Conductor Mazzola, cellist Altstaedt make GTMF debuts – JH News&Guide

Born in Spain, raised in Italy, knighted in France and holding conductorships in Germany and the United States, Enrique Mazzola truly is an international man of music.

This weekend, the principal guest conductor for the Deutsche Oper Berlin and music director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago adds Yellowstone Country to his fast-spreading territory when he leads the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra and guest cellist Nicolas Altstaedt at Walk Festival Hall.
Mazzola’s invitation to the valley came straight from GTMF Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles, who has led the 113-year-old Berlin opera company since 2009.

“I know him well from the Deutsche Opera,” Runnicles said.

“I am so thrilled to meet the festival,” Mazzola said.

He will do so with the overture to Verdi’s opera “La forza del destino” (1861), Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony No. 6 (1893) and Ernest Bloch’s “Schelomo” (1916), subtitled “Hebraic Rhapsody.”

“It’s a fantastic piece for cello and orchestra,” Mazzola, speaking from Berlin where he was conducting “Werther” by Massenet, said of the Bloch. “The force of this piece is its expressiveness … it’s an expressive dialog between the soloist and the orchestra. The part of the cello is extremely virtuosic.”

Altstaedt will perform the virtuoso role. Born in Heidelberg, Germany, he studied music in Detmold, Germany, Basel, Switzerland, and Berlin before earning a Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2010 that launched his international performance career. Since then he has worked extensively throughout Europe, Asia, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, which is where Runnicles first encountered him two years ago.

The performance is 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at Walk Festival Hall. For tickets or information, visit GTMF.org or call the festival box office at 307-733-1128.

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