Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

MARTIN THEATRE 1:30 PM SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2024 RAVINIA STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE FACULTY CHAMBER PLAYERS MIDORI, violin and artistic director MIHAELA MARTIN, violin KIM KASHKASHIAN, viola FRANS HELMERSON, cello CLIVE GREENSMITH, cello MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN, piano BEETHOVEN String Trio No. 4 in D major, op. 9, no. 2 Allegretto Andante quasi allegretto Menuetto: Allegro Rondo: Allegro Mihaela Martin; Kim Kashkashian; Frans Helmerson ANDRES Clamber Music * Midori; Mihaela Martin; Marc-André Hamelin –Intermission– SIMON where two or three are gathered * Calmly, freely [ attacca ] Calmly, freely Midori; Clive Greensmith SCHUMANN Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op. 47 Sostenuto assai—Allegro ma non troppo Scherzo: Molto vivace Andante cantabile Finale: Vivace Midori; Kim Kashkashian; Clive Greensmith; Marc-André Hamelin * First performance at Ravinia LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) String Trio No. 4 in D major, op. 9, no. 2 The music-loving Count Johann Georg von Browne-Camus moved to Vienna at an oppor- tune time in the 1790s, when a dynamic young man named Ludwig van Beethoven rose to prominence as a pianist and composer. Browne- Camus, a Russian army officer of Irish descent, spent his wealth (accumulated from land hold- ings in Livonia) recklessly, eventually squander- ing the total sum. Beethoven profited from this lavish spending, both in terms of monetary sup- port for his compositions and periodic gifts. Browne-Camus once gave a riding horse to the absent-minded musician, as Ferdinand Ries re- ported: “[Beethoven] rode the animal a few times, soon after forgot all about it and, worse than that, its food also. His servant, who soon noticed this, began to hire out the horse for his own benefit and, in order to attract the attention of Beethoven to the fact, for a long time with- held from him all bills for fodder. At length, however, to Beethoven’s great amazement, he handed in a very large one, which recalled to him at once his horse and his neglectfulness.” Artistically, Browne-Camus meant even more to Beethoven, who dedicated several compositions to the count and his wife. A florid expression of gratitude accompanied the three string trios published as op. 9 in July 1798 by Johann Traeg in Vienna: “It would give the author much sat- isfaction to present to the first Maecenas of his Muse the best of his works.” Few would disagree that this spendthrift “Maecenas,” or patron, re- ceived some of Beethoven’s most mature cre- ations to date. These employ an unusual instru- mental grouping—violin, viola, and cello—used only by a handful of musicians, most notably Mozart and Boccherini, prior to Beethoven’s five string trios. The enormous pitch range and the Ludwig van Beethoven by Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg (c.1800) RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 21, 2024 60