A History of Colorado MahlerFest
In 1973, Robert Olson won a Fulbright scholarship
to study conducting in Vienna with Hans Swarosky,
mentor of Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta. Vienna
offered many high quality orchestral and operatic
performances and he became immersed in the
late-romantic music he heard so much of. Olson was
already consumed with the symphonic brilliance of
Mahler's First and Fourth Symphonies, when he
witnessed an event that made a life-long
impression. He observed the President of Austria's
funeral procession consisting of three horse
drawn-carriages, one containing the body of the
President, and another bearing a mounted sound
system. The cortege paraded slowly around the
Ringstrasse of Vienna, blaring the funeral march
from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, and Olson was deeply
moved. His year in Vienna involved learning many of
the other Mahler symphonies and purchasing critical
editions, along with visiting the Gustav Mahler
Gesellschaft and many of the Mahler sites in
Austria. In short, he became hooked on Mahler!
One particular day the Mahler biography he was
reading and the beauty of the moment became the
catalysts for creating a performing outlet for the
countless musicians he knew who shared his passion
for the Mahler's music. Why not a Colorado
MahlerFest? he wondered. He envisioned
performing one symphony each year, with the finest
interested and available area musicians, at the
highest level they could achieve in a short period
of time.
History, Continued: MahlerFest I
History, Continued: MahlerFest I
On his return to the USA, Olson took a position at
the College of Music at the University of Colorado
(CU) in Boulder, becoming the Music Director and
Conductor of the opera program and associate
conductor of the orchestras. Stan Ruttenberg, a
confirmed Mahlerite, witnessed many of Olson's
performances at the time, never dreaming that one
day they would become close associates in a venture
called MahlerFest.
The dream was born one summer in the old mining town cum ski resort of Breckenridge, situated at an altitude of 9,600 feet. Olson's wife, Victoria, is a violist who participated in the Breckenridge Music Festival. While Vicki attended rehearsals, Olson often relaxed with a book, or a score to study, frequently choosing a favorite place on the shore of Lake Dillon, a reservoir framed by the magnificent 14,000-foot peaks of the Colorado Rockies. He thought it a beautiful spot, and not unlike Mahler's summertime composing environs.
The dream was born one summer in the old mining town cum ski resort of Breckenridge, situated at an altitude of 9,600 feet. Olson's wife, Victoria, is a violist who participated in the Breckenridge Music Festival. While Vicki attended rehearsals, Olson often relaxed with a book, or a score to study, frequently choosing a favorite place on the shore of Lake Dillon, a reservoir framed by the magnificent 14,000-foot peaks of the Colorado Rockies. He thought it a beautiful spot, and not unlike Mahler's summertime composing environs.
