Standing above all else in the 2004-05 classical music season was the extraordinary bounty of superb pianists, including Alfred Brendel, Hélène Grimaud, Leon Fleisher, Angela Hewitt, Olga Kern and Lang Lang.
There were so many, in fact, that they could not all be included as I went about the knotty challenge of selecting the top concerts in the Denver-Boulder area from September through May.
With that in mind, here are my picks:
Oct. 5, “Water Passion of St. Matthew,” Tan Dun, conductor, Hao Jiang Tian, bass, and soprano Elizabeth Keusch, Asian Performing Arts of Colorado, Gates Concert Hall. The East and West, ancient and avant-garde, provocative and primordial came together in this wholly unconventional and magical piece of music theater.
Oct. 11, Evelyn Glennie, percussionist, University of Colorado at Boulder Artist Series, Macky Auditorium. Critic Sabine Kortals wrote that the solo percussionist came off as a kind of sorceress of sound with a musicality marked by fierce concentration, acute sensitivity and raw and refined emotions.
Oct. 16, Colorado Symphony, Van Cliburn, pianist, Christian Arming, conductor, Boettcher Concert Hall. According to Kortals, the American piano legend’s obvious charm, indisputable audience rapport and overarching musicality more than made up for a few missed notes and slapdash passages.
Nov. 11, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Philip Glass, keyboardist, CU Artist Series, Macky Auditorium. This unconventional ensemble blew the cobwebs off the classical tradition, performing out-there, edgy music at the same time it paid tribute to Glass, one of the world’s most famous living composers.
Jan. 7, 8 and 9, Colorado Symphony, Marin Alsop, conductor. This three-day celebration of Johannes Brahms was a milestone, marking the extraordinary heights Denver’s orchestra reached under Alsop, who stepped down at the end of the season after 12 years as the orchestra’s music director and music director laureate.
Feb. 5, Ben Heppner, tenor, Craig Rutenberg, pianist, Newman Center Presents, Gates Concert Hall. At the absolute peak of his powers, Heppner cast such an intoxicating spell that for the two hours of his concert it was easy to believe that he was not just the world’s greatest dramatic tenor but the best singer of any kind. Period.
March 8, Colorado Symphony, Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor. Ma has an amazing ability to be in the moment, and right from the urgency of the first bars of his entrance, he brought an immediacy and freshness to this enthralling interpretation of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.
March 10, Alfred Brendel, pianist, Friends of Chamber Music, Gates Concert Hall. As he demonstrated in his first Denver appearance in 30 years, whatever this revered artist lacks in star power he makes up in depth of understanding and sheer force of expression that few other keyboard artists can match.
April 30 and May 3, 6 and 8, “The Marriage of Figaro,” Opera Colorado, Boettcher. This production had it all, including a first-rate cast of singers who were ideally suited to this operatic gem and winning staging by director James Robinson, who was at his absolute best.
May 20, 21 and 22, Colorado Symphony, Olga Kern, pianist, Jeffrey Kahane, conductor, Boettcher. Expectations were running high for Kern’s Denver debut and the crowd-pleasing virtuosa easily exceeded them, delivering an electrifying, sit-up-and-take-notice performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3.
Honorable mentions: Oct. 29, 30, 31, Colorado Symphony, Sergui Comissiona, conductor; Oct. 30, Les Violins du Roy; Jan. 25, Bobby McFerrin, vocalist; March 15, Leon Fleisher, pianist; April 15, The Sixteen; May 27, 28, 29, Colorado Symphony, Colorado Symphony Chorus.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
