- [Narrator] Funding

for this program

has been provided by

the FS Foundation,

bringing together adults of

all abilities and backgrounds,

as they pursue passion,

prosperity and purpose.

Linda and Alvaro Pascotto.

(soft classical music)

The Carol Franc Buck Foundation.

(soft classical music)

Additional support

provided by these funders.

(upbeat classical music)

- It absolutely would

not have been possible

to take even 40 players and

distance them for health

and be able to have

a full orchestra.

That was not gonna happen.

It was really advantageous

to already take our

chamber music idea,

which has always been

part of the festival,

and make that the centerpiece.

- With all of the

challenges of a pandemic

and trying to get people

safely to play together.

I mean it's the only

thing this summer

that is able to do that.

- Health was first and foremost.

Of course because

of Joel's passing

as a result of COVID,

everyone had a

heightened sensitivity

to how we must keep

each other safe.

- I know difficult

this is right now

and I know how

careful we have to be.

And I know there's

so much concern

and I've appreciated

all the thought

that's gone into this

to keep everybody safe.

- And so we had to make sure

that the performers can be safe.

We had to make sure that

our audience could be safe,

and outdoors made

the most sense.

- I think that I

could recite to you

every CDC recommendation

for events and gatherings,

everything that was

needed to do this safely.

And it brought some anxiety.

I mean there was no guarantee

along with everything

in this year

that this was the

right thing to do,

until we were doing it.

- When I got the call to come

and you know I heard

it's gonna be different.

It's going to be chamber music.

It's gonna be a smaller group

of audiences to be here,

and we're gonna

be really careful

and we're going to try our best

to minimize all the

risks and everything.

I mean, I just thought, wow,

like these guys are

thinking out of the box,

and really pivoting at a

time when we need it most,

and really giving a service

to the community

here at Lake Tahoe.

I was so overjoyed that not only

that classical Tahoe

was doing this,

but that I could

be a part of it.

- In normal times

a chamber ensemble

typically performs the

best the closer you can

see the musicians for being

able to hear each other.

I know for my own

string quartet,

just sometimes

pushing in six inches

on the part of each player

can make a huge difference.

And right now we have to

think about am I too close?

Am I properly distanced

from that person?

I'm lucky in

tonight's performance

that it's my wife to my left.

So we're not distancing

from each other,

at least unless I do something

really bad at home (laughs).

- It's a good example of how,

if you really spend

the time figuring out

how to cross all your

T's and dot all your I's,

you can do something

safely for everyone

that is important

for mental health.

We're all looking out

for our physical health,

but there's a lot

to be said here

for people who are needing

some mental health,

and some place to find

some relief and hope.

- Classical Tahoe is

one of the only places

that I actually play

in an orchestra.

And I feel pretty lucky

because my colleagues

are principals of the

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra,

the LA Phil, San Francisco

Symphony all over the place.

And I just, most of what

I play is chamber music.

So this is actually kind of

my jam (laughs) this summer.

And it's pretty fun to be

able to play chamber music

with these great players in

ways that have collaborated

with them before

in bigger groups,

but to be in a small group

together is pretty amazing.

- One of the pieces

we're performing tonight

is a Bach Concerto

for oboe and violin,

listening to the two soloists

trade back and forth,

it's just amazing.

Nathaniel and Daniel are

both excellent musicians,

and you're really

in for a treat.

(upbeat classical music)

- What's interesting

about this Bach piece

is that it is an accompanying

role that we're playing

to the two soloists and so

there's an oboe solo with Nathan

and a violin solo with Daniel.

And there were two of us

playing the sort of baseline

in the Baroque period that

would be called a continual.

So what it means is

it's a continuous line,

but the two of us

are playing it.

And historically

probably a harpsichord

would also be

playing it with us.

So it would be

sort of a triangle

but when it's only

the two of us,

we sort of have to negotiate

who is gonna play

a little bit more,

and who can shadow

the other one,

so that we can more

seamlessly play together.

There was a point at

which we were talking

about plucking versus bowing,

and we ultimately

decided to pluck

most of the second movement,

all these tiny little decisions

that go into making the bigger

piece of music come alive.

(soft classical music)

(crowd cheering)

- If I had to be on

the desert Island

with only one music with me,

I would choose the piece I'm

playing tonight actually.

the Debussy Danses.

So Claude Debussy in the

beginning of the 20th century,

was commissioned by a

harp maker for a new piece

for harping string orchestra.

And so he wrote these two danses

so first is Sacree Danse

the Danse Sacree in French.

Second one is Profane

Danse, the Danse Profane.

And so they are very beautiful

diptyque you can say that,

like two pieces of music.

They are very contrasting,

and it's amazing music.

Of course, he was very inspired

at the time in France there

was a whole fascination

for Ancient Greece.

So there is a lot of things

that are like the modes used

in this music are Greek modes.

And I think being brought up

by a specialist of

French literature

and my mother and my father

taught Greek and Latin

in high school,

I add fascination

for the Greek myth.

So I guess that's also why

this music touched me so much.

(soft classical music)

(crowd clapping)

- I get to play music that I

really love to try to play well

which is Liszt

Transcendental Etudes.

I'm playing one of them

which is number 10.

And so this music

is really virtuoso

to the point of almost

verging on histrionic, right?

It's like, there's

even a great moment

in this piece where

Liszt marks disperato.

Absence of hope right in this,

like just like

operatic intensity,

and you're almost trying

to break the piano

when you play this music.

It's very fun to play

if you can play it.

(dramatic classical music)

(crowd cheering)

- The COVID pandemic

is so front and center

in all of our minds.

And I think that this

week performing in Tahoe,

at the moment stands out almost

over anything in my career

really after having

not only not performed,

but not even played or rehearsed

in front of another human

being for five months,

really I honestly

had some anxiety

about being in front

of people again.

And it's not really a self

doubt of can I still do it,

but you kind of lose

contact with the immediacy

of what it's like to

do the work we've been

so accustomed to

doing in my case

for almost a quarter century.

So being out in front

of people again,

it was almost cathartic.

It really does

stand out like the,

you know, cause after this week,

I think none of us who

are here right now,

really know when the

next time will be.

(dramatic classical music)

The difference between

an audience of 25

and an audience of 3000,

is smaller than the

difference between

no audience and

an audience of 25.

Is if you're in front of people

and it's live and in real time,

then music exists the

way it's meant to be.

Where it's experienced

in real time and space.

Whereas when it's all virtual,

it doesn't mean that

the art isn't there.

It doesn't mean that the

communication isn't there,

but it feels just

completely different.

The more we can

feel and understand

that it's a two

way sort of giving,

the more we feel

that it's vital.

(somber classical music)

(upbeat classical music)

(somber classical music)

(dramatic classical music)

(crowd cheering)

(upbeat classical music)

- [Narrator] Funding

for this program

has been provided by

the FS Foundation,

bringing together adults of

all abilities and backgrounds,

as they pursue passion,

prosperity and purpose.

Linda and Alvaro Pascotto.

(soft classical music)

The Carol Franc Buck Foundation.

(soft classical music)

Additional support

provided by these funders.