Festival Focus August 15, 2016

FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE

SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES

Family Concert: Tchaikovsky's Suite from The Nutcracker!

Enjoy free family fun for all ages with the Aspen Music Festival and School on Thursday, August 18, at the Meadows Hospitality Tent and Harris Concert Hall.

First, bring children by the Meadows Hospitality Tent at 4 pm for light refreshments and Kids' Notes preconcert activities. Then, head over to Harris Concert Hall for the season's second and final Family Concert, featuring Tchaikovsky's Suite from The Nutcracker.

Winter Music Recitals on Sale!

The summer season may be coming to a close, but the AMFS will offer three phenomenal Winter Music recitals in February and March! Visit www. aspenmusicfestival.com for tickets and more information.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016

VOL 27, NO. 9

Dazzling Carmina burana closes out season Santourian, the AMFS’s vice president for artistic administration and artistic adPerhaps no other movement in music visor. “It has two chief tasks: to be a thrillis as instantly recognizable as the one ing end to the season and at the same that begins Carl Orff’s Carmina burana. time bring great music to our students Thanks to its heart-pounding dramatics, and patrons. We were looking for a hy“O Fortuna” has transcended the concert percharged work that could linger.” hall and made its The AMFS has way into film, televifound that with the sion, video games, crowd-pleasing Caradvertisements, and mina burana. even sports arenas “If you know it from “If you know [Carmina around the world. a recording, you only burana] from a This choral meknow half of it, bega-work will wrap cause the impact recording, you only up the 2016 Aspen from a live experiMusic Festival and know half of it, because ence is tremendous,” School (AMFS) says AMFS President the impact from a season at 4 pm on and CEO Alan FletchSunday, August 21, er. “That makes it relive experience is when the Aspen ally a perfect choice Festival Orchestra for us and for the Mutremendous."

(AFO) performs it at sic Tent experience.” the Benedict Music Orff composed Alan Fletcher Tent as part of its Carmina burana in President and CEO final concert of the the 1930s and based Aspen Music Festival and School summer. his work on a series Each year, careful of hundreds-yearsconsideration is put old medieval poems. into selecting the These texts, dealing perfect works to bring the summer to a with themes that have been constant close, and this year has been no differ- throughout humanity—such as the joys ent. and struggles of wealth, lust, and glut“What we wanted above all was a pro- tony—felt just as relevant in the ’30s as gram that would be a crowning achievement for the summer,” says Asadour See Carmina burana, Festival Focus page 3 COURTNEY THOMPSON

Festival Focus Writer

ALEX IRVIN / AMFS

AMFS Music Director Robert Spano will lead the Aspen Festival Orchestra in a performance of Carl Orff's wildly popular Carmina burana on the season's final Sunday.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to perform in Music Tent LAURA E. SMITH

Festival Focus Writer

COURTESY PHOTO

The world-renowned Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform three post-season concerts in the Benedict Music Tent on August 23, 24, and 25, featuring conductor Manfred Honeck, violinist Pinchas Zukerman, and clarinetist Michael Rusinek.

The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) famously brings to Aspen each summer a selection of the greatest classical musicians— performers on all instruments, in many disciplines, at many stages of their careers, with established names or still incubating.

This summer, the Festival branches out from individuals and chamber groups to bring a full symphony orchestra to perform in its open-air concert venue—and not just any orchestra. On August 23, 24, and 25, the AMFS will present concerts in the Benedict Music Tent by one of the country’s most respected pro-

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fessional symphonic ensembles, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The orchestra will be led by its highly regarded music director Manfred Honeck and will be joined by violin soloist Pinchas Zukerman and clarinet soloist (also PSO principal clarinetist and AMFS artistfaculty member) Michael Rusinek.

The programs all start at 6 pm.

The orchestra’s residency is a logical extension of Aspen’s summer presentations. Says AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher, “In Aspen we are deeply committed to presenting many forms and styles of music and to celebrating See PSO, Festival Focus page 3

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MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016

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Shakespeare-inspired Béatrice et Bénédict closes out AOC season SARAH A. MCCARTY

Festival Focus Writer

This year marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, and the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) has celebrated the revered playwright all summer through performances of music inspired by his works. This week, the Aspen Opera Center (AOC) contributes to the AMFS’s Shakespeare “mini-festival” with its final production of the summer, Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict.

