2017 Aspen Music Festival and School 2017 Festival Focus Week 7

FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE

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VOL 28, NO. 7

All-Beethoven concert with ‘Pastoral’ Symphony

Season Benefit: An Enchanted Feast of Music Monday, August 7, at Hurst Hall on the Bucksbaum Campus

JESSICA CABE

Festival Focus Writer

The time has come for the AMFS’s annual Season Benefit: An Enchanted Feast of Music. Enjoy exceptional performances paired with gourmet delicacies courtesy of Hotel Jerome in this special evening honoring Robert J. Hurst. Call 970205-5066 for tickets and more information.

Ice Cream Social 2:30 pm August 13 on the David Karetsky Music Lawn at the Benedict Music Tent All ages are welcome to this FREE event celebrating another fantastic summer of music. Come before the Sunday Aspen Festival Orchestra concert to enjoy free ice cream for all!

The Ice Cream Social is sponsored by Gerri Karetsky.

MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2017

There are very few composers whose music can dominate an entire orchestra program without causing audiences to raise an eyebrow, but Beethoven is the exception to the rule.

“All-Beethoven always works,” says Alan Fletcher, president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Audiences will have the chance to hear three works by one of the world’s most wellknown and beloved composers at this week’s Aspen Chamber Symphony concert at 6 pm on Friday, August 11, in the Benedict Music Tent. The program will be conducted by Hans Graf and features guest artist Martin Helmchen playing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.

Helmchen is making his AMFS debut this season and says this concerto is one of his favorites to perform.

“For me, it may be the dearest of all piano concertos,” he says. “It’s also a candidate for the one I’ve played the most.

It’s such a delicate and rich piece, and every performance feels new. It’s a little bit like Mozart; everything you do, whether it’s a little too much or too little, makes a huge difference in the piece. You have to frequently switch from one expression or one sound color to another.”

Helmchen says the structure of the concerto and the relationship between the piano and the orchestra, which were innovative at the time, are what make the work so special to him.

“The piano has a role like a character that is so different from the orchestra’s character,” he says. “You really see a scene on stage when you hear it. It completely goes beyond the frame of what piano concertos did at the time. There’s just this enormous drama.”

The Friday program opens with Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, a less-often-heard piece that is part of Beethoven’s See Helmchen, Festival Focus page 3

COURTESY PHOTO

Pianist Martin Helmchen will perform with the Aspen Chamber Symphony at 6 pm on Friday, August 11, in the Benedict Music Tent. He will also perform a trio recital with violinist Augustin Hadelich and cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker at 8:30 pm on Wednesday, August 9, in Harris Concert Hall.

Pianist Denis Kozhukhin plays Gershwin, Brahms, Boulez, more TAMARA VALLEJOS

Festival Focus Writer

COURTESY PHOTO

Pianist Denis Kozhukhin will make his AMFS debut when he performs a recital at 8 pm on Saturday, August 12, in Harris Concert Hall.

When it comes to challenging works for the piano, few pieces are as notoriously difficult to learn and to perform as Pierre Boulez’s Second Piano Sonata—but it’s one that also offers a great payoff to the musician successful in tackling it.

“It’s a piece that every pianist knows about, and it’s a monster, really,” says thirty-one-year-old Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin.

“It’s one of the major works of this great composer, but it’s really on

the edge of being unplayable with what he asks. Many times, a composer sits down at the instrument, tries something, and then writes it down. But Boulez composed at the table, so the music was born in his mind. [As a result] it’s both mentally very difficult and physically very difficult.”

Kozhukhin is one of several internationally acclaimed guest artists making his Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) debut this summer, and Aspen audiences can look forward to experiencing this Boulez behemoth for themselves

when Kozhukhin performs the piece as the virtuosic conclusion to his Harris Concert Hall recital at 8 pm on Saturday, August 12. And the pianist is quick to note that the sonata’s difficulty only adds to the appeal not just for him but also for listeners.

“Learning this piece is like climbing a really high mountain; I can honestly say that two hours of working on this at the piano was, for me, maybe equal to working four hours on something else,” he See Kozhukhin, Festival Focus page 3

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MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2017

FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE

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Sergey Khachatryan makes Aspen debut playing Beethoven CHRISTINA THOMSEN

Festival Focus Writer

This Sunday’s Aspen Festival Orchestra performance at 4 pm includes the Aspen debut of Armenian-born violinist Sergey Khachatryan performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

In 2000, at age fifteen, Khachatryan became the youngest person to ever win the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, and five years later, he took First Prize at the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Brussels.

