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Tanglewood
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
22 reviews for Tanglewood
Tanglewood on the 4th of July-- truly inspirational and very american.
We picnicked on a hillside overlooking a deep blue lake with mountains in the background and brilliant green surrounding us, while listening to beautiful live music and i was literally breathless. Our picnic should have been framed and hanging in a museum-- so beautiful that it didnt even feel real. Then the sun went down, and it was like someone cued the perfect almost full moon to rise and complete the vision. Fireworks over the lake followed the concert-- almost too beautiful to imagine. (luckily, i could imagine cause it was FREEZING and none of us had brought the kind of clothes needed for a Berskhires July 4 so we took off early rather than shiver through them.)
There is a wonderful vibe that hangs over Tanglewood and its environs and you feel it in the scenery, the mood of the other people there, and in the performances. Even if you're not a huge fan of whoever is playing, Tanglewood is worth the trip, so pack a picnic, bring your blankets and dress warm!
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I just have to reiterate that this place is magical. The combination of classical music and nature really touches my heart in a special way. I went to the BU Young Artist's Institute in 2003 so it also brings back memories/ teenage nostalgia. We got to have a grounds pass to go to all of the concerts which was just freaking incredible. I went back for the first time yesterday to hear the TMC orchestra play Brahms 2nd symphony, and Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Garrick Ohlsson . Bring a picnic and enjoy the most perfect lawn, fresh air, beautiful tall pine trees, and generally wonderful place.
"Starry starry night. Paint your palette blue and bright..."
Back in my college days, I once had the chance to accompany my very musically inclined friends on a drive up to Tanglewood. Tanglewood, you see, is the open air summer residence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. An open air concert hall, there is no seating, just a rooftop area for the orchestra, and miles of grassy fields for concert-goers to picnic in.
Whenever I remember the summer concert in Tanglewood, I reminisce about lying back on the grass as sonorous string melodies and bellicose brass resonance assuaged and comforted my soul in waves of measured movements. At that moment, everthing in the world just felt right. Most of all, I think about looking up at the night sky in wonderment of the stars and amazed at the elegant beauty of it all.
What more is required?
A bottle of wine. A hunk of cheese. The company of good friends.
Perfection.
Review 8/14/08
I.M.Y.
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Hot summer wind reminds me that it's time.
Cool ocean breeze carries me to the west.
As the mountains slowly rise up, I start to hear the hint of harmony.
I lay on the bed of grass, I breathe deeply to smell the green.
When stars appear in the sky, I get showered with the sound of symphony......
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So my first trip to Tanglewood came by way of lawn seats and a long car ride with crazy Yelpers (and soon to be Yelpers!) and talk of drunken mishaps in our respective pasts.
The lawn is fantastic, perfectly manicured. Although a couple of the folks were were with quipped about the non-smoking policy, I secretly savored the crisp untainted mountain air.
Get there early if you want to rent a chair (or bring your own chair) as we found out when one of our group of 8 wound up chairless (we had brought enough with us for seven). The chair rental, by the way, is only five dollars and it looked like you don't have to return it, as after everyone left we watched them drive around in golf carts and pick them up. Although I could be wrong about this... it's just how it seemed.
Do bring a cooler and a nice bottle of wine or three and some delicious cheese and fruit. Although, if everyone in your group brings enough food for everyone in your group, you soon all learn you have way too much food.
Don't bring a pop up tent shelter, even if you plan to stay off to the back or the side and out of the way, as they won't let you put it up. Umbrellas on stakes seem to be okay, though.
Don't plan on open flames, unless it's a small candle... they seem to let candles slide.
DO pay CLOSE attention to where you parked, unless you want to be walking around at midnight on dimly lit streets carrying all your stuff and having no idea where you are or where your car is. (This happened, trust me, although it was fun. Everything is fun if you're with the right people.)
Honestly, I don't know why anyone would by orchestra seats... okay, so for rain it would be nice, but our rain came and went before we got in and then we have tarps and chairs and such no no one was stuck in wet grass.).
The orchestra was wonderful... I had thought and hopes they're be speakers throughout the lawn area to amplify the sound but now I'm so glad there wasn't... it carried through the night beautifully..
