Ravinia 2024 Issue 6

“By writing this work, I wished to create a con- tinuum that would allow these short movements to be united as one single composition. Looking at something familiar yet from an unexpected perspective is one of the peculiar characteristics of these pieces—they are often not what they ap- pear to be at first glance. “When I think of these cello and piano pre- ludes, I compare them to Lake Inyshka in the Ural Mountains, where my family would vaca- tion during the summers of my childhood. The lake looked peaceful, but I knew it was danger- ous as it had a double bottom. According to legend, Emelian Pugachev buried his treasures in this lake, but everything was lost, as the trea- sures sank into the deep hidden level below the visible ground. “A musical gesture that may seem simple be- comes multi-layered, not quite real or even gro- tesque because of its surrounding. I employ dif- ferent musical styles, but this polystylism is not a goal in itself, but rather an attempt to explore our own kaleidoscopic time full of contradic- tions, with its madness, loneliness, brutality, and aching nostalgia for lost innocence. “At the end of the last prelude, themes from each of the 24 preludes are presented as a continu- ous stream of consciousness, as if combined in a quick glance, and tonality is once again lost in this mad run, surrounded by the apocalyptic chords of the piano.” GREGOR PIATIGORSKY (1903–1976) Variations on a Paganini Theme Ukrainian American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky displayed enormous musical ability as a youth, beginning cello studies at age 7 and, soon after, playing for silent movies and in cafés for mon- ey to support his family. Nine-year-old “Grisha” entered the Moscow Conservatory two years later and became principal cellist of the Bolshoy Opera Orchestra and cellist of the Beethoven Quartet at age 15. Political oppression in the Soviet Union prompted his escape to Poland, where he briefly served as principal cellist of the Warsaw Symphony. Piatigorsky resumed formal studies in Leipzig with Julius Klengel. His per- formances in Berlin soon attracted the attention of Wilhelm Furtwängler, who named him prin- cipal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1928, Piatigorsky launched a solo and chamber music career, often in collaboration with pianist Artur Schnabel. A concerto appearance with the New York Philharmonic on December 29, 1929, marked his official debut in the United States (he had performed the month before in Oberlin, OH). Piatigorsky also appeared regularly as part of piano trios with violinist Jascha Heifetz and pianist Artur Rubinstein—including a week of performances in 1949 at Ravinia, where they were affectionately dubbed the “Million Dollar Trio”—and, subsequently, violinist Nathan Mil- stein and pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Later in his career, Piatigorsky taught on the faculties of the University of California–Los Angeles and Uni- versity of Southern California. He died at home in California at the age of 73. Piatigorsky completed his formidable set of variations on Niccolò Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor—the inspiration of variations and derivative works by countless composers, from Johannes Brahms, Serge Rachmaninoff, Karol Szymanowski, and Eugène Ysaÿe to David Bak- er, Benny Goodman, and Fazıl Say—in 1986. Canadian cellist Denis Brott, a former student of Piatigorsky, has identified each movement as characterizations of one of his mentor’s musical colleagues and friends: Pablo Casals (#1), Paul Hindemith (#2), Raya Garbousova (#3), Erika Morini (#4), Felix Salmond (#5), Joseph Szigeti (#6), Yehudi Menuhin (#7), NathanMilstein (#8), Fritz Kreisler (#9), Gaspar Cassadó (#11), Mischa Elman (#12), Ennio Bolognini (#13), Jascha Heif- etz (#14), and Vladimir Horowitz (#15). –Program notes © 2024 Todd E. Sullivan The trio of pianist Artur Rubinstein, violinist Jascha Heifetz, and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky at Ravinia Festival’s main entrance in 1949 Gregor Piatigorsky AZNAVOORIAN DUO The Aznavoorian sisters, Ani and Marta, gave their first public performance at the ages of 4 and 8 at their Armenian church in Evanston, IL. They won first prize in the Illinois Bell Young Performers Competition, which led them to give a live performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on PBS. Since then, they have toured France, Armenia, and Finland, performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and presented countless programs in their hometown of Chica- go, including a major fundraiser to support re- lief in Armenian after the 1988 earthquake. They held a residency at the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and highlights of their 2024/25 season include a tour of the West Coast, from La Jolla, CA, to Washington State, and further concerts across the US, including Colorado and Oklaho- ma. The Aznavoorian Sisters are laureates of the National Foundation for the Arts Award, leading to their appointment as Presidential Scholars in the Arts and performances at The Kennedy Cen- ter inWashington, DC, and at The White House. They have worked with leading contemporary composers such as Lera Auerbach, Ezra Lader- man, William Bolcom, Osvaldo Golijov, Shu- lamit Ran, Peter Boyer, Augusta Read Thomas, Stacy Garrop, Bright Sheng, Pierre Jalbert, Lau- ra Schwendinger, Mischa Zupko, Daron Hagen, Patrick Zimmerli, Vache Sharafyan, Debra Kaye, and Colin Mathews, among others. In 2022, the Aznavoorian Sisters released their debut album, Gems from Armenia , on Chicago’s Cedille label. The critically lauded collection features Arme- nian music and premiere recordings of works written for the duo by Peter Boyer ( Mount Ar- arat ) and Vache Sharafyan ( Petrified Dance ). Marta and Ani work with many programs, in- cluding including their Keynote Foundation, to help create musical training pathways for students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds. The Aznavoorian Sisters were honored a featured artists at the Chamber Mu- sic America 2023 Conference. Ani Aznavoorian was a fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Insti- tute in 1998 and 1999, and Marta Aznavoorian has appeared at Ravinia frequently since 2009, both as a member of the Lincoln Trio and as a collaborative pianist in chamber music. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 77