Ravinia 2019, Issue 3, Week 6

LIONEL BRINGUIER, conductor Born in France, Lionel Bringuier began playing the cello at age 5, entering the Paris Conser- vatory at age 13 to study with Philippe Muller. The following year, he began to simultaneous- ly study conducting under Zsolt Nagy, earning diplomas in both disciplines in 2004. Bringuier had made his professional debut as a conductor at age 14, leading a concert live on French na- tional television, and it was in 2005, at age 19, that he fully launched his career as the winner of the Besançon Competition. He was subsequent- ly chosen to become an assistant conductor to Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Los Angeles Phil- harmonic—the youngest to hold the position in its history—in 2007; the rapport Bringuier formed with the ensemble led to his reappoint- ment under Gustavo Dudamel and promotion to resident conductor in 2011. Bringiuer has since been a guest conductor with many of the world’s top ensembles, including the Philhar- monia and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras; New York, Munich, and Israel Philharmonics; San Francisco Symphony; Atlanta, Dallas, (US) National, and London Symphony Orchestras; and Cleveland Orchestra, with which he led the world premiere of Bernard Rands’s English Horn Concerto. He led the world premiere of Sa- lonen’s Karawane in 2012 and the Swiss premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Trans for harp and orchestra in 2016 with Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, and he has also led the regional premieres of works by John Corigliano, Marc-André Dalbavie, Magnus Lindberg, and Bruno Mantovani. Bringuier re- cently returned to the Royal Swedish Opera to conduct a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto , and he also returned to the Dresden Staatska- pelle for concerts with regular collaborator Yuja Wang before embarking on an extensive Euro- pean tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orches- tra and soloists Daniel Müller-Schott, Arabella Steinbacher, Sol Gabetta, and Jan Lisiecki. Brin- guier’s discography includes two Ravel compi- lations on Deutsche Grammophon featuring Wang; the most recent also includes another fre- quent collaborator, Ray Chen, as a guest. Lionel Bringuier made both his Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut in 2017 and is mak- ing his first return to the festival. JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, piano Born in Lyon, France, Jean-Yves Thibaudet gave his first public performance just two years after beginning piano studies at age 5. At age 12 he entered the Paris Conservatory, studying with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator to Ravel. Three years later Thi- baudet won the conservatory’s top performing prize and went on to earn several top compe- tition honors, including the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York at age 18. In 2001 he was made a Knight of France’s Order of Arts and Letters—in 2012 he was promoted to the grade of Officer—and France’s Ministry of Cul- ture awarded Thibaudet a lifetime achievement award in 2007. He was inducted into the Hol- lywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2010. A premier interpreter of Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety” Symphony for orchestra and piano, Thibaudet recently re- leased an acclaimed recording with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with whom he performed it at the BBC Proms this past season; he also essayed the work with the Los Angeles and Brussels Philharmonics and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the composer’s centennial . Thi- baudet became the Colburn School’s first resident artist in 2018 and is collaborating with its music academy on merit scholarships for the next three years. He has also renewed long-standing music partnerships in recital tours over the past year, including a duo with Midori and trios with Lisa Ba- tiashvili and Gautier Capuçon as well as brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. With Gautier, he’s also toured the premiere of Richard Dubugnon’s Eros Athanatos for cello, piano, and orchestra, and with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra he toured Taiwan, China, and South Korea. Thibaudet has appeared on more than 50 recordings, and his personal discography has earned the German Record Critics’ Prize, France’s Diapason d’Or and Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award, and the Edison Prize, as well as two Grammy Award nominations. Tonight Jean-Yves Thibaudet makes his sixth appearance at Ravinia, where he first performed in 1991. He will return on July 22 for a duo recital with cellist Gautier Capuçon. COMING UP AT RAVINIA 7:30 PM MONDAY, JULY 22 MARTIN THEATRE GAUTIER CAPUÇON, cello JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, piano SCHUMANN: Fantasy Pieces for cello and piano BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 SIBELIUS: Malinconia SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Sonata Gautier Capuçon JULY 8 – JULY 14, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 101