Knoxville Summer of 1915--George Rickey & Lenny Bernstein

I received an e-mail this morning from Rose Emery with the following link.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OSOwv37XRt8

This is where we spent some time, while working in the radio booth at Tanglewood during the summer of 1989. George Rickey rented out the place to Louise de la Fuente who was the audio engineer for the New York Philharmonic during the winter and the BSO during the Tanglewood season. At the end of that summer she went on tour with the New York Philharmonic, and Richard's mother suddenly died so, I ended up filling in as producer for a Gala weekend with Bernstein, Ozawa and John Williams all sharing the podium . We stayed at the Rickey Place for the week of rehearsals and performances.

The trailer for the documentary doesn't come close to doing it justice; but, perhaps the film does. I'd like to see it. The trailer reminds me a bit of an Andy Goldsworthy documentary "Rivers and Tides". Rickey's studio and "gallery" is on countless acres of woodland and fields (and a tennis court) with these huge kinetic aluminium sculptures looming.

The pond featured in the "trailer" was actually quite a hike up an old logging road and was prone to leaches; but, what a spot. Rose and Addie and I were there for the week. with the rest of our family and friends joining us over the weekend.

When Lenny wasn't conducting, he was in the booth with us. It was the first time I heard Samuel Barber's Knoxville Summer of 1915. Roberta Alexander was the soloist and one of Lenny's tamer comments was; "Barber was just so.... well, soooo... Puccini."

George Rickey popped in and out of the house with fresh vegetables from the garden when passing through. He was already in his early 80's; but, looked as he does in this trailer. He lived to be 95. Lenny died the following October --his final performance taking place at Tanglewood two months before his death.

But, that week in 1989 was a peak experience in every respect; and, over the years, Knoxville Summer of 1915 has become a cherished piece--evocative of the lushness of that week and reaching much farther back into the Berkshire summers of my childhood, "lying on quilts in the grass in a summer's evening, among the stars of the night...."