When Jeffrey Kahane was forced to cancel nearly two months of concerts this spring because of severe hypertension, the city’s classical fans held their breath, wondering when or if the Colorado Symphony music director would recover before the end of the 2006-07 season.
Luckily, his absence had a happy ending, with the rested and vibrant-looking pianist and conductor making a splashy return in late May and commandingly overseeing the orchestra’s 10-day Beethoven Festival earlier this month. But his absence nonetheless stood out as the big news story of the season.
Also significant was continuing progress on plans for an urgently needed $100 million overhaul and expansion of Boettcher Concert Hall. A task force of business and leaders has included it among preliminary recommendations for $567 million in projects that should be funded through bond issues and a tax increase.
Along with such news came a mix of fine concerts in 2006-07. Here are the Post’s picks for the 10 best in Denver and Boulder:
Colorado Symphony,
Kahane, conductor, Todd Palmer, clarinet, Oct. 27-29. A gripping performance of Osvaldo Golijov’s soulful “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” highlighted this ambitious program. More than just a superb performance, it was a transformative experience.
Mahlerfest Orchestra, Robert Olson, conductor, Thomas Hampson, baritone, Colorado Mahlerfest, Jan. 13-14. Hampson, the most illustrious soloist in the festival’s history, elevated Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” – his elegance and musical insight assuring that it was a fulfilling if not wholly transcendent version.
Pacifica Quartet, Friends of Chamber Music, Jan. 17. For its second visit on the series, the dynamic young ensemble brought freshness, inner vibrancy and an open, radiant sound to their playing and even dared to tackle a knotty 20th-century quartet by Elliott Carter.
“L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love),” Opera Colorado, Feb 9, 11, 16 and 18. Everything worked in this fun, frothy production, which shifted the action to the innocence of small-town America before World War I, a surprising approach that came off as completely logical.
“Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball),” Opera Colorado, April 26 and 29; May 2, 5 and 8. In this big, audience-
pleasing spectacle, conductor David Agler led a top-flight cast of singers, who ideally suited their roles and meshed as an ensemble.
Paul Jacobs, organist, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, April 27. Highlighting this memorable recital was Durufle’s Suite, Op. 5. Denver Post freelance critic Sabine Kortals wrote that Jacobs’ delivery “reverberated through the sanctuary for an experience that was as much a physical as an emotional response to the music.”
Stephen Hough, pianist, Friends of Chamber Music, May 2. Traveling from Mendelssohn to Liszt via a series of waltzes, Hough displayed “prodigious technique and a refined ability to uncover even the most subtle musical meaning before him,” according to Kortals.
Colorado Symphony, Scott O’Neil, conductor, Joshua Bell, violinist, May 9. Besides seemingly boundless technique, what sets Bell apart, as he demonstrated in Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, is the appealing rootedness, naturalness and honesty of his style.
Colorado Symphony, Kahane, conductor, Edgar Meyer, bassist, May 25-27. Meyer turned in a bravura performance as soloist for his Double Bass Concerto No. 2, an entrancing work with a soulful, timeless sound that draws in part on American traditional music.
Colorado Symphony,
Beethoven Festival, June 1-10. This involved, high-quality event, which ranged from a piano recital to a rare performance of the great choral work, “Missa Solemnis,” was undoubtedly the season’s apex.
Easily the oddest and most puzzling concert of 2006-07 was Newman Center Presents’ Nov. 11 presentation of troubled pianist Ivo Pogorelich, who offered another in what has become a string of bafflingly bizarre performances.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
