Legends & Legacies
The Highland Tunnel entrance on Castle Creek in the 1960s Aspen’s longest tunnel. Willoughby collection
Aspen’s longest tunnels, and those with longevity, had several things in common. Most of their length was driven after 1900, all of them were designed to tap ore at the lowest possible tunnel level that could exit to the outside and they drained water from workings above.
The longest tunnel on the face of Aspen Mountain was the Durant. It exited near the Aspen Alps not far from the eastern edge of Little Nell. It was best known, until a cave-in blocked it almost at its entrance, as the tunnel that took you to the underground waterfall, a favorite of Aspen teenagers for decades.
Fiesta-what?
Launched by the Homer Laughlin China Company at the Pittsburgh China & Glass Show in January 1936, Fiesta dinnerware is ultra-durable, “restaurant quality” and vibrantly glazed. By its second year of production, the company made more than a million Art Deco-style pieces in five original colors: Red, Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Green, and Ivory. Additional colors showed the trends of the times, beginning with pastels in the 1950s, then brighter shades followed by earth tones in the 1960s. At the end of 1972, Fiesta was retired after 37 years of production and became a collector’s item. Thanks to Bloomingdale’s in Manhattan, the brand was resurrected in 1986, using innovative, lead-free ceramic glaze. New Fiesta colors have been introduced (and others retired) every year since.
In Memoriam James Levine
Aspen, Colorado. Summer 1964
Across from the Mountain Chalet, the domicile that housed students at the Aspen Music School, there is a park. Every Sunday, just after the dress rehearsal for the afternoon concert, a group of musicians would gather for the weekly softball game. Those not physically participating would sit on a little hill, watching the proceedings and hoping no one would break anything.
Among these spectators was the ever-young Jimmy Levine. I have no idea if he had any interest in the sport, but he certainly loved the attention paid to him as well as the banter and joke telling. All of us had a sort of reverence for him, as he was the wunderkind in so many arenas. At one moment, he might be playing sonatas with Lynn Harrell, at another leading an incandescent performance of Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as page turning for his piano teacher, Rosina Lhevinne, as she made her way through a Mozart concerto.
James Levine, Former Met Opera Music Director, Is Dead At Age 77 by Tom Huizenga James Levine conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Miguel Medina / AFP via Getty Images
James Levine, the immensely accomplished conductor who wielded power and influence in the classical world, and whose singular tenure at the Metropolitan Opera ended in a flurry of accusations of sexual abuse, died on March 9 in Palm Springs, Calif. His physician of 17 years, Dr. Len Horovitz, confirmed his death to NPR, saying that Levine died of natural causes. He was 77 years old.
Over four and a half decades, Levine shaped the sound and reputation of New York s storied Metropolitan Opera, the largest performing arts organization in the country, through his conducting, coaching of singers and choristers and fine-tuning the pit musicians into one of the world s great orchestras. Levine led more than 2,500 performances at the opera house, beginning in 1971, when he made his deb
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Born June 23, 1943; died March 9, 2021
James Levine prior to a performance of Verdi s Requiem on September 18, 2008 (Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera)
James Levine, who was Music Director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera for four decades, has died at the age of 77 (the news has only just emerged, eight days after his death). Generally considered one of the USA’s finest native-born musicians, Levine’s career ended in ignominy following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, allegations he denied.
As well as his post at The Met, Levine held positions at the Ravinia Festival, the Munich Philharmonic (Music Director, 1999-2004) and Boston Symphony Orchestra (Music Director, 2004-11, where he was also Music Director of the Tanglewood Music Center).