Shakespeare and classical music make for potent mix in Boulder

BOULDER • Both the Colorado Music Festival and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival are blessed with outstanding venues that take great advantage of our state’s cherished summertime evenings.

Set on the expansive grounds of Colorado Chautauqua, the CMF holds its concerts in a 112-year-old auditorium constructed entirely of wood (you can even see through the gaps in the planks). The sound is superb — able to capture the individual sonority of every instrument, even when played pianissimo.

The 78-piece orchestra is largely comprised of principals and assistant principals from American orchestras, none of which place in the highly vaunted Top 10.

On the evening of July 22, they were led by guest conductor David Lockington, a one-time Denver musical fixture who has performed with the Colorado Springs Symphony. Lockington’s clear gestures and modest countenance would seem an ideal match for a group such as this. In fact, every moment of music came Orion Weiss-alive with spirit and accuracy.

Pianist Orion Weiss, who has performed three times with the Colorado Springs Symphony and Philharmonic, took the spotlight with Mozart’s 21st Piano Concerto. Only 20 when he first performed in our city, the 29-year-old Weiss has now “graduated” to those Top 10 orchestras.

Here, he showed how worthy he is to be in their company. His Mozart was musical and detailed, and blessed with irrepressible momentum and life force.

But it was Weiss’ ability to “dialogue” with soloists and sections of the orchestra that made this an unforgettable experience.

The evening concluded with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” but it was Ravel who was truly honored. Every element jelled, allowing for revelations of detail and sonority that seldom, if ever, come clear in this masterpiece of orchestration.

There wasn’t even a roof to be had at the Mary Rippon Theatre on the University of Colorado campus the next night for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s offering of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Director Stephanie Shine shed the play-within-a-play premise to focus on this archaic, but still insightful, inquiry into the battle of the sexes.

Shine gave her cast room to roam, resulting in a superior, if soulless, comedic romp that never ceased to deliver laughs.

NOTE: For the full review, click here.

COLORADO MUSIC AND SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALS

The Colorado Music Festival continues through Aug. 6 with orchestral, choral and world music (1-303-449-1397). The Colorado Shakespeare Festival has four productions running through Aug. 8 (1-303-492-0554).