Special to The Aspen Times
A piano soloist with the bona fides of Daniil Trifonov and a conductor with the stature of Vasily Petrenko figured to make Sunday’s Festival Orchestra program one of the high points of the Aspen Music Festival season. It was. They cut through a rainstorm that persisted through the entire concert to deliver an incendiary performance of Skryabin’s lurid Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor.
The rain started to fall on the Benedict Music Tent just as Petrenko gave the downbeat for the opener, composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s spicy 10-minute tone poem, Concertino Cosqueño. Although the skies did not clear until the concert ended an hour and a half later, the drumbeat on the tent mostly stayed in the background, allowing details of the music to reach an enthusiastic audience.
IF YOU GO …
Where: Benedict Music Tent and livestreaming
When: Friday, July 23, 5:30 p.m.
How much: $82
Tickets: aspenmusicfestival.com
More info: Reservations are no longer required for free lawn seating; the program includes a work by Samy Moussa, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony
Conductor Gemma New and pianist Tengku Irfan first crossed paths onstage at the Benedict Music Tent eight years ago when both were students at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Now among the leading young lights in the international classical music world, the New Zealand-born conductor and Malaysian soloist are back on the stage as guest artists at the festival.
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Benedict Tent broadcasts begin with Saturday’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Staff report
The Aspen Music Festival and School is producing a series of six livestream concerts this summer, as it returns to live in-person performances.
The concert broadcasts, beginning Saturday, July 3, will be shown live from the Benedict Music Tent and viewable for free on the Festival’s “Virtual Stage” page at http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com
. The Music Fest developed the platform last year when it hosted virtual performances after its summer season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The winter music season was also staged on the site.