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I feel very connected
with Bernstein’s
Lamentation
, asking
God to heal us. We
really need that
message right now.
era. [Heggie’s music has been
a regular feature at Ravinia for
the past two decades, includ-
ing commissions for Ravinia’s
Steans Music Institute in
and
, as well as for Kiri Te
Kanawa in
.]
Of particular interest to our
present time was Bridges’ per-
formance in Washington, DC,
with soprano Susanna Phillips
on June of
e Long View: A
Portrait of Ruth Bader Gins-
burg in Nine Songs
, composed
by soprano Patrice Michaels,
who is Ginsburg’s daugh-
ter-in-law. e songs honor
the Supreme Court Justice’s
th birthday as well as mark
the th anniversary of her
appointment to the bench by
President Bill Clinton in
.
Michaels herself recorded the
songs on the Chicago-based
Cedille label, founded in
by her husband, James Gins-
burg. ( ey recently hosted
a launch party for the disc at
the Poetry Foundation, titling
the event “Notorious RBG in
Song” and featuring selections
from the CD sung by Michael
and other guests.)
Bridges’s performance
in Bernstein’s “Jeremiah” at
Ravinia caps o the Chica-
go Symphony Orchestra’s
involvement in the festival’s
celebrations of the multi-hy-
phenate’s centennial this
year, but audiences can look
forward to several more events
through September, as well as
many more to be announced
for future seasons. Bridges
also sang the “Jeremiah” with
the Kalamazoo Symphony
Orchestra on an all-Bern-
stein program this April. “I
love singing in Hebrew,” she
explained, adding, “ is piece
is so beautifully written for the
voice.” e -minute work
is Bernstein’s rst sympho-
ny—its rst two movements
(
Prophecy
and
Profanation
)
are instrumental, and the third
(
Lamentation
) introduces the
mezzo-soprano. “I feel very
connected with the content of
the
Lamentation
,” Bridges re-
vealed. “[We are] asking God
to heal us. We really need that
message right now.”
Dorothy Andries is a freelance writer
specializing in the performing arts and
classical music.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 6 – AUGUST 19, 2018
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