Kevin Puts, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák will be featured again tonight

By Peter Alexander Aug. 2 at 12:15 a.m.

The Colorado Music Festival launched into its final weekend of the 2024 season last night (Aug. 1) with a program that had all the hallmarks of the CMF under Music Director Peter Oundjian.

There was a piece by a living American composer—Two Mountain Scenes by Kevin Puts; a sensational soloist playing an audience favorite—violinist Augustin Hadelich and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto; and great piece that is just off the most familiar path—a symphony by Dvořák, but not the “New World” or the Eighth, but the Seventh Symphony in D minor. And the performances were terrific.

The Two Mountain Scenes have a Colorado connection, as they were written for the Bravo! Vail Music Festival and the New York Philharmonic. The first scene evokes an echoing trumpet call sounding against the backdrop of valleys and distant mountain peaks. The CMF trumpet section nailed the treacherous opening, which calls for four trumpets sharing what appears to be a single fanfare with notes dying in the distance.

These calls are answered by sweeping lines in the strings, painting the image of remote mountain ridges. After the tiniest of breaks, the second scene conjures a powerful storm, with a kaleidoscope of orchestral colors cascading down and thrusting forward. Oundjian and the Festival Orchestra gave a stirring performance that asked: why don’t we hear this colorful, evocative score more often?

Hadelich, who shares an obvious musical bond with Oundjian and has been a soloist on previous CMF seasons, gave a stunning performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto. But don’t be fooled: it’s not as easy as he makes it seem!

The best word to describe Hadelich’s performance might be fluid, but that would not do justice to the brilliant fireworks that he also provided. He has the ability to play tenderly, as at the beginning, and yet penetrate the Chautauqua Auditorium to the back row. In addition to the gentle moments, that were exquisitely played, he has the technique to accelerate cleanly, building speed and volume into the climactic moments.

Handelich’s creamy sound and well crafted restraint in the gentle moments gave more scope for a big buildup, as at the end of the first movement. There, the growing excitement led to spontaneous applause from a normally cultivated audience. Hadelich and Oundjian smiled happily at the crowd before continuing.

One of the pleasures of this performance was seeing knowing glances between Hadelich and Oundjian, who share the experience of having played the concerto. The soaring slow movement and the leap into the brilliant finale were impeccably performed. After a second outburst of enthusiasm from the audience, Hadelich came back to play an encore of “Orange Blossom Special” on steroids that had the audience alternately chuckling and gasping in appreciation. A second standing ovation followed.

The performance of Dvořák’s sometime turbulent, sometimes lyrical Seventh was marked by sleek transitions in and out of the score’s darker moments. Oundjian managed the many tempo shifts and thematic contrasts handsomely, always profiling the drama inherent in the music. 

Dvořák can build to an exciting ending as well as any composer I know. He appears to do that in the first movement, but suddenly pulls back in a surprise fading away that was handled eloquently. The finale builds without holding back, leading to the powerful close that was expected before. With its command of a wide dynamic range, the Festival Orchestra created the climax Dvořák asks for.

Horn solos in the first two movements were exceptionally well played, earning a solo bow. Similarly the woodwind solos were as usual outstanding throughout, leading to more solo bows at the end. It was a special pleasure to hear this symphony, both for the quality of the playing and because the Seventh is not heard as often as it deserves.

The same program will be repeated tonight (Aug. 2) at 6:30 p.m. at the Chautauqua Auditorium.  The CMF 2024 season wraps up Sunday with Johann Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus, Ravel’s orchestral song cycle Shéhérazade and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, also at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available from the Chautauqua Box Office.