Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/819918
104 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 Goodwin stands in front of Carmel's Sunset Center; in 1935, the festival launched in that location and at the Carmel Mission Basilica. A popular guest conductor and global high flier, Goodwin's feet seldom touch the ground. But he alights in Carmel every spring to firm up prepa- rations for the Bach Festival. The festival has been a highlight of California's cultural calendar every year since 1935 except during 1943-45, when it was shelved during the depths of World War II. As they did for pioneering pre-war Carmel Bach Fest- ivals, visiting musicians are currently billeted in private homes for weeks-long stays after being called to Carmel from far-flung places. "The quality of the musi- cians is very high,'' Goodwin ob-serves of Festival Orchestra players, some of whom return year after year. He especially prizes their versatility. And versatile they must be. This year they will accompany festival singers on Adele's "Rumor Has It,'' Led Zeppelin's "Going to California'' and Cole Porter's ''Another Opening, Another Show,'' among others. Then, on anoth- er night, in another program, the orchestra will perform Monteverdi's "Vespers for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary,'' written in 1610. Monteverdi's work will be performed in the venerable Carmel Mission Basilica, where it began for Carmel Bach back in 1935. This year's Carmel Bach Festival, for all its admirable adventurousness, does not neglect justly loved favorites in the classical music canon. "The two great pillars of the festival are Mozart's magisterial 'C Minor Mass' on Sunday and Beethoven's monumental 'Sym- phony No. 9' on Friday,'' accord- ing to Goodwin. Festival-goers will get two chances to hear Beethoven's great work. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will be showcased in the two Spiritual Sunday main concerts. The 2017 Carmel Bach Festival runs July 15-July 29, with pre-festival events beginning July1. The pre-festival gala is July 14 at the Intercontinental The Clement, Monterey. Go to www.bachfestival.org. You can't get much more joyous than J.S. Bach's "Ascension Oratorio,'' which highlights the festival's gala opening night concert July 15 in the Sunset Center Auditorium. Photo: Avery Gould/Carmel Bach Festival