It was a special treat to be able to enjoy a nice 400 mile motorcycle trip along with a memorable concert at Tanglewood. The ride from the lakehouse in Pennsylvania to Lenox, Massachusetts took us on interstate highways initially but then mostly on state and county backroads in the state of New York and then on numerous back roads to Massachusetts, through West Stockbridge and into Berkshire County to Lenox, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The BSO weekend concert included one of the world’s foremost concert pianists, Emanuel Ax, performing one of my favorites, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482, written in Vienna in 1785 when the young composer was writing many new concertos for performances featuring himself as soloist. I have been listening to Emanuel Ax for decades but this is the first time I had seen him in a live performance. He was amazing. Performing the “too many notes” of Mozart seemed like a joy to him as it was to us.
Lionel Bringuier, assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, who made his BSO and Tanglewood debut in this program, was also amazing. It was great to see that there are young conductors coming up through the ranks. His energy was exciting for all.
The first concert at Tanglewood was in 1936 and since then a substantial organization and support structure has grown up around the beautiful facility. The capacity is 24,000. Not sure how many were there on Sunday but thousands for sure. Although the main gate was closed to cars when we arrived the police happily motioned us in. Most big events are very courteous to motorcyclists. They save some choice parking areas that are not big enough for cars but are perfect for bikes (or trikes). There were thousands of cars, but just two trikes!
Most people bring wagons with their folded chairs and tables and dinner. Some make quite an elaborate evening out of the free seats on the lawn and embellish their wines and dinners with candles and even candelabras. Nothing that fancy, but we had a great dinner at the Dakota Steak House in Pittsfield.
On the way back we headed across the Hudson River via the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and then up route 385 to Coxackie where we met with our daughter and grandchildren at the Blue Water Bistro. After a delightful lunch, we headed down route 209 along the historic Delaware and Hudson Canal and then back to the Lake. We dodged a few thunderstorms but did not get too wet. We look forward now to another trike trip to Bethel Woods. Stay tuned.
