Ravinia 2021 - Issue 1

DARIO ACOSTA Turning the Keys Pianist Garrick Ohlsson pushes the pedal on Ravinia’s summer with an old friend and a new sound BY DAVID LEWELLEN GARRICK OHLSSON ’s audience on July 12 will be the last of his four nights at Ravinia this summer, as well as his 40th overall between the festival’s stages, but in one way they will also be his first, anywhere. That Ravinia audience will be the first to hear him conclude a series begun over a year ago—thanks to the pandemic. Ohlsson’s four-part survey of Brahms’s almost-complete output for solo piano was originally meant to be presented over the course of two seasons in several major cities. He got through the first three programs in multiple locations before COVID-19 shut down all performing arts events in March of 2020. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 23, 2021 6