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To get how big a deal this is, imagine Eminem, Shania Twain, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and 40 more of pop's hottest acts gathering in an Alpine village to chew the fat, hang out and occasionally perform together — for no fees and no charitable cause — under a tent with a seating capacity of just 1,750. It could only happen in a pop-music fan's wildest dreams. But this week lovers of classical music will see their equivalent fantasy come true. Until Aug. 3, the world's best classical musicians and singers will gather in the Swiss mountain village of Verbier for a series of concerts that are guaranteed to have aficionados seeing stars. "It's amazing how many superstars love to come here, and they create a very special and warm atmosphere together," says Martin Engstroem, who runs the Deutsche Grammophon (DG) record company.

Engstroem started the Verbier festival in 1993 to entice the world's greatest musicians into a cozy retreat where they could try out new repertoire and experiment with collaborations. It quickly became one of the most prestigious events in the classical-music calendar, an unparalleled opportunity for fans to revel in the abundance of maestros, for the performers to measure themselves against their peers, and for the recording industry to take soundings of the health of its greatest assets.

But even by its galactic standards, Verbier's lineup for its 10th anniversary is extraordinary. There will be no fewer than 45 stars on show, including top conductors James Levine (who heads the festival's resident youth orchestra) and Esa-Pekka Salonen, gypsy fiddler Roby Lakatos, consummate pianist Emanuel Ax and legendary soprano Elisabeth Söderström. Music lovers who have gathered in the village can't believe their luck. "It's so exciting to see all these stars here," enthuses 20-year-old New Zealander Paul Rah, as he waits patiently in line for tickets. "I'm going to see as much as I can. And I hear it's so relaxed you can bump into the stars around the town afterward."

The stars will perform, solo and in combination, in 29 mostly intimate concerts under the blue-and-white tent. But the festival's undoubted highlight will be a 12-piece superorchestra, featuring violin maestros like Vadim Repin, Sarah Chang and Gidon Kremer, along with eight top-flight pianists, among them Evgeny Kissin, Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev. The July 22 performance will be the starriest classical concert in living memory — four of the world's major TV companies will be there to record it, and a dvd release will follow.

In addition to the opportunities for such unusual collaborations, Verbier gives the maestros a chance to recharge their creative batteries in a sylvan setting. "It's a wonderful, tranquil place to make music," gushes Kissin. "For Verbier, I drop everything," agrees violinist Chang. So powerful is the attraction, the performers waive their usual fees — an artist of Chang's wattage can command upward of €20,000 for a single performance — and settle for what amounts to an expenses-paid working holiday. Not even their agents are complaining. Stephen Wright, managing director of IMG Artists U.K., says, "Verbier has an atmosphere of music making as it should be. Artists need that to keep going, as much as they need food and drink — and their big fees the rest of the year."

The music industry loves the festival because the unusual collaborations it generates often result in best-selling albums. In 2001, for instance, pianist Argerich and cellist Mischa Maisky teamed up with Kremer and Yuri Bashmet on viola for a rare Brahms quartet that led to an acclaimed CD release. This year's festival is expected to yield several intriguing collaboration albums in addition to the superorchestra.

Engstroem's DG label, unsurprisingly, will produce many of them. DG has already released, to critical and commercial success, the first collaboration of Argerich, Maisky and Kremer in Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky trios. Coming soon is the Brahms Piano Quartet in G Minor, featuring the same performers plus Bashmet. Engstroem expects the big-name collaborations to keep the CDs selling for years to come. At a time when the classical-music industry faces a glut of recordings in the core repertoire, the Verbier alchemy can produce gold.

• JAMES INVERNE | Verbier
• The world's best classical musicians gather in a Swiss mountain village