Béatrice et Bénédict, conducted by Johannes Debus and directed by Aspen Opera Center Director Edward Berkeley, will be presented at the Wheeler Opera House on August 16, 18, and 20 and is open to AMFS passholders. As the opera’s title suggests, Béatrice et Bénédict takes its inspiration from Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing and its two very stubborn main characters.

“As Shakespeare is wont, if he could complicate something, he would,” says Asadour Santourian, vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor for the AMFS. “Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy in which characters are loath to like one another, and yet, in the end—and of course

through the endorsement, encouragement, and trickery of their mutual friends—they are finally made to realize that they are an ideal match.”

Berkeley says that Berlioz’s opera incorporates that much-beloved wit and charm of Shakespeare’s play, but also offers something new to audiences.

“It’s an extremely romantic version of Much Ado About Nothing,” he says. “It’s also a piece that people don’t know extremely well, so it’s something of a discovery, even though it’s from the nineteenth century.

Because it’s by Berlioz, it has had some exposure—but it’s a piece that people are still discovering even today.”

And it’s certainly a piece worth experiencing, Santourian says.

“Berlioz brought his gifts to this comedy, and it’s an extremely sunny score, differently masterful than the tragedies that he penned,” he says. “Beethoven and Berlioz were the creators of the Romantic movement, so in this case Berlioz has given free license to his imagination, and the score is full of beautiful melodic moments. Béatrice et Bénédict is a gorgeous transformation from play into opera.”

According to Berkeley, Béatrice et Béné-

ALEX IRVIN / AMFS

The Aspen Opera Center season opened with Puccini's La bohème (pictured) and will close this week with Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict. All of its performances are open to passholders.

dict is not only musically interesting but also a great piece to sing, which benefits the AMFS students performing in the production.

That includes returning AMFS student and tenor Paul Han, who sings the role of Bénédict.

Han says he wanted to return to Aspen this summer to once again work with Berkeley, but that he was also drawn by the opportunity to perform in Berlioz’s hidden gem of an opera.

“It’s an opera that you don’t get to sing or

listen to or watch often, so it’s an amazing and rare chance to do this,” says Han. “The opera itself is very funny and playful, and the music is beautiful; it’s going to be really entertaining and fun show.”

The Aspen Opera Center production of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict runs August 16, 18, and 20 at the Wheeler Opera House.

All three performances are open to AMFS passholders.

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MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 3

CARMINA BURANA: Wildly popular season closer Continued from Festival Focus page 1

they continue to be today.

Bringing these texts to life will be the Colorado Symphony Chorus, led by Duain Wolfe; the Colorado Children’s Chorale, led

by Deborah DeSantis; and soprano Amanda Woodbury, tenor Matthew Plenk, and baritone Noel Bouley.

Bouley, an AMFS alumnus who is returning for the first time as a guest artist, has performed Carmina burana before, but is always excited to experience the sparks that fly during a performance of the cantata.

“There’s this massive sound that comes out,” says Bouley. “It’s like riding a roller coaster, with the adrenaline it gives you. To have all of those forces combined, along with the audience, it’s a real high to be in the middle of all that.”

Still, the piece isn’t all fun and games. In fact, it can present quite a challenge for a singer.

“This role does push the extremes of the

upper notes of all the singers,” says Bouley.

“The baritone has to use a falsetto, which is not something a standard voice uses. It’s been a fun challenge, but also one that has pushed me, developing a new side of my voice that I didn’t really know that I had.”

In addition to Carmina burana, the AFO will also perform selections from Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette, an operatic setting of Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers.

One of Berlioz’s most innovative and evocative works, it plays to opposite sensibilities as the Orff.

“Berlioz is super sophisticated, and Orff is very elemental,” says Fletcher. “It’s very much a contrast.”

Roméo et Juliette is another ideal work to feature in the final concert of the season, as it ties into the AMFS’s summer-long celebration of Shakespeare—on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death—and his influence on music.

ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL BOX OFFICE HOURS

ALEX IRVIN / AMFS

The Benedict Music Tent will be packed at 4 pm on Sunday, August 21, as the Aspen Festival Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Chorus, Colorado Children's Chorale, and three soloists take the stage for Carl Orff's magnetic Carmina burana.

