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The image of
Tchaikovsky’s
First Concerto
is this
overblown very
bombastic piece but
actually it’s really an
elegant and beautiful
and graceful piece
It has more in
common with
Swan Lake
than
the
Overture
a programmer, is putting things in con-
text. We can listen to music with new
ears. If you put old music next to new
music, both of them sound different.
It’s not just about [contrasting] new
and old music, but certainly con-
temporary music helps us shake out
the cobwebs. It makes us realize that
all music was new at some point.”
Barnatan’s programming skills
will be on view next summer when
he becomes music director of the
three-week La Jolla SummerFest
in Southern California. In recent
years, he performed with the festi-
val’s orchestra and gave a few recitals
during the organization’s non-summer
season. When the offer arose, he initially
worried about finding time to do the
job. “But the more I thought about it,
the more excited I got,” says Barnatan.
“To be a 21st-century musician, you
can’t just go onstage and play. It involves
many more things. Programming is
one of them, and getting out of your
comfort zone, getting to know a lot of
different music. It was fascinating to
me to explore a bigger canvas for
programming.”
His mother was a dancer, and
Barnatan is collaborating with
choreographer Mark Morris a
new project focused on Schubert.
Barnatan enjoys working with
other artists, and multi-arts
collaboration may figure in his
plans for La Jolla. He also might
organize festivals around a
theme. But he’s still formulating
his ideas. “Watch this space,”
he says with a laugh. “I’m very
busy, but [planning for La Jolla]
tends to occupy my brain a lot.
I’m listening to a lot of music,
thinking, researching. It really
gives me something to do on
planes.”
Wynne Delacoma was classical
music critic for the
Chicago
Sun-Times
from 1991 to 2006
and has been an adjunct
journalism faculty member
at Northwestern University.
She is a freelance music
critic, writer, and lecturer.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 9 – JULY 22, 2018
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