Ravinia 2019, Issue 5, Week 10

DENIS MATSUEV, piano Born to a family of pianists in 1975, Denis Mat- suev began studying music in his hometown of Irkutsk, Russia, at the age of 15. In 1993 he en- tered the Moscow Conservatory as a student of Aleksey Nasedkin and Sergei Dorensky, and that same year he won his first international piano competition. Within five years, he so- lidified his performing career by winning the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition. Matsuev has since received numerous honors from the Russian government, most recently the Government of Russia Prize (2017) for his work as artistic director of the Stars on Baikal festival in his hometown. He also sits on the Russian Presidential Council for Culture and Arts, is head of the Public Council of the Rus- sian Ministry of Culture, and has been a UNES- CO Goodwill Ambassador since 2014, the same year he performed at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Last year Matseuv organized and performed on the con- cert that opened the FIFA World Cup, for which he was an official ambassador. He is regularly a guest of such ensembles as the Berlin, Vienna, New York, Munich, and Israel Philharmonics; Chicago, London, Pittsburgh, and Montreal Symphony Orchestras; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; and Bavarian Radio Symphony Or- chestra, and last season he was in residence with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Matsuev is also often featured at music festivals around the world, including the Verbier and Lucerne Festivals in Switzerland, the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival in the UK, Maggio Musicale Fiorenti- no in Italy, Schleswig-Holstein and Rheingau in Germany, the Chopin Festival in Poland, Enes- cu Festival in Romania, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, and the Hollywood Bowl and Ravinia in the United States. After recording an album of previously unknown works by Rachmaninoff on the composer’s own piano, Matsuev was named artistic director of the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation. Most recently, he recorded concer- tos by Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on its own label. Denis Matsuev made his Ravinia debut in 2008 and tonight makes his fourth season ap- pearance at the festival. 7:30 PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 MARTIN THEATRE ANGEL BLUE, soprano † CATHERINE MILLER, piano † MOZART Alleluia from Exsultate, jubilate STRAUSS Four songs Heimliche Aufforderung Die Nacht Allerseelen Befreit RACHMANINOFF Four songs Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne Zdes’ khorosho V molchan’i nochi taynoy Vesenniye vody –Intermission– LUNA “De España vengo” from El niño judio CHAPÍ “Carceleras” from Las hijas del Zebedeo BRUCE ADOLPHE Valley Girl in Love from A Thousand Years of Love * JAKE HEGGIE Three songs A Route to the Sky [from Paper Wings ] Animal Passion [from Natural Selection ] * Joy Alone (Connection) [from Natural Selection ] * SPIRITUALS “Deep River” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” “Ride on King Jesus” † Ravinia debut * First performance at Ravinia AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 11, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 97