It was like we were all butterflies, sleeping under the stars, and listening to the grasshoppers play lullabies, except the lead grasshopper was John Williams and the lullabies were scores from movies and there was a hooting owl that was really Steven Spielberg explaining stuff about music and Indiana Jones.
Anyway, Tanglewood is wonderful and I will be back, only next time I'll go early and explore Lenox, as it seemed worthy of exploration.
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It was a nice summer Sunday. Yo-Yo-Ma was performing Lalo's "Cello Concerto in D minor", and the conductor performed Rachmaninoff's "Symphony Danes, opus 45". Not to mention Albeniz's "Suite from Iberia (orch. Arbros)" was also performed. It 's great music. We had jolly happy time. There was about 8 of us. We had a picnic in the lawn. We drank wine, ate cheese, and some more.
But what I found disappointing is that we could not see the performers. This whole time I thought classical-music-out-in-the-lawn we would be able to see them. The lawn was outside of the shed. Paradoxically, I wouldn't want to sit in the shed because i would like to be in the sun and bring my own wine and food (which is not allowed in the shed), but at the same time sitting in the lawn and being able to bring your own stuff---we lost a little because we weren't able to see them.
Overall it was a great time. The music we could hear perfectly well. We just lied down, closed our eyes and listened and listened some more.
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I went to Tanglewood last weekend with some good friends, old friends and new friends. The program was "Film Night." John Williams was conducting the Boston Pops in a program of great movie scores (his own and some others). The second half of the program was to feature his work from the Indiana Jones movies. The Pops performed several songs that were off program, including the piece Williams recently composed for the Beijing Olympics, and Steven Spielberg made a surprise appearance to MC the second half of the program - VERY COOL!!!
The first thing you need to know about Tanglewood is that it's about a stone's throw away from New York State - about 130 miles from Boston. So count on spending 2 hours out there, 2 hours back, and $50 for gas.
That being said, the drive is COMPLETELY worth it!
The estate is just beautiful, with lush lawns and trees scattered throughout. There is a gift shop, a grill and mini food court and several vendor tents. Parking is free in the various lots (really grass covered clearings surrounded by trees), although I believe you can pay for preferred parking near the venue. The main stage (Koussevitzky Music Shed) is a covered amphitheater with lawns spread out in every direction. There's also an indoor theater, offices, rest rooms, and several other facilities spread out across the estate.
Seats within the amphitheater cost about the same as normal Symphony tickets, but lawn tickets are usually only $20.
Here's my recommendations for a trip to Tanglewood:
Don't show up two hours before the show begins. Drive out there late morning or early afternoon and make a day of it. This is a perfect place to toss around a frisbee, kick a soccer ball or play a wiffle ball game.
Bring picnic baskets, coolers, blankets, folding chairs, and beach umbrellas if it's sunny or likely to rain. You can bring any kind of food or beverage in with you (including alcohol). For some strange reason you can't put up a canopy or tent on the lawn, regardless of where you're sitting. Open flames (I would assume they're referring to campfires or grills) are prohibited, but Citronella candles seem to be permitted (and I'd recommend one or two). Don't count on chair rentals, they go quickly and early.
The musicians aren't well amplified, so if you're sitting in the back of the lawn it's a bit of a struggle to hear (especially if you have noisy neighbors or kids nearby). So get there early and throw your blanket down up front.
You might also want to sit within view of the projection screens, they may be utilized throughout the performance. During Film Night they played movie scenes while the Pops played along - very impressive.
If you want to sit near the stage, buy tickets, but bring all the picnic stuff too. Enjoy the lawn during the day, then go sit in your seats during the performance.
Make note of where you parked (especially the lot name). It's easy to get lost and spend an hour wandering around in the dark before you find your car.
All in all, a performance at Tanglewood is an amazing experience and quite possibly the best day trip value around. You can bet I'll be going back soon!
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So the man and I met up with some friends (Christopher M, Dawn E, and others) for a night of great movie scores performed by The Boston Pops. The first part of the program was of various songs including a piece John Williams composed for the Beijing Olympics. The second half was dedicated to his work from the Indiana Jones movies, with a surprise appearance from Steven Spielberg.
Do get here early. The man and I showed up about an hour before the show was set to start, and all the "good" spots were taken. Do not take a canopy if it looks like rain... they will not allow you to set it up even though we were in NO ONES WAY WHATSOEVER!! But they do allow very large beach umbrellas.
