Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

BENJAMIN EALOVEGA (BELL); DARIO ACOSTA (MARTÍNEZ) I ; I Í JOSHUA BELL, violin Growing up in Bloomington, IN, Joshua Bell started playing violin at age 4 and began studying under Josef Gingold at Indiana Uni- versity at age 12. He debuted with the Phil- adelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti at age 14, then made his Carnegie Hall debut three years later with the Saint Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first record label and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. His recent honors include be- ing named Musical America ’s Instrumental- ist of the Year in 2010 and a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in 2007, the same year we received the Avery Fisher Prize. Serving on President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, in 2016 he joined the inaugural cultural mission to Cuba and the ensuing Emmy-nominated PBS special featuring Cuban and American musicians. Bell has appeared on over 40 re- cordings and is currently an exclusive artist with Sony Classical, most recently releas- ing At Home With Music , a companion to the 2020 PBS special featuring guest artists soprano Larisa Matínez (his wife) and pia- nists Jeremy Denk, Peter Dugan, and Kamal Khan. As music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields since 2011, he regular- ly records with the ensemble, most recently adding an all-Bruch disc among albums that have featured Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Bell’s discography also includes the 2001 Grammy-winning performance of Nicho- las Maw’s Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic; Romance of the Violin , which was named Billboard ’s 2004 Classical Album of the Year; and Musical Gifts from Joshua Bell and Friends , featuring collaborations with Chris Botti, Kristin Chenoweth, Chick Corea, Gloria Estefan, Renée Fleming, Pláci- do Domingo, Alison Krauss, and others on classic holiday tunes. He has also appeared several film soundtracks, including Angels & Demons , where he collaborated with compos- er Hans Zimmer, and The Red Violin , which won the 1999 Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as Defiance and Ladies in Lavender . Joshua Bell first performed at Ravinia in 1989 and tonight makes his 15th season appearance at the festival. LARISA MARTÍNEZ, soprano Born and raised in Puerto Rico, soprano Lar- isa Martínez has earned critical acclaim for her warm coloratura voice following studies at the Mannes New School of Music in New York, where she earned a master’s degree, and the Conservatory of Music in San Juan, where she simultaneously earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences with high honors from the University of Puerto Rico. In 2016, Martínez won the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Audition in Puerto Rico, as well as the Angel Ramos Foundation Award and the Audience Prize. Soon after, she was invited to be a guest artist at the Metropol- itan Opera Guild Gala honoring Anna Ne- trebko. For the last three years, Martínez has toured with tenor Andrea Bocelli throughout North America, South America, and Europe, including debuts at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl. She made her op- eratic debut in 2010 singing the title role of the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda at the Centro de Belles Artes de Puerto Rico, and Martínez’s stage credits have since included Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims , Musetta in Puc- cini’s La bohème , the Fire and the Nightingale in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges , Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi , Barbarina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro , Violetta in Ver- di’s La traviata , Sophie in Massenet’s Werther (alongside tenor Piotr Beczała at Culturarte), and Maria in West Side Story (with tenor Mi- chael Fabiano at Festival Napa Valley). She created the role of Isaura in the 2016 world premiere of Mercadante’s Francesca da Rimini in Italy, conducted by Fabio Luisi, and later that year she participated in the first US ar- tistic delegation to Cuba and the ensuing PBS special. Martínez made her Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall debuts in 2019, respective- ly with a recital program and Mahler’s Second Symphony; other concert appearances have included Villa-Lobos’s Floresta do Amazonas , Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, and Mozart’s Re- quiem. Larisa Martínez is making her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. 8:00 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MICHAEL STERN, conductor JOSHUA BELL, violin STRAVINSKY Concerto in E-flat (“Dumbarton Oaks”) Tempo giusto [ attacca ] Allegretto [ attacca ] Con moto KODÁLY Dances of Galánta Lento Allegretto moderato Allegro con moto, grazioso Allegro Allegro vivace BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto Allegro ma non troppo Larghetto [ attacca ] Rondo: Allegro Joshua Bell There will be no intermission in this program. Tonight’s concert is performed in memory of Arlene and Marshall Bennett . Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Program Sponsor Suzanne and Robert Wieseneck Family . PAVILION IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) Concerto in E-flat (“Dumbarton Oaks”) Scored for flute, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, three violins, three violas, two cellos, and two basses When Stravinsky’s friend André Schaeffner inquired about his current projects in 1937, he replied, “A little concerto in the style of the Brandenburg Concertos .” Earlier that year, Stravinsky had received a commission from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss for a chamber-orchestra piece in honor of their 30th wedding anniversary in 1938. (Mrs. Bliss also commissioned the Symphony in C for the 50th anniversary season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1940–41.) Stravinsky visited the Bliss home at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, on several occasions. Allegedly, their well-kempt scenic gardens provided formal models for the concerto, and the home’s location has lent an informal nick- name to this work, the “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto. Due to illness, Stravinsky could not conduct the first private performance at Dumbarton Oaks on May 8, 1938. That task he delegated to the grande dame of modern French music, Nadia Boulanger. The compos- er took the podium for the public premiere in Paris on June 4, 1938. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 65