Harris Concert Hall: 9 am through the intermission of the evening concert, daily.

Wheeler Opera House: 9 am–5 pm daily.

Flamenco troupe dances to de Falla PSO: Residency in Aspen COURTNEY THOMPSON

Festival Focus Writer

This Friday, and for the first time in Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) history, flamenco will take the stage at the Benedict Music Tent—a perfect way to kick off the final weekend of the 2016 AMFS season, which all summer long has explored the theme “Invitation to Dance.”

The evening’s Aspen Chamber Symphony (ACS) concert at 6 pm will feature a performance of Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo (Love Bewitched), accompanied by the renowned Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater, led by founder and choreographer Siudy Garrido.

“Siudy Garrido has a vision of this work from beginning to end that is absolute theater,” says Asadour Santourian, the AMFS’s vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor. “She creates beautiful theatrical visual effects. It’s pure theater. It’s pure dance. It’s pure flamenco.”

Flamenco is an art form native to the Andalusian region of Spain, and its dance component is instantly recognizable by its expressive arm movements and percussive elements. But in true flamenco, music is just as important as movement.

“When one says the word ‘flamenco,’ it means dancing, singing, and playing an instrument—together. They’re not separate things.” says Santourian. “And with this piece, de Falla really wanted to create a flamenco opera.”

De Falla was born and raised in Cádiz, one of Spain’s Andalusian provinces—which means flamenco was practically in his blood. And, according to AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher, this performance of de Falla’s work will stay true to the composer’s authentic vision.

“The unique thing about El amor brujo is the way that we’re doing it,” says Fletcher. “It’s the way de Falla really wanted it done, with his original music set side by side with genuine flamenco.”

That’s where the Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater comes in. The ensemble made headlines last year following a performance of El amor brujo alongside Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic, with Billboard writing that “Garrido proved why she’s one of flamenco’s leading

COURTESY PHOTO

Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater will join the Aspen Chamber Symphony on Friday for de Falla's El amor brujo.

exponents.”

The Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater will bring with them Garrido herself, two male principal dancers, six company dancers, and five musicians/singers.

“Siudy has completely absorbed the music into her concept,” says Santourian. “The evening is going to be a total immersion of the art form.”

Friday’s ACS concert will also include a world premiere

by Mohammed Fairouz, one of the “leading composers of his generation,” according to Fletcher. “He is very young, but’s he’s also a master.”

The ACS will perform Fairouz’s Typhoid Mary, a song cycle with texts by Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon.

“Paul is very wrapped up in music and writes about music all the time,” Fletcher says. “I think characteristic of both of them is that they have tremendous heart in what they write.”

Continued from Festival Focus page 1 the many brilliant musicians and ensembles of our time who bring it to life. Each has a unique voice, and hearing each is a unique experience.”

The August 23 program features Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 and Zukerman playing the Romantic Bruch Violin Concerto.

The August 24 concert features Mahler’s deeply emotional Symphony No. 5 and Rusinek playing Mozart’s sublime Clarinet Concerto. The August 25 performance features Strauss’s Elektra Symphonic Rhapsody, Dvořák’s Rusalka Suite, and Zukerman playing the Berg Violin Concerto.

Berg’s Violin Concerto is lyrical and haunting, while at the same time refreshing, revealing Berg’s highly individual voice. It was written, as the composer noted, “To the Memory of an Angel” and dedicated to Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler (Gustav Mahler’s widow) and Walter Gropius, and who was dying of polio at the time.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra just celebrated its 120th anniversary and frequently tours the country to venues such as Carnegie Hall and also overseas. Since its inception, it has had music directors who developed and deepened its German-Austrian sound tradition. Honeck, a native Austrian who played as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic before his conducting career, is as committed to this sound as the orchestra. He has described it as “dark but still tender” (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

With this distinctive tone and style, and playing programs of music close to its roots and heart, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will bring to Aspen audiences a unique concert experience as an addition to the Festival’s 2016 summer offerings. “The Pittsburgh Symphony is simply a spectacular orchestra,” says Fletcher, “and hearing it perform in the crystalline air of Aspen, with Manfred leading, will be a life moment for us all to share.”

Tickets are $35 with premium seats for $85. AMFS passholders can purchase premium seats for just $35. Call 970-925-9042 or visit www.aspenmusicfestival.com.