‘He loved that place’: Tanglewood on Parade to honor Seiji Ozawa
When it came to creating a spectacle, the late seiji ozawa was “just a wizard,” longtime boston symphony orchestra bassist lawrence wolfe said in a recent phone conversation. “there was a sort of running backstage joke. we called him the wizard of ‘oz’” — pronounced “ohs,” as in ozawa — “because he could control everything.” whether it was small offstage ensembles in Mahler and BERLIOZ or artillery during tchaikovsky’s “1812” overture, “he did it with grace and style.”
For the 29 years he served as music director of the bso, ozawa was a fixture at tanglewood on Parade, where he led the concert-closing “1812” overture many times. this summer’s event on Aug. 6 will culminate in a tribute concert to ozawa, who died in february at age 88.
Wolfe joined the orchestra at 21 in 1970, three years before ozawa took up the baton as music director. At tanglewood, wolfe recalled, ozawa would drive around in a “big old chevy suburban,” with a license plate VEROZA in honor of Vera ozawa, his wife. “You would see seiji, with his mop of hair, driving into tanglewood with this big American car,” he said.
At the bso’s summer home, ozawa was able to socialize more with the orchestra members. “tanglewood is a place where a lot of colleagues can really catch up with families, where we’re just closer together,” wolfe said. “i was able to watch his children grow up into adults, and get to know him a little bit better.”
“He loved that place. i think he felt a real sense of ownership in some ways,” said boston Pops conductor keith lockhart, who shared a handful of tanglewood on Parade programs with ozawa. “it’s kind of like that bustling pride when you’re showing your home to people. he liked being the leader of the band on that day; it’s going to be fun and appropriate that we do our memorial there.”
Tanglewood on Parade originated with a wartime relief fund-raiser organized by serge koussevitzky in the summer of 1940 — the very first season of the tanglewood Music center, then called the berkshire Music center. it became an annual tradition shortly afterward, and each year it features performances by numerous small and large ensembles from the TMC and the boston University tanglewood institute, as well as the bso.
Nowadays, the gates open in the early afternoon with a brass fanfare, and the campus fills with family-friendly activities like lawn games, a scavenger hunt, and hot-air balloon rides (weather permitting). every usable building becomes a performance space, including the william rawn Associates-designed concert hall named for ozawa, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer.
Wolfe first took part in tanglewood on Parade as a BUTI student in 1966, and when he had children of his own, he made a point of bringing them to the event. “it’s just an extraordinary experience,” he said. “the length and breadth of what tanglewood offers in the summer. the depth of the talent.”
The lineup of featured performers for the evening tribute to ozawa in the koussevitzky Music shed includes several who worked closely with the late conductor, including lockhart, boston Pops conductor laureate John williams, conductor Alan Gilbert, soprano christine Goerke, and pianist Marcus roberts. the program itself includes williams’s 1999 “for seiji!,” composed in honor of ozawa’s 25th anniversary as bso music director, as well as a handful of ozawa’s personal favorite pieces.
As usual, the final piece will be the explosive “1812” overture, featuring real cannons, followed by a fireworks show over stockbridge bowl, where ozawa spent many happy hours swimming.
“i am very honored that i see my name on the outside — it’s a very strange feeling,” ozawa said at the TMC opening ceremony in 1994, which was the first to take place in ozawa hall. “but this hall is not for me. it is for you. You will be the caretaker of this place from now on.”