Ravinia 2021 - Issue 1

DARIO ACOSTA (OHLSSON) GARRICK OHLSSON, piano Born in White Plains, NY, pianist Garrick Ohlsson began his musical studies at the Westchester Conservatory of Music at age 8, five years later entering The Juilliard School. Under the tutelage of such keyboard lu- minaries as Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini, Tom Lishman, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Rosina Lhévinne, and Irma Wolpe, he became the first-prize winner of both the 1966 Busoni and the 1968 Montreal Piano Competitions. To this day Ohlsson retains the distinction of being the only American to earn the gold medal in Warsaw’s International Chopin Pi- ano Competition (in 1970), and he has since conducted many concert tours of Poland. His honors also include the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994, the University Musical Society Dis- tinguished Artist Award from the University of Michigan in 1998, and Northwestern Uni- versity’s 2014 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize, which included a multiweek residency at the school. Additionally, Ohlsson won a Grammy Award in 2008 for the third disc of his acclaimed cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas for Bridge Records. His discography also includes al- bums on the Arabesque, RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel, BMG, Delos, Hänssler, None- such, Telarc, and Virgin Classics labels, and he recently appeared on concert recordings by the Czech Philharmonic and Sydney and Melbourne Symphonies, playing concertos by Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms, respec- tively. In 2010 Ohlsson was featured in the documentary The Art of Chopin , co-produced by European and Chinese media, as well as a DVD including performances of the compos- er’s two concertos the following year. In addi- tion to solo appearances with orchestras and in recital, he also regularly collaborates with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier as the FOG Trio. Ohlsson has also performed chamber recitals with the Cleve- land, Emerson, Takács, and Tokyo String Quartets, and he has accompanied such vo- calists as sopranos Magda Olivero and Jessye Norman and contralto Ewa Podleś. Garrick Ohlsson was on the Ravinia Steans Music In- stitute faculty in 2015, having been a regular performer at the festival since 1981. Tonight marks his 23rd season at Ravinia. 7:30 PM FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2021 RSMI PIANO & STRINGS FACULTY MIRIAM FRIED, violin MARK STEINBERG, violin † ATAR ARAD, viola PAUL BISS, viola PETER STUMPF, cello ALON GOLDSTEIN, piano MOZART String Quintet No. 5 Larghetto—Allegro Adagio Menuetto: Allegretto Andante Mark Steinberg; Miriam Fried; Paul Biss; Atar Arad; Peter Stumpf FAURÉ Piano Quartet No. 1 Allegro molto moderato Scherzo: Allegro vivo Adagio Allegro molto Miriam Fried; Atar Arad; Peter Stumpf; Alon Goldstein GEORGE WALKER Molto adagio from String Quartet No. 1 * Mark Steinberg; Miriam Fried; Paul Biss; Peter Stumpf There will be no intermission in this program. † Ravinia debut * First performance at Ravinia LAWN BROADCAST FROM BENNETT GORDON HALL WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–91) String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 The enterprising German musician Johann Tost served as principal second violin in the Esterházy court orchestra between 1783 and 1788, rehearsing and performing daily un- der the court Kapellmeister, Joseph Haydn. Tost evidently supplemented his court salary with income from a thriving bootleg man- uscript copying service operated out of his court apartment. At this time, he also appears to have functioned as music director of the Seipp Troupe based in Pressburg. After leaving the Esterházy court, Tost settled briefly in Paris, where he helped disseminate Haydn’s music through numerous manu- scripts in his possession. He later returned to Austria, married Maria Anna von Gerlischek (a pianist to whom Haydn dedicated sever- al sonatas), worked as a cloth merchant in Znaim, and cultivated business relationships with musicians in and around Vienna. Haydn dedicated two sets of string quartets—the six comprising opp. 54 and 55 and the six of op. 64—to Tost. Some writers have suggested that Tost com- missioned Mozart’s String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593, a conclusion supported in part by an annotation on Artaria’s published score of 1793: “Composto per un Amatore Onga- rese” (composed for a Hungarian amateur). After her husband’s death, Constanze Mozart reported to the emperor that Wolfgang had been guaranteed “an annual subscription of 1,000 florins from a member of the Hungari- an nobility.” Some evidence suggests that the composer had begun receiving payments be- fore his death. Haydn appeared in Vienna to perform viola in this string quintet. Mozart, who played the other viola part, devised an unprecedented solution to the first movement. The slow ( Lar- ghetto ) introduction alternates a surging cello motif with lyrical upper-string phrases. Faster ( Allegro ) music in sonata form follows. A coda replicates this Larghetto—Allegro contrast. The Adagio achieves expansive dimensions by developing numerous short lyrical motives. Mozart enlivens the Menuetto with close imi- tative exchanges among the strings, a delight- ful “academic” exercise in an otherwise light, popular dance form. The brisk, lilting Finale conveys an almost Haydnesque folk wit. GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845–1924) Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, op. 15 Fauré’s private life reached a state of utter disarray in 1877. This passionate 32-year-old musician had sustained a rather uneven re- lationship with the quiet Marianne Viardot, the 23-year-old daughter of legendary French opera singer Pauline Viardot. With assistance from mutual friends, the persistent Fauré fi- nally pressured Marianne into an engagement in July. A wedding date was set for November. The elated composer became a different man, as Romain Bussine observed, “[an] extrovert, gossiping, running, and jumping around.” Marianne responded quite differently to the engagement. Uncertain of her own feelings and overwhelmed by her fiancé’s ardor, she left Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Barbara Krafft (1819) RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 23, 2021 36