“PITTSFIELD — For most of the world, April 15, 1912, is the day the Titanic sank. But in Pittsfield, it’s the day the Boston Symphony Orchestra finally came to town.
“The Boston Symphony orchestra, conducted by Max Fielder [sic], made its first appearance in Pittsfield last night. Music lovers thronged the Colonial theater on South street. They came not only from the city, but from towns for miles around,” an article in the April 16, 1912, edition of The Berkshire Evening Eagle reported.
They watched conductor Max Fiedler lead players through a program that included soprano Florence Hinkle and works by Weber, Beethoven and Puccini, among others. By show time, the BSO hype train had been rolling for weeks. A March 25 announcement in the newspaper billed the concert as the “greatest musical event ever given in Western Massachusetts.” This was 25 years before Tanglewood was established as the BSO’s summer home, and locals didn’t know when the orchestra, which was founded in 1881, would be visiting next.”
Read more of BSO ready to write a new chapter in its history with Pittsfield on the Berkshire Eagle’s website. This article was published on July 16, 2019.