They also allow coolers in... even booze. We bought a mini Heineken keg, and brought a bottle of my fathers homemade wine. I made a few sandwiches, and packed up some cheese and crackers. We had enough food, and drink to last the lovely evening.
It is a super long drive, so do call ahead to make a reservation at a local hotel or Bed and Breakfast. We called close to 20 places before we got stuck at the Econo Lodge. That was lovely (*please note the sarcasm*).
We will definitely be back, with a reservation made ahead of time.
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We visited on a Monday evening in July, when unfortunately there was no performance in the shed...so, no sitting on the lawn with wine and a picnic, the experience I'd told my wife was the essence of Tanglewood, an upscale and more pastoral version of our visits to the Hollywood Bowl at home on the left coast. But we had a great time anyway with two great experiences:
First, while buying tickets for the evening's chamber music program, we were directed to the shed. The symphony was rehearsing with soprano Renee Fleming, and while it was a closed rehearsal, we could sit outside the rope fence on benches and listen. The shed is open to three sides, so while we were off to one side of the stage, we basically had great seats for the unofficial performance.
That evening, we returned, this time to Seiji Ozawa Hall to hear several students present their vocal performances. The hall itself is architecturally beautiful, like an arts and crafts vision of a concert hall. And the students were amazing...extraordinary voices presenting works from Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky, vocalists who we imagine will become the peers of Ms. Fleming. A great way to spend a warm summer's evening!
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Tanglewood proved my mettle as best gf ever. Here's how.
One day my girlfriend was going on about how she'd never seen James Taylor in concert and she wanted to so bad, but no one would ever go with her. I made fun of her for liking James Taylor.
Another day, she was pining for the Berkshires, and Tanglewood in particular. "Wouldn't it be so romantic to see a concert out there, under the stars?" she said. "With a bunch of rich cracker yuppies? Sitting on wet grass? Not to mention bugs. Sounds horrible!" I said.
Then her birthday started getting closer and closer, and I searched for James Taylor tickets, because I LISTEN, even if I make fun. As luck would have it, he was playing at Tanglewood right around her special day. So it all aligned, I spent a bunch of money and we cozied up with the well-to-do drunken white people who like James Taylor. Or, "the original JT" as I like to call him.
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Tanglewood is just a wonderful place to head in the summer. If you are serious about music, I recommend planning far in advance and getting good seats within the music shed. If you are just there for a pleasant picnic, you've suddenly cut the cost of your tickets considerably and all you need to do is pack a wonderful picnic lunch and show up early in the day to stake out a nice spot for your blanket.
This area is heavily visited by tourists in the summer, so you will need to plan where you are going to stay in advance.
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Magical...After a perfect dinner at Cranwell, we witnessed the masterful artistry that is YO-YO MA. I was spell-bound, and the crowd couldn't seem to let Mr. Ma exit but eventually he had to and the BSO performed the Opus 36 which my friend said was his favorite. It was perfection.
We came a little late so they didn't allow us to take our seats during the middle of the performance which sucked but when we did, we were seated smack in front of the stage in a sea of elderly people who kind of stared at us (there wasn't even a nice 30 year old couple to soften our presence).
Lush grass fields for endless amounts of free and ample parking close to the shed. The 2.5 hour drive is awesome because it allows you to see Massachusetts for what it is outside of Boston. The Berkshires are breathtakingly beautiful. You don't really love someone unless you take them here.
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Okay there is no better way to listen to Beethoven Symphony No. 9 than on a plush fresh cut lawn with ample wine, cheese and crackers. Because of this, Tanglewood is one of my top favorite spots in New England.
Yes the drive is a bit long (2 hours with out traffic) but it is well worth it. My only disappointment was that the men's bath room right outside the main gate was horrible. It reminded me of the men's rooms in "Old" Garden during 4th qtr of Celtics playoff games in May/June. Just the memory of those games makes me want to vomit.
Make the trip with some friends and I am sure you will have a good time!
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I first came here long ago, with my summer camp. We loved the glorious Berkshires setting, the classical music Shed, and the atmosphere on the lawn.
Highly recommended: not too different today.
