Some people fancy a taste of the new now and again.
But virtually everyone can be counted on to like the tried and true. And few composers are better known or better liked than Johannes Brahms.
His popularity was abundantly in evidence Sunday evening, as the Boulder-based Colorado Music Festival launched an eight-day, five-concert mini-festival devoted to the great 19th-century composer.
The venerable Chautauqua Auditorium was just 40 people shy of its 1,234-seat capacity.
The annual summer festival has tended to put an emphasis on younger, up-and-coming talent, so it was a particular treat Sunday to hear a veteran pianist whose reputation was long ago secured — Peter Serkin.
Descending from one of the storied families in American classical music, he is very much an old-school musician, as his formal black tie and white tuxedo jacket made clear. (Contrast that with the black open-neck shirts worn by the men in the orchestra.)
Serkin clearly sets aside such 21st-century concerns as marketing outreach and image and keeps his focus on the music.
And that old-fashioned approach paid off, as he delivered a superlative interpretation that conveyed the full depth and drama of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15.
This was a complete performance with all aspects of the soloist’s top-drawer artistry on view — his titantic technique, exquisite tone color and remarkable dynamic control.
The latter two qualities were especially in evidence in the introspective, slow second movement, where he was arguably at his best.
The festival orchestra provided solid support, and conductor Michael Christie had movements of real connection with Serkin, but the accompaniment never attained the pianist’s level of nuance.
Further, there were balance problems, especially in the first movement, when the orchestra nearly drowned out Serkin’s entrance, and the woodwinds, notably the clarinets, were repeatedly too loud.
Christie and the orchestra concluded the evening with a suitably sunny, ebullient version of the Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11.
The Brahms mini-fest continues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday with violinist Kyoko Takezawa.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
