The theme for this summer’s is “Made in America” and its opening concert Friday sets a clear tone for 2012: The program features an entire, crowd-pleasing night of George compositions, with the festival’s new artistic director on the podium.
But don’t think the lineup will be all 20th century or strictly New World. The season’s program notes have plenty of mentions of Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Bartok.
As well, Aspen is allowing a very broad definition of the word “American.”
“We are spending a lot of time on music written in America, not by Americans necessarily,” said fest CEO Alan Fletcher.
Take Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. It was commissioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1944, so that counts. So does Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3, which the composer premiered in New York in 1909.
It’s not exactly anything goes, but the schedule is wide open, and it concludes on Aug. 19 with “Symphony of a Thousand” featuring an expanded orchestra, eight soloists and three choruses. The piece is large, loud and complex in a wholly European way. For anyone to produce it is a bit like “body surfing in Hawaii,” as Fletcher puts it. “It’s dangerous and rare.”
As usual, the festival will have hundreds of offerings, big and small, over its eight weeks; orchestra concerts, recitals, master classes and talks, many featuring the students who attend the music school there.
This year’s operas include Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” starting July 12 and beginning July 30.
Of particular interest is a production of “The Great Gatsby.” The festival partnered with San Francisco’s to produce the opera, engaging composer John Harbison to scale down his popular 1999 work for a smaller orchestra, allowing it to fit into Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House.
A few other highlights: , who teaches at the festival, performs a program of recent music August 4, and two of the season’s bigger names, violinist Joshua Bell and bassist Edgar Meyer, join to present Meyer’s Concerto for Violin and Bass on July 13.
Of special note to Front Range fans, former Colorado Symphony Orchestra artistic director Jeffrey Kahane performs a series of concerts in July. He’ll play piano in a recital with violinist Daniel Hope for one, then switch to conducting for an appearance with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra a few days later.
Denverites will also feel at home during that massive Mahler piece at the end. The performance will feature the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the vocal group and the Colorado Children’s Chorale. “It will be jammed,” said Fletcher.
For more info, call 970-925-9042 or visit aspenmusicfestival.com
Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540 or rrinaldi@denverpost.com. On Twitter: rayrinaldi.