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Tanglewood is a very nice get-away from the daily routine. Whether it is in the week a the Hall or on the weekend at the Shed, inside or on the lawn: the experience there is (almost) always great.
I really enjoy the much better quality and way more interesting selection of artists and performances since James Levine took over as the music director.
Some practical advise:
- For the 8:30 pm performances, you should make sure to be at 6:00pm on the Masspike (at 128, coming from Boston). You will be there on time, but you should bring your own food.
- After the evening performances, do not expect to find ANY open restaurants, except McD or BK.
- Bring a fleece or jacket and a few bottles of insect repellent (OFF Deep Woods) - it can get cold and the air filled with mosquitoes.
A final word, though: the audience in Tanglewood is not alway up to par with the quality of the performance, especially on the lawn. You should expect whispering, jamming in plastic bags, and - worst of all - applause between movements. While annoying, this is simply a part of the Tanglewood experience.
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Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
I watched a friend perform in the Netherlands Bach Society. Drove out there on a Thursday night from the Boston area. It was about a 2 hour drive, and that was without traffic.
But it was so worth the drive. We bought reasonably priced lawn tickets, picnicked, drank wine, and sprawled out as the sun set listening and napping to moving, classical music. It was truly peaceful.
My only warning is: people bring their children. It's a family event, so keep that in mind. Just be patient. Most of the children really are well-behaved. Even the toddlers.
I can't wait to go back.
For his 31st birthday, I bought my husband tickets to see Terrence Blanchard quintet and the BSO play selections from "A Requiem for Katrina," which was the soundtrack for the Spike Lee documentary "When the Levees Broke." We are both very familiar with Blanchard and the music (my husband had seen him five times before, I had seen him thrice), but this night at the Seiji Ozawa Hall was really poignant. The concert was part of the Tanglewood Jazz Festival at the end of August 2008, the day before another major hurricane was supposed to hit the Gulf Coast (thankfully, it wasn't too bad). The facilities were beautiful, especially the hall. We walked all around Tanglewood and viewed the lovely Berkshires. It was really a great evening. Our seats in the hall were in the second row, right, which were a little too close, but still okay. I think we might have had a different experience if we sat outside of the hall, as the acoustics would not have been so good. However, if you are on the outside, you can pack a picnic dinner and wine from home. How fabulous is that! Overall, I had a great time and want to go back for a John Williams concert. I can just imagine hearing the theme from Star Wars or E.T. while watching the stars and mountains in the sky.
go ahead, call me a yuppie. tanglewood is the shit. do i even need to tell you this? make sure you forego the pricey prepaid picnic baskets and pick up sandwiches and two buck chuck from trader joe's before heading out to western mass. oh, and plastic wineglasses. and bug spray. and a blanket.
the only time the lawn seats don't rule over the seats inside is when it's raining.
oh, and this is definitely a day trip, by the way, unless you know someone who lives out there that you can crash with - i called around before my visit, and most of the hotels, motels, and bed & breakfasts i called had at least a 3 night minimum during tanglewood season or were otherwise sold out or prohibitively expensive. even the super-8 in pittsfield was $200 a night!
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It was a dream come true. I felt like I was in a movie with my very own soundtrack as I walked across the bright green lawn during the orchestra's afternoon rehearsal. View of the mountains, comparatively crisp air (when we look at Boston w/ it's dang 99.9% humidity), and lovely music. I want to go back for a concert, for sure!
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About 2.5 hours outside of Boston, Tanglewood is a delightful place to spend a summer afternoon enjoying live, open-air music. It's also the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, so as you'd expect, it's a class act. However, dress is casual and patrons often arrive early to picnic on the lawn. Wine is allowed, and families, couples, or gorups of friends can bring their own picnics or pick up food from one of several cafe pavilions.
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beautiful scenery- you must sit on the lawn! you can bring anything into the grounds ( wine, coolers, chairs, etc)
Even if you not into classical music, the grounds are beautiful to explore
the summer home of some of the bso's premier members and the host of the tanglewood music academy. if you live in boston and have a car, you must venture out here at least one summer afternoon (if not many of them!). enjoy an open air concert on hot summer day sitting on a grassy knoll is a simply unforgettable experience. the drive out through rural massachusetts is quite charming too.
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