Idaho is known as the Gem State for the wealth of minerals, but when it comes to music, the real gem is the Sun Valley Music Festival, which takes place every summer in the majestic Sawtooth mountains in South Central Idaho, just on the outskirts of Ketchum. Now in its 40th year, the SVMF runs for four weeks from the edge of July into late August. The Festival offers superb orchestral music under the baton of longtime Music Director Alisdair Neale, world class soloists like Yo-Yo Ma, and a state-of-the-art outdoor pavilion that is jaw-dropping for its looks and acoustics. And what is best of all – the festival concerts are gratis!
I was part of a small group of music critics who attended the festival from August 11 through 14. We experienced three orchestral concerts and one chamber music performance at the pavilion plus a meeting with Neale and with violin virtuoso James Ehnes. As part of our package (arranged through the Music Critics Association of North America), we also received lodging at the Sun Valley Inn and received a private tour of Ernest Hemingway’s home where he spent the final years of his life.
The SVMF takes place on the grounds of the Sun Valley Resort, a bucolic oasis that originally catered to skiers as an upscale destination. Since it opened in 1936 with the Sun Valley Lodge, the site now boasts the Sun Valley Inn, restaurants, bars, swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie house, a bowling alley, a spa, and an Olympic-sized skating rink. But the crown jewel for music lovers is the Sun Valley Pavilion, which opened in 2008 with travertine marble from Italy, seating for 1600 people, and a price tag of over 40 million dollars. That was funded by the late Earl and Carol Holding who owned the Sun Valley Resort.
Needless to say, the SVMF didn’t begin with a fabulous arena. It started in 1985 as the Elkhorn Music Festival with twenty musicians. That expanded in size and scope and became the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. With the addition of a winter season and chamber music events, the name changed to Sun Valley Music Festival in 2019. The SVMF also added first-class speakers and an exceptionally big screen so that festival goers could sit on the expansive lawn and enjoy the concerts.
Owing to the high elevation (close to 6,000 feet), all concerts begin at 6:30 in the evening and do not have an intermission. The orchestral musicians come from throughout the nation. Several are from the San Francisco Symphony where Neale was an associate conductor for a number of years. The one musician from the Oregon Symphony is oboist and English hornist Jason Sudduth.
For me and my fellow critics, the first concert we heard was Mahler’s Sixth Symphony (“Tragic”), which took place on August 11. Neale led an orchestra that consisted of 107 musicians, including nine horns and a huge box with a Thor-sized mallet for the two hammer blows at the end of the piece. Conducting impressively from memory, Neale and forces dug into the music with gusto, and the percussion battery had a lot of leg work because they exited periodically to tap the tubular chimes that were hung at the edge of the pavilion. Yet the music making would have benefited from more dynamic contrast. Too much of the volume stayed between mezzo-forte and double forte. So, the finale tried to make a crescendo, but couldn’t, because it was already too loud.
The next day, we were treated to a special concert of chamber music for sponsors of the festival. Performed by Ann Choomack (flute), Erik Behr (oboe), Susan Warner (clarinet), Andrew Cuneo (bassoon), and Elizabeth Freimuth (horn), the program started with “Simple Gifts” from Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring in an arrangement by Susan Warner, and then flipped the switch with Stig Jorgensen arrangement of Jacob Gade’s loosey goosey Tango Jalousie. The quintet also played with Ferenc Farkas’ Early Hungarian Dances, which ended with an upbeat, rustic number. That was topped off with a foot-stomping rendition of Paquito D’Rivera’s Aires Tropicales.
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On Tuesday (August 13), the critics lunched with Neale, who is now in his 30th year with the SVMF. We learned that he has stepped down from his music directorship of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Marin Symphony and has moved to Paris where he plans to study scores more in depth. He intends to keep his post at SVMF where he has built up a terrific level of trust with the orchestra and the community. For Neale and orchestra musicians, the comradery and community aspect are extremely important. He is also proud of the many pieces that the SVMF has commissioned and likes to keep a balance of familiar and unfamiliar works on each program.
That evening’s concert began with Jessie Montgomery’s Strum for string orchestra. Neale and the musicians gave the piece a lovely shape, delving into its many layered texture with elan. SVMF Associate Conductor Stephanie Childress took the podium for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, which featured Concertmaster Jeremy Constant, Principal Cellist Amos Yang, and guest pianist John Wilson, who arrived the night before the concert as a last-minute replacement for an ailing Peter Henderson.
The trio rolled along smoothly with Yang giving a strong, emotive performance with his cello. Constant played spot on throughout, but I wish that he had played louder. It seemed that he yielded a bit too much to the others. Wilson held his own with distinction, giving the piece extra color and sparkle. Childress and the orchestra wonderfully sculpted their side of the ledger, augmenting the trio of soloists with just the right dynamics.
On our final day (August 14), the critics enjoyed a discussion with violinist James Ehnes in the elegant lobby of the Sun Valley Lodge. Leonidas Kavakos had been scheduled to perform Brahms’s Violin Concerto, but had to cancel because of a shoulder injury. So Neale called Ehnes, who had just finished his commitments as Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s summer festival. Ehnes had a gap in his schedule, so he agreed. Such is the life of a virtuoso violinist.
Ehnes met with us after finishing the rehearsal. He told us an interesting story about his “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715. It was lost for about 80 years – actually hidden away somewhere in Russia. After playing at Sun Valley, he will perform at Aspen and Tanglewood and during the school year, he will do some intensive teaching at the University of Indiana Jacobs School of Music.
After the meeting, SVMF Executive Director Derek Dean gave the critics a tour of the Pavilion. He took us into the basement where are lot of equipment is stored and some of the camera coordination takes place. We learned that the operating budget for the SVMF is more that five million dollars. Not bad for a four-week musical extravaganza!
We returned to the pavilion for our final concert, which opened with A Joyous Trilogy by Quinn Mason, an award-winning, 28-year-old composer from Dallas, Texas. The first movement, “Running,” launched with an energetic fanfare replete with glissando-ing trombones and motoric strings. The second movement, “Reflection” offered a meditative take with melodic solo trombone. The final movement, “Renewal” picked up the pace with a brighter sound, especially from the brass, and finished… joyfully.
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Then Ehnes delivered an impeccable account of Brahms’s Violin Concerto. He dazzled listeners with his agility, intensity, and superb sound. He never became sentimental, but always got to the heart of the piece, and the audience responded with an exuberant standing ovation that brought Ehnes back to the stage several times. He then responded with a lovely encore from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3.
Hemingway House – an epilog of sorts
The critics also received a guided tour of the Hemingway House. Ernest Hemingway purchased the house from the previous owner in 1959 and lived there until his death by suicide in 1961. His widow, Mary Hemingway, continued to live there off and on until her death in 1986. It has been kept pretty much the same as when the Hemingways lived there, and is now owned and maintained as a private residence by The Community Library, a privately-funded public library.
If only P. D. Q. Bach were still alive! I am certain that if he had experienced Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and visited the Hemingway House, he would have written For Whom the Cowbells Toll.
