ARTICLE: La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2024 will offer new aural adventures

This year, Adès will also conduct the opening night and his takeover this year will be in the larger Baker-Baum Concert Hall.

“I think it’s a testament to the festival that one of the most-in- demand composers/conductors in the world left SummerFest saying: ‘I had the most wonderful time here, I’d love to come back,’” said Leah Rosenthal, the society’s artistic director. “And he means it! We all feel honored.”

Although London-born Adès has lived much of his time in Los Angeles for the past 15 years, he hadn’t been to San Diego before performing at SummerFest last year. Now a permanent U.S. resident, he was invited by Barnatan, his longtime friend, to be the 2023 composer-in-residence.

“I enjoyed SummerFest so much last year and performing with chamber musicians who were new to me personally,” Adès said, speaking from his home in L.A. “It was absolutely top standard. The whole thing is so enjoyable and so rewarding.

“This is such a wonderful festival, a wonderful hall and such a great director. I said to Inon: `If you’d like, I could come back next year.’ And he very kindly said: ‘Yes.’”

Barnatan recalls the conversation a little differently, saying that he asked Adès first. Either way, it’s evident Adès is a perfect fit for SummerFest in any year.

In each of the previous four years, Barnatan has served as SummerFest music director, he has tried something a little different for opening night. He’ll do the same this year with the event’s “Synergy Weekend,” which features multimedia and genre-crossing elements, has been divided into individual concerts.

For the first time, the Friday opening-night concert will be part of the Synergy series. Entitled “A Deal with the Devil,” the concert will begin with Barnatan, a renowned pianist, playing Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz. Other pieces on the program include Tartini’s “The Devil Trill” and Paganini’s “Caprice,” performed by famed violinist Augustin Hadelich.

Friday’s finale will be Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” his 1918 theatrical work about a soldier who made a pact with the devil. The performance will feature seven top-notch musicians, a Tony-winning narrator, hand-drawn animation and puppetry. Holding it all together will be Adès as conductor.

“I’ve always wanted to do ‘The Soldier’s Tale’,” Barnatan explained, speaking from his New York home. “Making it a part of the Synergy series provided the opportunity to bring acting, visuals and music together.

“And Tom was going to be here, so the idea of his conducting was just too delicious. He has such an affinity for Stravinsky.”

Adès agreed: “It goes back right to my childhood. It was one of the first works that began to create the web of feelings that made me a composer.

“I’ve conducted opera and ballet, so I’m very comfortable in that role and I’m looking forward to collaborating on this. Music theater is very much home-ground for me.”

The narrator of “The Soldier’s Tale” will be Tony Award-winner and multiple Grammy Award-nominee Danny Burstein. A UC San Diego alum, the actor/singer also works frequently in TV and film.

On a screen, “The Soldier’s Tale” audience will see the distinctive two-dimensional puppetry of Britain’s The Paper Cinema. Barnatan, after hours spent researching, chose the troupe, which has performed at the Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and England’s Glastonbury rock-music festival.

“It’s such a brilliant opportunity,” said Paper Cinema cofounder Nic Rawlings from his home in Wimborne Minster, a town in southwest England. “The classical world is new to us. It’s amazing — and terrifying!”

In keeping with the SummerFest 2024 theme “Inside Stories,” most concerts will begin with an introductory talk or video to dive deep into the program.

“Music at its best tells stories, but in this festival, I wanted to explore those stories in greater detail,” Barnatan said in a recent phone interview. He spoke the day before embarking from his New York home on a road trip to San Diego. Accompanying him on this annual trek is his husband, Jason Feldman, and their whippet, Jasper.

“Some of these ‘Inside stories’ will be told live from the stage, others through video,” Barnatan said. “It might be about the composer or the performers and the instruments they play. It might be about scandals behind certain compositions.

“Giving audiences the context of the music is one of my favorite things to do.”

For Barnatan, curating a concert starts with one or two pieces at the core. He then does research and asks people for suggestions. Each concert revolves around its own sub-theme, reinforcing the “Inside Stories” concept.

On Aug. 14, one of the four Wednesday SummerFest concerts is entitled “Notes on a Scandal.” Barnatan has long been fascinated by the 16th century Italian composer, Carl Gesualdo, who was tried for murdering his wife and her lover.

“I based the whole concert around scandals,” Barnatan said. “Debussy has a scandalous affair that led his wife to commit public suicide in the middle of street. The piece itself is scandalous!

“My guiding principle is that the theme is a way to get into the music. The fun is in finding ways so the audience can enjoy the context and better listen and understand the music.”

Context will also be provided throughout the festival at free events, including coaching workshops, open rehearsals, Encounters and the Artist Lounge (the latter two require registration).

Encounters will vary from a film screening of “The Last Repair Shop” to talks by noted experts. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, a former New York Times classical music critic, will lead an Encounter on unlocking the communicative power of music.

The four Monday Artist Lounge sessions will feature conversations with La Jolla Music Society Artistic Director Rosenthal and such SummerFest musicians as cellist Paul Wiancko and violist/violinist Yura Lee.

“What I love and what’s important about the Artist Lounge is that we’re learning more about the person,” Rosenthal said. “We’ll probably have some questions drawing on `Inside Stories.’ But we’ll also learn about the musicians’ unique journeys and what they’re most excited about.”

Musical stained glass

When Thomas Adès takes over the Baker-Baum Aug. 1, the music will have a Spanish flair. The pieces to be performed include “Turia” by Francisco Coll, “Forgotten Dances” by Adès and Concerto for Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin and cello by De Falla.

No stranger to the music of Spain, Adès wrote the 2016 opera based on a film by Spanish director Luis Buñuel. Titled like the movie — “The Exterminating Angel” — his opera was restaged last season by Opera de Paris.

The Spanish-born Coll, whose profile is rising quickly, considers Adès a mentor. Adès describes “Turia” as “modern Flamenco with a real bite.”

“Forgotten Dances,” is a solo piece written by Adès for the remarkable 30-something Scottish guitarist, Sean Shibe. This will be the U.S. premiere.

“Sean’s one of the great musicians that I’ve worked with,” Adès said. “He has extraordinary control of color on the guitar. His playing has this wonderful intensity of focus and clarity.

“I was lucky enough to get to write this major six-movement guitar suite for Sean. I’m thrilled that he’s going to play it here. There’s a unique Spanish flavor because the guitar is an instrument from Spain, so it takes that up automatically.”

Adès will be playing the De Falla work on the piano instead of the harpsichord.

“The piano has a distinct advantage,” Adès explained. “The melodies, harmonies and heart create an amazing, colorful stained-glass window. I think the music comes out more clearly with the piano. I can’t wait to do that for the audience.”

Adès is looking forward to all SummerFest and La Jolla has to offer and hopes to do a bit of exploring. Knowing San Diego is home to many of our feathered friends, the passionate birdwatcher is bringing his binoculars.

“The other thing I’m excited about, when I have a night off, is to hear these fine players in these wonderful programs,” Adès said. “It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of being in the festival. I get to experience a lot of very good music.”

All the SummerFest 2024 events are worth touting. Here are a few that will be drawing outside the lines.

The JAI will host two up-and-coming jazz artists: harpist Brandee Younger with her trio on Aug. 8 and pianist/composer/coder Dan Tepfer with his computer-driven algorithms on Aug. 15.

Veteran film, television and voice actor Tony Amendola will read excerpts from the play “Amadeus” in the performance of Mozart’s “Gran Partita” on July 31.