The 2003 Tanglewood season began last night in the Shed with a modern instrument: the cell phone. Fortunately, after that most annoying of interruptions, the rest of the evening stayed in the capable hands of conductor Kurt Masur, who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra through an excellent all-Russian program, including Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" cantata and Musorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

The evening concluded with the rarely heard Sergei Gorchakov arrangement of Musorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Originally for piano, better known as the grandiose Ravel orchestration, the Gorchakov version - a Masur specialty - sounded more Russian, more nuanced and more appealing than its more famous relative.

The 2003 Tanglewood season began last night in the Shed with a modern instrument: the cell phone. Fortunately, after that most annoying of interruptions, the rest of the evening stayed in the capable hands of conductor Kurt Masur, who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra through an excellent all-Russian program, including Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" cantata and Musorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

Masur has been around lately. Last summer he gave his final concert with his own New York Philharmonic in the Shed, and just this April he led the BSO in a decisive premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's "Light at the End."

When Prokofiev and filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein collaborated in the 1930s on the heroic film "Alexander Nevsky," they created a great monument to nationalism for a country that desperately needed one. Never mind that it was a Stalinist ploy to counterbalance the threat Hitler posed. The two artists, both long exiled by the Revolution and finally back home in Russia to prove the power of the arts, embraced their mission passionately.

The movie was banned within a year due to the ill-fated German- Russian treaty, but Prokofiev revised his film score for the concert repertory, and it remains a staple. A noble tale of a Russian pretender fighting off German crusaders in the 13th century, its inspiring chords still convince listeners that heroic acts are necessary and possible.

Mezzo Denyce Graves made her BSO debut - is that possible? - as a peasant woman faithfully seeking her victorious suitor after the battle. She spends a long time sitting onstage before singing a very brief aria, but it was worth the wait.

Graves charmed just this past February in a Celebrity Series recital, and so even if this was her first time with Boston's big boys, she's no stranger.

Powerful, smooth and assured, Graves filled the Shed with wonderful noise.

The real singing star of the evening proved to be the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver's estimable ensemble, which portrayed all the major roles with distinction.

The evening concluded with the rarely heard Sergei Gorchakov arrangement of Musorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Originally for piano, better known as the grandiose Ravel orchestration, the Gorchakov version - a Masur specialty - sounded more Russian, more nuanced and more appealing than its more famous relative.

And it certainly sounded much better than a cell phone.

Copyright © 2003 The Boston Herald