Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

FRIDAY, JULY 12 This year the classical music world is celebrating the centennial of Gersh- win’s Rhapsody in Blue, the composer’s most enduringly popular concert piece. Gershwin was at the piano for the first performance on February 12, 1924, with Paul Whiteman’s acclaimed jazz band in New York City’s Aeolian Hall. “The linchpin for this program is the 100th anniversary idea,” said Alsop. Johnson’s Charleston , which set off a craze for one of the 1920s’ most iconic social dances, had its debut only a few months earlier, October 29, 1923, in an all-Black musical comedy show on Broadway titled Runnin’ Wild . “It rep- resents a Black composer’s contribution [to American musical life] at that same time, which is very interesting to me,” said Alsop. Alsop has never worked with pianist Michelle Cann before, but she was featured on a recording by the New York Youth Symphony that won a 2023 Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance. Mike Repper, a former Alsop student and the Youth Symphony’s former director, conducted that album and recommended Cann to Alsop as a Rhapsody in Blue soloist. She will be making both her Ravinia and CSO debuts. Appalachian Spring , originally written for a 1944 Martha Graham ballet, is quintessential Americana, as is Barber’s in- trospective piece for soprano and orchestra, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 . Set to a text by James Agee, it is a reverie of a young child sitting in the backyard with his family on a hot summer night. The music has special resonance for Alsop. “For me, it’s so evocative of Ravinia,” she said. “It’s all about picnicking on the lawn.” Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, a South African soprano in her late 20s, is the soloist. Winner of the Song Prize at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2021, she was Alsop’s soloist in a per- formance of Knoxville last year with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the annual Cincinnati May Festival. In repertoire that includes Verdi and Puccini, critics have described her voice as “silky smooth and hauntingly beautiful.” As one critic put it, “She has show-stealing qualities.” Working with Rangwanasha in Cincinnati was “just fantas- tic,” said Alsop. “She’s a fabulous singer I wanted to bring to Ravinia.” Chicago audiences received an introduction to the soprano mere months ago in mid-April when Rangwanasha was a featured soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah alongside Steans Institute alum mezzo Ashley Dixon, conducted by former Ravinia Music Director James Conlon. Above: Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha alofts the trophy for the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition’s Song Prize. Left: Marin Alsop and Rangwanasha celebrate their performance together in Cincinnati in 2023. Michelle Cann makes her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts on July 12, opening night of the orchestra’s 88th annual residence at the festival. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 11 KRISTENMCTERNAN/BBC(RANGWANASHA);COURTESYOFCURTIS INSTITUTEOFMUSIC(CANN)