Aspen favorite Gil Shaham returns to play Bruch's soaring and melodious First Violin Concerto. His impeccable technique, inimitable warmth, and infectious joy in music-making have made him one of the world's foremost soloists.

Bruch's concerto was the composer's first major work, putting him on the musical map, and setting up expectations for comparable achievements that never quite materialized. Soloists have always loved to play this passionate and demanding piece, and audiences have warmly embraced it. Bruch studied violin for several years, and his love for the instrument shines through. When his publisher once suggested he try a work for cello and orchestra, Bruch replied, "I have more important things to do than write stupid cello concertos." Eugen d'Albert asked for a piano concerto in 1886; Bruch fired back: "Me, write a piano concerto! That’s the limit!" (Bruch eventually wrote beautifully for cello with orchestra, though he never did compose a piano concerto.)

Berlioz's autobiographical symphony tells of an artist obsessed with a beautiful woman, and is peppered throughout with a melody which represents the object of his fixation. The real woman was the Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who did (hysterically) agree to marry Berlioz — after he took a lethal dose of opium in front of her in a desperate attempt to woo her. The antidote he took worked; the marriage did not.