Special to the Aspen Times
Aspen audiences got their first tastes in years of classical recitals in the vast spaces of the Benedict Music Tent this week. The music was top-notch. For this more intimate concert form the venue is going to take some getting accustomed to.
With the 500-seat Harris Hall off limits due to COVID protocols, something gets lost in translation in the vast spaces of the 2,050-seat tent. There was a time when the festival presented chamber music in the tent occasionally. I can recall some extraordinary Dvořák quintets in the old days. But not recently. Harris Hall’s cozy environment lets an audience hear nuances not always audible in a space like the tent. Besides, an audience that would fill Harris Hall looks disappointingly spread-out in the tent.
When the Aspen Music Festival and School announced the program for its summer season last week, the big news and the headline was that live music and orchestras would be returning after the long silence of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The comeback of Aspen’s oldest and most storied cultural tradition is monumental and promises to mark the beginning of the post-pandemic era here. But all of the related public health info and chatter about the still-unannounced crowd capacity for Music Fest concerts may, so far, have overshadowed the actual concert lineup and details about the 150 events running July 1 to Aug. 22.