Vail, Aspen Compete With Music
Colorado Resorts Feature Major Classical Stars This Summer
Classical music lovers can hear great orchestras and soloists at two casual festivals in same region of the Rocky Mountains
Seniors and others who love classical music are discovering that the Colorado mountains are a bountiful tourist destination this July.
Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Vail Music Festival, a two-hour drive from Denver, has added the Philadelphia Orchestra to its lineup. The orchestra plays its final concerts at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater this weekend. Later in the month, Vail features the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for six concerts. It's the fifth year for the New York ensemble and both orchestras are contracted to return for the 2008 summer.
What does it take to get two of out the "Big Five" U.S. orchestras to take up summer residence at the Vail venue? "Chutzpah," laughed Eugenia Zuckerman, artistic director of the Vail Music Festival, before a performance on Monday. (The other three orchestras generally considered top-tier are the Boston, Cleveland and Chicago.)
Meanwhile, two hours away, the Aspen Music Festival purrs and hums in its 58th year. Along with its music school, Aspen fields several different orchestras, made up of both leading professional players alongside its best student instrumentalists. The Aspen concerts, with such world-famous soloists as Joseph Kalichstein and Sarah Chang, run until August 19th.
Rocky Mountains Alive With Sounds of Music
It's hard to compare the two festivals. Besides the Philadelphia and New York groups, upstart Vail also features the Rochester Orchestra and leading individual performers, including, this year, Judy Collins. Violinist Gil Shahan is scheduled to appear at both festivals. Vail's season is shorter than Aspen and its setting strikingly more casual.
The Vail outdoor amphitheater sits beneath a warm wooden overhang, with permanent, stadium-type seats and atmosphere. Behind the seats is a sloped lawn where for a $23 entry fee concertgoers can picnic. At the bar, visitors can buy beer, frozen margaritas and bottles of wine in plastic buckets and take their drinks to their seats. The refreshment area offers popcorn, snacks, fruit and burgers. Thus, this senior music lover found herself munching a soft pretzel while listening to the Philadelphians play Ravel. The only thing missing was a Philly cheese steak.
In Aspen, the music swells up from a stage beneath the permanent Benedict Music Tent, with padded benches rather than chairs. The tent has flaps that often remain open so listeners who sit on the David Karetsky Free Lawn can also hear. Cookies, muffins and wine are available beyond the tent but the seated audience is discouraged from bringing them inside.
It is safe to say that anyone attending concerts at either festival will be delighted by the quality of the music as well as the beauty of the setting.
