High drama from Hollywood to Peter Schaefer’s Amadeus to Wagner’s Ring Cycle

By Peter Alexander March 9 at  3 p.m.

The Boulder Philharmonic’s recently announced 2020–21 season will feature a full production of Peter Schaeffer’s Tony-winning play Amadeus, with live actors and orchestra; the return to Boulder of popular soloists Rachel Barton Pine (violin) and Jake Shimabukuro (ukulele); and two new works that were co-commissioned by the Boulder Phil.

Other highlights of the season will include concert music by Hollywood composers, an orchestral compilation of the most popular music from Richard Wagner’s epic four-opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelungen, and a quirky 10-minute mashup of all nine Beethoven symphonies by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

The orchestra’s 63^rd season opens Oct. 3 with “From Vienna to Hollywood,” a concert featuring music by Charlie Chaplin, written for the film Modern Times; a violin concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a transplanted Austrian composer of film and concert music who lived in United States in the 1930, ‘40s and ‘50s, performed by violinist Philippe Quint; and Brahms’s First Symphony.

The remainder of the season comprises five further main season concerts, including the live performance of Amadeus Jan. 23, 2021, plus the annual performances of Nutcracker with Boulder Ballet Nov. 27 and 29, and “Jake Shimabukuro & the Boulder Phil” Feb. 6. (See the full listing of concerts and dates, below.)

The first of the two co-commissions will be performed Feb. 3, as part of a program titled “Ravishing Rachmaninoff.” Rachel Barton Pine, who was last in Boulder in 2014, will play the new Violin Concerto written for her by jazz pianist/arranger Billy Childs, which was commissioned by a number of orchestras around the country. The concerto is one of several projects Pine has undertaken to amplify African-American voices in classical music.

The season’s other new piece, Drew Hemenger’s Ozymandias, was initiated by the Boulder Phil and commissioned together with the Rogue Valley Symphony of Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass, Ore. A musical response to climate change, Ozymandias will feature tenor Matthew Plenk, faculty member at the University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Festival Chorus.

Ozymandias will be part of a program titled “Epic Tales,” although it might as well have been titled “Downfalls.” In addition to Hemenger’s score about climate change, the concert will include two other works that illustrate tales about bad choices that lead to bad results: Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem Don Juan, whose protagonist ends up in hell; and a 45-minute compilation of orchestral highlights from Wagner’s Ring Cycle, which ends with Brunnhilde’s fiery immolation and the collapse of Valhalla.

The selection includes the most popular excerpts from Wagner’s four-opera cycle, presented in order: “The Entry of the Gods into Valhalla,” “The Ride of the Valkyries,” “Magic Fire Music,” “Forest Murmurs,” “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” and “Brunnhilde’s Immolation Scene.” “It runs about 45 minutes, so we’ve cut out about 14 hours,” writes Boulder Phil music director Michael Butterman by email.

“Come to think of it, “ he adds, “We’re doing a lot of distilling this season: Mozart’s life in one evening, all of The Ring Cycle in 45 minutes; and Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies in 10 minutes.”

The “Season Finale” will take place May 2, 2021, with Andriessen’s 10-minute mashup of all nine Beethoven symphonies, The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven; Beethoven’s full, unexpurgated Third Symphony, the “Eroica”; and new Takacs Quartet member Richard O’Neill playing William Walton’s Viola Concerto.

“Our goal is to create programs and experiences that resonate with the artistic and intellectual pulse of our audience,” Butterman writes. “A work about our changing planet, a hybrid concert-play, a quirky condensation of Beethoven’s symphonies in 10 minutes—these are experiences that I believe Boulderites will enjoy.”

Additional events in the 2020-2021 season include concerts at Boulder Public Library, “Events of Note” featuring guest artists in intimate venues, pre-concert talks with Butterman, the #nophilter Happy Hour series with a string quartet of Boulder Phil musicians playing pop, rock, and metal, and the continuation of the “Nature & Music” guided hikes with Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks naturalist Dave Sutherland.

Subscription packages are now available,. For more information, call 303-449-1343 or click here. Single tickets will go on sale June 1.

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Boulder Philharmonic: 2020–21 Season
(All performances in Macky Auditorium unless otherwise indicated)

“From Vienna to Hollywood”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3
2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, Pinnacle PAC
Michael Butterman, conductor
Philippe Quint, violin

Charlie Chaplin: “Smile” from the film Modern Times
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, pp. 68

“Royal Fireworks!”
2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, Pinnacle PAC
7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8 (note early start time)
Michael Butterman, conductor

Francis Poulenc: Suite française
Kurt Weill: Suite from The Threepenny Opera
Gounod: Petite Symphonie
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
With Boulder Ballet
Gary Lewis, conductor
2 & 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27
2 p. m Sunday, Nov. 29

Amadeus by Peter Schafer
With CU Department of Theater and Dance, Boulder Chamber Chorale
Michael Butterman, conductor
Bud Coleman, Director
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23

Jake Shimabukuro & the Boulder Phil
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6
Program TBA

“Ravishing Rachmaninoff”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13
Michael Butterman, conductor
Rachel Barton Pine, violin

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
Billy Childs: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, op. 27

“Epic Tales: Music to Honor the Earth”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20
Michael Butterman, conductor
Matthew Plenk, tenor, and the CU Festival Chorus

Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Drew Hemenger: Ozymandias: To Sell a Planet
Richard Wagner: The Symphonic Ring

“Season Finale: Eroica”
7 p.m. Sunday, May 2 (note early start time)
Michael Butterman, conductor
Richard O’Neill, viola

Louis Andriessen: The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven
William Walton: Viola Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (“Eroica”)