Scenes from Tanglewood

Music critic Pincus, who has been covering concerts at Tanglewood since 1975, seeks to convey the full sweep of the 50-year-old Berkshires festival. His musical expertise is in evidence as he comments insightfully on the origins of Tanglewood and the performances of stellar participants. But the book is frequently mired in trivia (is it of interest to anyone except Tanglewood insiders that stand-in conductor Carl St. Clair had a stomach-ache during his 1985 two-concert stint, and the first food he was able to ``savor and keep down'' afterward was pizza?), and the writing is marred by meaningless cliches (``With this music in this performance, on this day, the earth somehow shifted on its axis''). And one wonders how Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Ozawa will take to being called ``an export as durable as the Toyota.'' Pincus's tendency to skip around chronologically is disorienting, as are his digressions from the goings-on at the festival to offer bios of the musicians involved. The end result is an informative but tangled portrait of Tanglewood. Photos not seen by PW. (June)