Ravinia 2023 Issue 5

SARAH BLESENER (DICHTER) SARAH BLESENER (DICHTER) to resume his position as president of the Royal Academy of Music. That was the last time Liszt saw Richard Wagner, who died a month later on February 13. After Wagner’s funeral cortège wound through Venice, Co- sima placed her husband’s coffin on a train bound for Bayreuth, where his body was laid to rest in a grave behind their private resi- dence, Wahnfried. Liszt composed a third so- lo-piano tribute ( R.W.—Venezia ) shortly after Wagner’s death and a final homage ( Am Gra- be Richard Wagners ) for a memorial concert on Wagner’s birthday, May 22, 1883. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 in A minor, LW A132, no. 15 (“Rákóczy March”) Béla Bartók characterized Franz Liszt’s Hun- garian style with uncanny insight: “It must be emphasized from the very start that that which the hands of Franz Liszt touched was first crushed to a pulp, then molded togeth- er and so completely reconstructed that his individuality was indelibly stamped on it, as though it had been his original idea from the beginning. What he ultimately created through this seeming mixture of foreign el- ements became the music of Franz Liszt and none other.” Liszt was a fervent Hungarian nationalist, despite residing in France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland for much of his life. Both folk and travelers’ music had a formative influence on his musical and personal psy- che. His piano programs, both at home and abroad, frequently contained arrangements of rousing Hungarian themes. Liszt dazzled audiences on his 1823 recital tour with blazing renditions of one such anthem, the “Rákóczy March” composed in 1809 by John Bihari to honor Ferencz Rákóczy, leader of a rebellion against the Hapsburgs in 1703–11. The “Rákóczy March” never left Liszt’s rep- ertoire, returning over the years in different guises. This patriotic melody first appeared for solo piano, and was subsequently ar- ranged for orchestra and four-hands piano. “Hungarian” and “rhapsodic” qualities largely remain separate in this Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15. Liszt adopts the “fantastically epic el- ement” of free-spirited music in the volcanic opening rhapsody. The magnificent, trium- phal “Rákóczy March,” which Liszt described as “a kind of aristocratic Hungarian Marseil- laise,” follows in a series of variations. –Program notes © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan MISHA DICHTER Misha Dichter was born in Shanghai in 1945—his Polish parents having fled Europe at the outbreak of World War II—and grew up in Los Angeles, where he began piano lessons at age 6. In addition to concentrat- ed studies in the German Classical style with Aube Tzerko, a pupil of Artur Schna- bel, Dichter also delved into the Russian Ro- mantic tradition under the tutelage of Ros- ina Lhevinne at Juilliard. At age 20 he won Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition with repertoire reflecting these dual influenc- es—Schubert and Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky—catapulting him into an in- ternational performing career. Within two years Dichter had performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with both Erich Lein- sdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood (broadcast live on NBC) and Leonard Bernstein and the New York Phil- harmonic, and appearances with such top European ensembles as the Berlin Philhar- monic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the principal London orchestras, as well as many more leading American orchestras, soon followed. In addition to collaborations with his wife, Cipa, on piano duo recitals, Misha frequently performs chamber music alongside the likes of the Argus, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Harlem, and Saint Pe- tersburg String Quartets, as well as violinists Itzhak Perlman and Nadja Salerno-Sonnen- berg and cellists Lynn Harrell and Yo-Yo Ma. Dichter’s discography reflects his broad musical interests, from the complete piano concertos of Brahms and Liszt to Brahms’s solo works, Beethoven’s piano sonatas, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies, plus major scores by Chopin, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Schumann, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. He won the Grand Prix International du Disque Liszt in 1998 for his album of the composer’s piano transcriptions, and his first record- ing with Cipa, a three-disc set of Mozart’s complete works for four-hands piano, was named a 2005 Record of the Year by Mu- sic Web International . Off the performance stage, Dichter regularly holds master classes at such institutions as Juilliard, Curtis, East- man, Yale, Harvard, and the Aspen Festival. Tonight marks Misha Dichter’s 49th season and 77th performance at Ravinia, where he first appeared in 1968. PAVILION 6:00 PM SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 2023 CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC THIAGO TIBERIO, conductor Directed by JARED BUSH•BYRON HOWARD Co-Directed by CHARISE CASTRO SMITH Produced by YVETT MERINO, p.g.a.•CLARK SPENCER, p.g.a. Executive Producer JENNIFER LEE Screenplay by CHARISE CASTRO SMITH•JARED BUSH Original Story by JARED BUSH•BYRON HOWARD•CHARISE CASTRO SMITH JASON HAND•NANCY KRUSE• LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA Original Score by GERMAINE FRANCO Original Songs by LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA Voice Cast Mirabel Madrigal STEPHANIE BEATRIZ Abuela Alma Madrigal MARÍA CECILIA BOTERO Bruno Madrigal JOHN LEGUIZAMO Félix Madrigal MAURO CASTILLO Luisa Madrigal JESSICA DARROW Julieta Madrigal ANGIE CEPEDA Pepa Madrigal CAROLINA GAITÁN Isabela Madrigal DIANE GUERRERO Agustín Madrigal WILMER VALDERRAMA Camilo Madrigal RHENZY FELIZ Antonio Madrigal RAVI CABOT-CONYERS Dolores Madrigal ADASSA Mariano Guzmán MALUMA Señora Guzmán ROSE PORTILLO Young Mirabel Madrigal NOEMI JOSEFINA FLORES Osvaldo JUAN CASTANO Señora Ozma SARAH-NICOLE ROBLES Old Arturo HECTOR ELIAS Toucan ALAN TUDYK Singing Voice of Abuela Alma Madrigal OLGA MEREDIZ Tiple Maestro JORGE E. RUIZ CANO Town Kids ALYSSA BELLA CANDIANI•PAISLEY DAY HERRERA BROOKLYN SKYLAR RODRIGUEZ•EZRA RUDULPH Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts © All rights reserved. Tonight’s program features the complete film Encanto with a live performance of its entire score, running approximately 1 hour and 42 minutes plus a 20-minute intermission. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the end credits. Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of the Encanto Consortium , which comprises Sarah & Larry Barden, Mr. & Mrs. David R. Kahnweiler, James & Margo Oliff, The Rosenberg-Frazer Families, Mr. & Mrs. Peter Schwab, and Paul & Mary Yovovich. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 43