Stringing us Along all Summer
Photography and Concept: Mark Maziarz
I’m sitting in the great room of an elegant Deer Valley home, with snow falling slowly outside on aspen branches, the deck railing, and kids flying by on the ski slope next to the house. I am not wearing shoes. Neither are any of the 40-or-so guests, clustered around the living room on couches, chairs, or the fireplace hearth, sipping wine and wiggling their sock-covered toes.
Before me, within an arm’s reach, are a cellist and violinist from the renowned Muir Quartet. They’re not wearing shoes either—tuxedos, but no shoes. I am close enough to see the trimmed short nails and the calluses on the cellist’s fingers as he plucks at strings, and the fact that he’s taken off his own leather belt and placed in on the floor underneath his cello’s end pin so as not to pierce the home’s carpet with its razor sharp point. The violinist has pulled a rumpled white linen handkerchief from his closed fist and laid it to rest under his chin against the shiny, red-toned wood of his violin. I can read the sheet music set on their stands, the paper edges curled and taped from where dampened fingers have turned them quickly time and again. I can see the musician’s eyes move across the page following the notes, and the veins pulse out in their necks, heads tilted sideways, when they come to a particularly passionate phrase.
In the balcony of the room, homeowners Gib and Susan Myers look down on the scene in their living room—the music of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly enrapturing their guests in such an intimate environment. This is just the setting musicians like Hayden and Mozart wrote chamber music for. This is a “salon event,” just one of many performances offered by the Deer Valley Music Festival, and it gave me a warm and cozy cultural “fix” that lasted for days.
The Myers have been half-time Park City residents for six years. Susan says, “We really want to be supportive of the festival and this is one way to do it. We love the Park City community and this is our way of giving back. And it makes us feel like part of the local community.”
After the performance, the small audience gets to talk to the musicians themselves—guys you’d have to pay mucho bucks to see long distance at concert halls in Boston and New York. We’ve all been wondering about the bizarrely beautiful patina on the cello, worn and weathered in reds and browns, evident brush marks of many years of varnish as visible as waves. Muir Quartet member Mike Reynolds tells us that the cello once belonged to Arturo Toscanini, crafted in 1741. Reynolds explains that the unique finish on the piece is either blood or creosote?that’s why it’s so dark. The violin is a 1744 Bergonzi—one of only 60 in the world. “It lived at a monastery in Austria from 1744 to 1926,” says violinist Peter Zazofski. “I am the 11th owner of the violin since 1926.” “We’re very happy to be stewards of these instruments,” says Reynolds. “We can’t say we’re the owners.”
How do the musicians enjoy playing in someone’s living room? “Normally we play in concert halls of 800 to 1200 people. This is fun because the audience is so close up. It’s more personal. In an intimate environment like this, we really feel like we’re playing for the guests.”
Park City locals Wayne and Barbara Baumgardner enjoyed the performance. “We’re so impressed with the quality of music. We’re so thrilled that the Utah Symphony has such a presence in the community. We need them and they need us. We go to every master works concert.”
Utah Symphony & Opera CEO Anne Ewers was also in attendance (in her stocking feet). “These salon events started with the inception of the Deer Valley Music Festival in 2004. Keith Lockhart, the Symphony Music Director, took one look at the Park City area and said we should do something like Tanglewood here. We looked at other festivals, like Vail’s, and they do these salon events. They’re intimate and exclusive, but not prohibitive price-wise. [Salon events are $100 and include an elegant meal, beverages and the performance]. You have the chance to see incredible homes, enjoy wonderful social opportunities, and enjoy stunning performances up close and personal.”
When the Utah Symphony & Opera decided to start the festival in 2004, they came out full force with a wide array of events. “We thought, we can do the festival in dribs and drabs, or just explode onto the scene,” says Ewers. “If you tiptoe in, it doesn’t give people enough to embrace. We have a presence here now, and a high level of quality that reflects our whole mission. We offer classical, pops, chamber music, guest chamber performers and opera. Our audiences are a real mix—locals, visitors and lots of second homeowners who are just discovering how amazing summer in Park City can be. Many second homeowners are now spending multiple weeks here in the summer, revolving their time around festival performances.”
One guest at the salon says, “It’s a perfect way to hear world-class music in an intimate social setting where you can visit with your neighbors. Another says, “It’s fabulous. To see the musicians’ fingering on the instruments, their facial expressions … it’s mesmerizing.”
This year’s DEER VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL runs from July 22 to August 19, 2006. It includes Saturday Pops (Symphony performances at Deer Valley’s Outdoor Amphitheater, with performances this year: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Bravo Broadway, Kenny Loggins and the 1812 Overture); a comic Opera weekend, this year The Pirates of Penzance; Friday Classical shows at Deer Valley (this year the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Pictures at an Exhibition and Rach 1/Tchaik 5); Wednesday Chamber orchestra performances at St. Mary’s Church; Thursday Guest Chamber performers at St. Mary’s Church; the Salon Events at private homes throughout town; and VIP packages: Get reserved parking; an elegant dinner at Deer Valley’s Snow Park lodge before the show; reserved seating up front; and dessert and coffee during intermission for the Friday and Saturday night performances at Deer Valley. For complete information on this fabulous festival, visit deervalleymusicfestival.org. For tickets, call 801-355-ARTS or 888-451-ARTS (2287).
Your comments may be edited for brevity and foul language.