Malofeev, Martínez Return for Harris Hall Recitals

EMMA KIRBY Marketing Coordinator

The first week at the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) showcases the return of two artists who delighted audiences in their Aspen debuts at the Benedict Music Tent last summer, this time bringing personal programs for recitals in Harris Concert Hall. On Thursday, June 29, pianist Alexander Malofeev performs a virtuosic recital of expressive Romantic works. On Saturday, July 1, soprano Ana María Martínez presents an all-Spanish program that pays homage to her family and roots.

Pianist Alexander Malofeev opens the AMFS season June 29 in Harris Concert Hall.

LYNN GOLDSMITH

Although Malofeev’s first visit to Aspen was less than a year ago, he has already begun to earn his place as a fixture at the Festival. His tremendous technical abilities and commanding stage presence have won over local audiences who are still abuzz from his recent Winter Music recital in February. “There’s a magnetism to the way he draws you in that makes you really want to listen,” says AMFS Vice President of Artistic Administration Patrick Chamberlain.

Like his past performances in Aspen, this summer’s recital program is centered around Rachmaninoff, a composer who Malofeev says “basically raised” him. The evening’s selections evoke Rachmaninoff’s legacy. Malofeev characterizes each as having the “idea of wondering,” and a strong sense of “inner choice” and freedom.

The recital opens with Beethoven’s Tempest Sonata, No. 17—one of Beethoven’s “most personal” sonatas, says Malofeev. Skryabin’s Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand and Liszt’s arrangement of Wagner’s Overture to Tannhäuser follow. Two of Rachmaninoff’s lesser-known works, selections from Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3 and Études-tableaux, op. 33 conclude the recital. “It’s a beast of a program that shows the full range of what he can do, what the piano can do,” says Chamberlain.

Malofeev reciprocates Aspen concertgoers’ excited anticipation of his return to the Festival. “It’s always very inspiring,” he says about the sense of community in Aspen. “Here, you can have some personal connections to the audience. It’s a very special moment for any musician and that’s what I hope I have in Aspen, and why I’m going to return. I know what to expect and I really love it.”

Ana María Martínez’s recital is “going to be a very deep statement about who she is,” says AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher. Martínez, who brought down the house in her role as Mother Abbess in last summer’s production of The Sound of Music, will perform a selection of her longtime favorite songs for Saturday’s program. “My mother was a beautiful singer, so she would sing them all the time. I grew up with them,” says Martínez.

Soprano Ana María Martínez performs works in Spanish with pianist Myra Huang, July 1.

COURTESY PHOTO

Sharing the stage with Martínez is Myra Huang, AMFS faculty member and noted collaborative pianist and coach. Four students from the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program will also join the renowned opera singer for the second half of her recital, which features examples of Spanish zarzuelas—a popular operatic form from the 1930s and ’40s. “It’s a special, only in-Aspen moment: a collaboration at the very highest level between a master guest artist and teacher and the students here,” says Chamberlain. It’s a “chance for the younger singers to shine,” says Martínez. “It’s my salute to them.” It is also a program of “profound beauty,” she says. “I think the audience will feel the joy of the music.”

Start your summer with stellar artists who won over Aspen audiences last year and are sure to do the same again!