Listen to Bruch at Deer Valley

For a composer as prolific as Max Bruch, it's surprising that only a few of his works are played today with any frequency. His music is masterfully written, and although his melodies and harmonies often sound imitative, the music embodies the romantic spirit as much as any of his contemporaries.

Despite this, Bruch is today remembered as the composer of three works — the G minor Violin Concerto, the "Scottish Fantasy" and "Kol Nidrei."

The Violin Concerto is on tap Friday when the Utah Symphony and music director Keith Lockhart host violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in the Deer Valley Amphitheater. "The Bruch concerto is a pretty good staple," Meyers said by phone from Seattle, where she was appearing at the Seattle Chamber Music Society's Summer Festival. "It's an audience favorite."

The reason Bruch's concerto has such broad appeal is easy to understand. "The music is immediate and very lyrical, and there is an easy and open communication with the audience."

Friday's concert will be the second time Meyers and Lockhart have collaborated, although this will be the first time with the Utah Symphony. "We worked together once before when he guest conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam," said Meyers.

While Meyers is at home with the standard repertoire, she is also strongly committed to new music. About two years ago, Meyers commissioned Joseph Schwantner to write a violin concerto. She recently recorded the work "Angelfire" with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony for Hyperion.

"I'm so excited about it," she said. "I just received some advance copies. It's going to be released in September."

In the upcoming 2005-06 season, Meyers will perform with fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor. "He asked me to join him in his double concerto and also play his bluegrass quartet," Meyers said. "This will be the first time I'm trying a little bluegrass."

Being receptive to new things and exploring new directions is important, said Meyers. "I'd like to do something with Brian Eno and maybe with Bjork."

New music and the standard repertoire aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, she explained. Playing contemporary music gives the artist a new perspective on older works. "When I play Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' after I've played something by Schnittke, it opens up my eyes. I hear things three dimensionally. It gives me a better understanding because I can hear Vivaldi, Haydn, Schubert in what composers are writing today. It's like a flower out of a pot of traditional forms."

Meyers is purchasing a Stradivarius. "I'm getting to know it now. You can tell the personality of a violin pretty quickly, but putting your personality into it is a different matter."