Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

CHRISTAN STEINER (DICHTER) In” from The Goldwyn Follies (1938) and “The Man I Love” from Strike Up the Band (1927). Grainger recorded both arrangements for Decca Record Company in 1944 and 1945; unfortunately, these were never released. The Tin Pan Alley publisher Harms, Inc., invited Grainger to make a solo-piano arrangement of the Concerto in F in 1943. (Harms had es- tablished the subsidiary New World Music Corporation in 1927 to publish the works of George and Ira Gershwin). The fee came in well below Grainger’s rate, and he declined the offer. Most impressive of all Grainger’s projects was the Fantasy on George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for two pianos, published by Gershwin & Co. in 1951. The Department of State was pre- paring a 1952–53 European tour of the Gersh- wins’ folk opera Porgy and Bess , starring Le- ontyne Price, William Warfield, and Cab Calloway. After a two-week tryout in Dallas at the Texas State Fair Auditorium and three weeks at the Chicago Civic Opera House, the “Everyman Company” left for performances in London, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, and Mi- lan, where Porgy and Bess became the first American opera ever performed at La Scala. An enormous success, the tour continued in several separate phases until 1956. The publication of Grainger’s Fantasy could not have been timed more perfectly. Concert audiences could now enjoy the same popular Porgy and Bess tunes that entertained musical theater audiences the world over: “My Man’s Gone Now,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Clara, Don’t You Be Down-Hearted,” “Strawber- ry Woman,” “Summertime,” “Oh, I Can’t Sit Down,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” “Oh, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’,” and “Oh Lawd, I’m On My Way.” –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan Percy Grainger MISHA DICHTER, piano For Misha Dichter’s biography, see page 34. CIPA DICHTER, piano Cipa Dichter was born in Brazil to Pol- ish-Russian parents and began piano lessons at age 6. She made her professional debut at age 16 with the Brazilian Symphony Orches- tra and soon moved to the United States to study at The Juilliard School. There she met Misha Dichter while studying with Rosi- na Lhévinne in the 1960s, and they began to frequently collaborate on Mozart’s piano works. They made their first joint appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1972, four years after they were married, playing Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365. The Dich- ters’ first joint recording—a three-disc album of the complete four-hands piano works by Mozart, as well as four-hand arrangements by Busoni and Grieg—was rereleased in 2009 by Musical Heritage Society after being named Recording of the Year in 2005 by Mu- sic Web International . They appear regularly at many summer festivals, including Aspen, Mostly Mozart, the Hollywood Bowl, Cara- moor, and Ravinia, where in 2009 they gave the world premiere of Mendelssohn’s four- hand piano setting of a collection of his so- lo-piano Songs Without Words . The Dichters have also performed in the music capitals of France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland as well as the major cities of the United States and Canada with such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. They have brought to the concert stage many previously neglected works in the two-piano and four-hands piano repertoires, including the world premieres of Robert Starer’s Concerto for Two Pianos and the first movement of Shostakovich’s two-pi- ano reduction of his Symphony No. 13 (“Babi Yar”). Misha and Cipa Dichter first appeared together at Ravinia in 1974, and tonight marks their 24th season at the festival as a duo. 8:00 PM TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA STEVEN REINEKE, conductor BETSY WOLFE, vocalist MATT DOYLE, vocalist † Broadway Today A. L. WEBBER Selections from Phantom of the Opera (arr. C. Custer) A. MENKEN “Santa Fe” from Newsies * (orch. S. Reineke) Matt Doyle J. R. BROWN “A Summer in Ohio” from The Last Five Years * (orch. F. Barton) Betsy Wolfe G. HANSARD/M. IRGLOVÁ “Falling Slowly” from Once (orch. J. Everly) Betsy Wolfe; Matt Doyle J. KANDER Chicago Suite (arr. M. Gibson) S. SCHWARTZ “Meadowlark” from The Baker’s Wife (arr. M. Buys/K. Purcell) Betsy Wolfe T. PARKER/R. LOPEZ/M. STONE “You &Me (But Mostly Me)” from The Book of Mormon * (arr. S. Shoup) Matt Doyle J. R. BROWN “Before & After You” / “One Second & a Million Miles” from The Bridges of Madison County * Betsy Wolfe; Matt Doyle LEBO M/M. MANCINA/J. RIFKIN “He Lives in You” from The Lion King * (arr. S. Reineke) B. PASEK/J. PAUL “Waving Through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen * (orch. S. Shoup) Matt Doyle S. BAREILLES “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress * (orch. S. Reineke) Betsy Wolfe A. L. WEBBER “Jellicle Ball” from Cats * (arr. D. Cullen) S. SCHWARTZ “Popular” from Wicked * (arr. W. D. Brohn) Betsy Wolfe S. SONDHEIM “Being Alive” from Company (arr. J. Tunick) Matt Doyle A. MENKEN “Suddenly, Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors * (arr. S. Shoup) Betsy Wolfe; Matt Doyle There will be no intermission in this program. † Ravinia debut * First performance at Ravinia Tonight’s concert is performed in honor of Sandra K. Crown . PAVILION RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 24 – AUGUST 15, 2021 36 I I I