsaw – This feels like you're inside a washing machine because it will intensely keep spinning for several times. Be prepared to get wet when you're gonna ride this because most likely you'll get wet when it turns upside down.

Rita – This ride is certainly extraordinary. It moves so fast – more or less 100kmph in 2.5 seconds. So be ready to get carried away!

The thrill rides mentioned above are just a few of the many rides Alton Towers Theme Park has to offer. There are still lots of highly exhilarating, fantastic and super cool rides that can be experienced at the park such as:

Oblivion, as the name implies, this ride sort of make you forget anything else but the exciting feeling when you're up at a very high altitude. Even if you never want to look at the ground, you surely just couldn't help take a peek since it suddenly drops vertically.

Enterprise is an incredible ride; it will keep spinning and flipping you over and over again. Indeed, it'll be thrilling and enjoyable at the same time.

Air will let you experience how it is to be weightless up on air; sort of feels like you're flying up there. It will certainly feel great!

So, if you want to have the most fun and exciting time of your life, visit Alton Towers Theme Park and go get in the rides!

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"Free Fun Fridays" Massachusetts Travel Attractions This Summer Offered by Highland House Foundation

The Boston-based Highland Street Foundation invites you to visit a designated museum or attraction until Labor Day Weekend as part of its Free Fun Fridays for Massachusetts resident and tourists.

This amazing program is a true budget-saver and features such noteworthy Massachusetts travel destinations like the Museum of Fine Arts, Old Sturbridge Village, Boston Museum of Science, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, the Ecotarium and Sports Museum. For more a complete list of attractions -- and dates and times -- visit the Highland Street Foundation Web Site. You can also call contact the Highland Street Foundation at 508.820.1151 or e-mail kbristol@highlandstreet.org. 

The Highland Street Foundation contributes to a great number of varied charitable causes in Massachusetts.

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The New England Town With Four Public Ocean Beaches!

Article and photo (Salty Brine State Beach) by Eric H.




When it comes to New England summer ocean beach destinations, Narragansett, R.I., rides the waves as well as any in the northeast region.

This popular "South County" Rhode Island travel destination features 23.63 square miles of water area with a generous amount of space dedicated to public access. Roger Wheeler, Salty Brine and Scarborough State Beaches along with the Narragansett Town Beach all offer great stretches of sand -- especially Scarborough and Wheeler situated on 26 and 27 acres, respectively. Despite its smaller size, I like Salty Brine State Beach the best. Located in the live fishing village neighborhood of Galilee, Salty Brine may be only have one acre but you still have ample ocean swimming space, a nice stretch of sand and a location within walking distance of some classic, amazing New England seafood restaurants like George's and Champlin's as well as shops and a ferry to the amazing Block Island. Plus, the beach was dedicated to one of my favorite New England radio personalities, the legendary Salty Brine who spent many years gracing the airwaves of WPRO-AM, Providence!

While Cape Cod deservedly has a great reputation for the best ocean beaches in New England, we wholeheartedly recommend also checking out Narragansett for its amazing beach presence. What a great places to visit during the summer!

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Fourth of July Fireworks Celebrations Around New England

If you are looking for 4th of July fireworks celebrations around New England, we have found some valuable resource lists featuring such information -- thanks to all local businesses for providing such relevant, informative pages:

Connecticut http://www.wfsb.com/station/24067762/detail.html

Maine http://www.maine.gov/dps/fmo/FireWorksShows.htm

Massachusetts http://www.bostoncentral.com/events/massachusetts_fireworks_2010/p5389.php.

New Hampshire http://www.newhampshire.com/entertainment/july-fourth-fireworks.aspx

Rhode Island http://www.centralrichamber.com/fireworks.htm

Vermont http://www.vtliving.com/events/4thofjuly/index.shtml

Thanks to these great New England Web Sites for presenting the information! For the record, we have no affiliation with any of these businesses and, therefore, are not responsible for the content. We are just presenting them as resources. Also, double-check the dates listed as not all fireworks celebrations listed are on July 4th! If you should have any questions, we recommend calling the destination directly before embarking on any travel. Have a great 4th of July holiday!

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Congratulations to Four New England OpenTable "Best American Cuisine" Restaurants

We just read that OpenTable, a leading provider of free online reservations for diners and guest management systems for restaurants, selected four New England restaurants in its top 50 2010 Annual Winners Best American Cuisine as voted by Open Table diners.

The four New England restaurants receiving honors amongst the top 50 American restaurants are:

White Barn Inn, Kennebunk, Maine
Fore Street, Portland, Maine
Capital Grill, Boston, Mass.
The Schoolhouse at Cannondale, Wilton, Conn.

Congratulations! By the way, OpenTable also features a monthly "Diner's Choice" list state-by-state, based on diner feedback. We recommend checking that section out, also, for constant updates.

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