Ravinia 2019, Issue 4, Week 7

Patricia Racette and Szot starred as Anna and Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene at Spain’s Teatro Real in 2018 and will portray another couple on the rocks in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti at RaYinia on Augustb22 music, and he was delighted to meet the important protégée of the th-century musical dynamo. Alsop was taken with the baritone as well. “Paulo is one of my favorite artists,” she said in an email. “He is honest, authentic, hard-working, modest, open-minded, and collabora- tive. It is the combination of all these qualities, plus his beautiful voice, that makes him so special.” A er collaborating elsewhere a few more times, Alsop asked Szot if he would be willing to sing the role of the Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass , which takes audiences on a communal journey to a reimagined world of renewed peace and spirituality. He took a look at the score and was wowed by the enormity of the part. “I thought, ‘ is is going to be a great challenge, because it united so many elements that I love doing as an artist,’ ” he says. “And I said to her, ‘I will give it a try.’ ” ey added a performance of Mass in London in the spring of before their long-anticipated grand presenta- tion of it last summer at Ravinia, with Szot proving to be a natural in the role. Alsop praised the range, depth, and hu- manity of his performance. “He captures the spiritual and everyman qualities of the Celebrant and inspires everyone working with him to be the best they can be,” she said. Because Mass fuses rock, jazz, and Broadway idioms with serialism and a host of other sacred and secular classical traditions, Szot has been able to draw on di erent aspects of his background in performing it. He is looking forward to the chance to do it again at Ravinia and relax a bit more in the role, now that he has his rst outing at the festival under his belt. “It was de nitely [a teaser] for me,” he said. “We did it twice in London, but only the one day at Ravinia.” Szot and Alsop will quickly re- unite for another two Bernstein trib- ute programs, starting July with a performance of Symphony No. —the “Symphony of a ousand”—by Gustav Mahler, a composer whom Bernstein famously championed. It will also fea- ture the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Chicago Children’s Choir, Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, and seven other soloists. e following day, the baritone will join the CSO again in a concert titled “Leonard Bernstein: Man For All Music,” a program including excerpts from Candide , West Side Story , and other stagecra alongside selections from Bernstein’s symphonic fare. en, a er a short break, Szot returns August to Ravinia for two perfor- mances of Trouble in Tahiti , Bernstein’s one-act opera about a couple in a troubled marriage. “It’s the opposite of Mass ,” he says. “ at’s a huge [opus], and this is a very small and intimate piece.” He will join esteemed soprano Patricia Racette, with whom he ap- peared in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene at the Teatro Real last year, and the Chicago Philharmonic. “She is just amazing,” the baritone says. “I’m sure we’re going to have a great time on this piece too.” During his rst visit to Ravinia last year, Szot fell in love with virtually every aspect of the festival, especially the atmosphere and audience. At some open-air venues, people are distract- ed and don’t pay much attention to what is happening onstage, but he was impressed with how focused the entire Ravinia audience was. “It was beautiful to see,” he says.” It was beautiful to be part of it. I’m absolutely looking forward to coming back and spending more time this year.” Kyle MacMillan served as classical music critic for the Denver Post from 2 through 2 11. He currently freelances in Chicago writing for such publications and websites as the Chicago Sun-Times Wall Street Journal Opera News and Classical Voice of North America . JAVIER DEL REAL/TEATRO REAL 24 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 15 – JULY 28, 2019