CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS: Dreamtime Ancestors*
ALAN FLETCHER: Piano Concerto (World Premiere)
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MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS: Selections from Poems of Emily Dickinson
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird Suite (1919)*
Superstar soprano and AMFS alumna Renée Fleming returns to Aspen to dazzle audiences with her talent and charisma. She will perform Michael Tilson Thomas's song settings of poetry of Emily Dickinson, which Tilson Thomas notes were written for and inspired by Fleming.
AMFS Music Director Robert Spano leads a program that also features a symphonic poem based on an Australian Aboriginal myth, wherein all humans are connected through “dreamtime ancestors," and the world premiere of a piano concerto by AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher written for and played by the brilliant Inon Barnatan.
The season theme of "enchantment" is well represented by Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird ballet. The story tells of the journey of the hero Prince Ivan, who, while hunting in the forest, strays into the magical realm of the evil sorcerer Koschei. Ivan enlists the help of the Firebird to thwart Koschei’s minions and break a spell that has bewitched thirteen princesses. Stravinsky’s orchestral wizardry and explosive rhythms helped made the work an overwhelming success at its 1910 premiere, and a thrilling concert piece.
