On Tuesday, July 22, we will have two stellar concerts illustrating something I love about music in Aspen: Excellence and diversity.
At 6 p.m. in Harris Hall, the remarkable young pianist Simone Dinnerstein will play Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. An Everest for any pianist, the Goldberg has provided Dinnerstein with a career-making opportunity: Her CD recording of it became the unexpected hit of 2007 and was a world-wide best-seller.
A curious historical story about this piece is often gotten wrong by eager music-lovers. A wealthy patron who suffered from insomnia, and had a wonderful harpsichordist named Goldberg, commissioned the work from Bach. But the idea was not to put him to sleep! Instead, the work was meant to be so absorbing and rewarding that the insomniac would no longer mind staying up all hours. I guarantee you that, if you attend, you will not doze.
Just before it ends, the piece has one of the most wonderful moments in all music. Thirty variations have plumbed the utmost depths of musical invention and profundity, unscrolling a truly fantastic expanse of formal imagination and erudition.
Then, after a magical silence, the opening aria returns, and we are struck with the journey we have taken — how everything is the same and everything is utterly changed. We think about time and experience, about ourselves and about all that is other than ourselves. It is a sublime synthesis of the lyrical and dramatic.
Then, at 8 p.m. in the Tent, Cuban singing sensation Issac Delgado will give one of his sizzling signature perform-
ances, presented with Jazz Aspen Snowmass. Since JAS Executive Producer Jim Horowitz proposed this engagement, we’ve all been getting progressively more excited. Call all your friends and invite them.
In fact, I think a fantastic thing would be to attend both Tuesday concerts. This would give the best possible picture of the range of what we do musically in Aspen. We don’t think music should be all or only one thing — it should just be exciting and unforgettable.
Alan Fletcher is president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