“He made a tremendous impact with his already mature, prodigious artistry,” says Asadour Santourian, Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor, of Khachatryan’s rise to the top.

The Beethoven Violin Concerto Khachatryan will play on Sunday was first performed in 1806 and quickly faded into obscurity until 1844 when it was revived with a performance by young violinist Joseph Joachim. Since then, it has become one of the most important and revered works in the entire violin concerto repertoire. The piece has some very unusual features that have since been picked up by other composers. Though traditional in its construct and architecture, it holds innovations that are still being imitated today.

“The quintessential element that needs to be employed here is virtuosity in the service of music,” Santourian says.

“Great physical demands are made on the violinist and the execution of the music, but it needs to be imperceptible

to the listener. Above all, the lyrical aspect of the work is the most important. Khachatryan is able to express his artistry without ever displaying to us how difficult this piece is to perform.”

Santourian adds that Khachatryan is able to make his performance look effortless because of his astounding talent and ability. “Our audiences in Aspen are discerning and well-informed about our performances, but I think even they will be astonished by his musical gifts and artistry,” Santourian says.

The second half of the program is a self-portrait by composer Richard Strauss, entitled Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).

“It is epic in size and length and in every possible measure,” says Santourian.

The piece features four or five episodes from the composer’s life, each represented distinctly in the music. The prominent violin solo is the voice of the composer and depicts his domestic and compositional life throughout the piece. He even includes a portrayal of his critics in the form of buzzing horns in the background. The violin part is performed by AMFS artist-faculty member and Los Angeles Philharmonic associate concertmaster Bing Wang.

“It is an orchestral favorite that has always withstood the test of time because it is still a superhuman effort to perform this work at such a high level,” Santourian says.

The concert will be led by Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare in his second appearance in Aspen. His profound

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MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2017 3

HELMCHEN: Trio recital featuring Haydn, Brahms, more Continued from Festival Focus page 1

COURTESY PHOTO

Violinist Sergey Khachatryan will perform with the Aspen Festival Orchestra at 4 pm on Sunday, August 13, in the Benedict Music Tent.

musicianship and charismatic presence have made him one of the most sought after young conductors, working regularly with the world’s leading orchestras. A graduate of the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela, Payare has gone on to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic several times and taken the position of principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra.

“He brings with him a great deal of enthusiasm paired with experience and maturity,” Santourian says.

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trend of presenting overtures as stand-alone works for cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker at 8:30 pm this Wednesday, August 9, in Harris Concert Hall. orchestra.

Helmchen says the three have been talking about formThe second half of the evening features Beethoven’s ing a trio because of their beloved Sixth Symphony, personal connections nicknamed “Pastoral” and “It’s a very diverse and original and appreciation of one featuring an expression another’s musicianship. of the composer’s affinity program that allows us to show Helmchen and Hadelich for nature and his love for our love for different styles. We all are both German, and walks through the country Helmchen and Hecker outside of Vienna. The very much enjoy the variety that are married. All three play piece fits perfectly in Ascomposers have always written chamber music, making pen, where the magnifithe trio a natural fit. cent mountain views and for our instruments.”

“I’m amazed that it hapa closeness with nature pened only now for the keep residents and visiMartin Helmchen first time,” Helmchen says. tors alike absolutely enPianist “It’s a fantastic opportunichanted. ty to be playing together.”

Before Helmchen takes The trio’s program opens and closes with well-known the Benedict Music Tent stage for Beethoven, he will perform a trio recital with violinist Augustin Hadelich and works from the repertoire, Haydn’s Piano Trio in C ma-

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jor and Brahms’s Third Piano Trio, and the midsection offers something a little more unusual to listeners: Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello and Takemitsu’s Between Tides.

“In the middle, we have a side journey to Hungary for a violin/cello duo, and then an even further side journey to Japan via France in the Takemitsu trio,” says Asadour Santourian, AMFS vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor.

Helmchen says the three musicians had a variety of ideas when putting together the program because they all love a wide array of trio music.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone through so many different suggestions when creating a program,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a very diverse and original program that allows us to show our love for different styles. We all very much enjoy the variety that composers have always written for our instruments. We can really show our fascination with the development of music history on one program.”

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

Wheeler Opera House: 9 am–5 pm daily.

A day in the life of music student Miller KOZHUKHIN: AMFS ber] Nancy Goeres and other professionals leading the wind section,” Miller says. “As second bassoon, I have Many have the preconception that natural talent is the to support my colleagues and provide a foundation for most important factor in building a career in the arts. the wind section. It’s an interesting line between givHowever, students of the Aspen Music Festival and ing enough sound for your colleagues, but never overSchool (AMFS) know much more is required. whelming them.”

“Just after eighth grade, I came up with a formula After rehearsal, Miller likes to unwind, whether by gothat, by the end of the week, ing out to lunch with friends I want to have practiced or going home and taking it twenty-four hours. That’s just “If you find practicing tedious, easy with practicing—which, over three hours a day,” says to Miller, means limiting himAMFS bassoon student Harself to only an hour and a half then you’re not challenging rison Miller. “If you find pracinstead of his usual three. yourself; I love the idea of ticing tedious, then you’re “I think that’s the only way to not challenging yourself; I really stay mentally healthy. If sitting down with something love the idea of sitting down you obsess, it’s very easy to with something I can’t do and get overwhelmed.”

I can’t do and walking away walking away with something When Miller has finished with something I can do.”

I can do.” relaxing and preparing at Miller is a recent graduate home, he’ll go back to the of The Juilliard School and a Tent at least a half hour prior Harrison Miller current student at the AMFS, AMFS bassoon student to the concert start. One of where he’s a recipient of a his most exciting concert exNew Horizons Fellowship. periences came earlier this Once he wraps up in Aspen, he’ll head to the Baltimore summer, with the Aspen Chamber Symphony’s concert Symphony Orchestra for a recently-announced ap- performance of Ravel’s one-act opera L’enfant et les pointment as Acting Principal Bassoon. Until then, he’s sortilèges. rotating between several AMFS orchestras—which “It’s always rewarding to be part of something so makes for a busy summer schedule. grand,” says Miller. “There were so many people on His average concert day for a performance with the stage, and the best thing we could wish for happened, Aspen Chamber Symphony or Aspen Festival Orches- which was that the concert was the best version of tra can start as early as 7 am, so he can be at the Benedict what we played.”

Music Tent for a 9:30 am dress rehearsal. Miller’s favorite Now Miller is looking forward to another opera: Moaspect of the morning rehearsal is that it’s open to the zart’s La clemenza di Tito, which the Aspen Opera Cenpublic, which gives students even more performance ter (AOC) will present in a fully staged production on experience and lets audiences see the behind-the- August 15, 17, and 19 at the Wheeler Opera House. Miller scenes process. Miller also enjoys the extra time per- will perform as part of the AOC Orchestra. forming side by side with the AMFS’s world-renowned “One of my skills as a bassoon player is that I am really artist-faculty. conscious about how I control the instrument through dy“I get to play next to [Pittsburgh Symphony Orches- namics,” Miller says. “Opera is fantastic because it pushes tra principal bassoonist and AMFS artist-faculty mem- that; you have to be ten times more or ten times less.”

ROSIE CONSTANTINE

Festival Focus Writer

debut on Saturday Continued from Festival Focus page 1

explains.

“But when you get to the top of the mountain, the view is amazing. I know it sounds complicated, but, actually, the colors Boulez creates—really, they’re pure magic. I’m sure people will enjoy it, because I’m really enjoying it when I’m playing it.”

According to Asadour Santourian, the AMFS’s vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor, Kozhukhin is an ideal pianist to take on the cerebral work of the twentieth-century French composer.

“Denis has formidable ability, and he has decided to put his ability toward music that is also formidable,” says Santourian.

“The Second Sonata of Boulez is a tour de force work, and it calls upon every virtuoso skill Denis has.”

As for the first half of his program, Kozhukhin has intentionally aimed for contrast, choosing Handel’s Suite No. 7, with its famous passacaglia; Brahms’s Three Intermezzos, which the composer wrote late in life and called his “lullabies to my sorrows”; and George Gershwin’s Jazz Age crowd-pleaser Rhapsody in Blue.

Maintaining a diverse repertoire is important to Kozhukhin, who prefers not to be pigeonholed by a particular composer or style, and who enjoys programming concerts that reflect the variety in his current interests.

“Lately I’m very interested in Handel because I think his keyboard music is a bit forgotten, so in a way I’m trying to promote his piano music,” says Kozhukhin of his Aspen recital choices.

“And Brahms is one of my favorite composers. His late pieces are, for me, the best of what he wrote for the piano.”

In addition to his eagerness to perform at the AMFS for the first time, Kozhukhin says he’s also looking forward to exploring town and taking a brief moment to relax, following what has been an intense summer touring schedule around Europe.

“It’s really exciting to go [to Aspen] for the first time,” he says.

“I have a lot of colleagues who have been to the Festival, and they’ve all spoken about it like it’s some kind of heaven, it’s so beautiful and wonderful. I’m looking forward to it.”