Sprightly

the end…of Ravinia 2008 Program A MOZART The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384 Hanan Alattar, Constanze Anna Christy, Blonchen Topi Lehtipuu, Belmonte Nicholas Phan, Pedrillo Morris Robinson, Osmin Michael York, Pasha Apollo Chorus of Chicago James Conlon, Conductor Kevin Murphy, Continuo/Coach Program B MOZART Don Giovanni, K. 527 Ellie Dehn, Donna Anna Soile Isokoski, Donna Elvira Heidi Grant Murphy, Zerlina Toby Spence, Don Ottavio Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Don Giovanni Samuel Ramey, Leporello James Creswell, Masetto Morris Robinson, Commendatore Apollo Chorus of Chicago James Conlon, conductor Kevin Murphy, Continuo/Coach Monday 11-1:30 rehearsal (orchestra A) 2:30-5 rehearsal (orchestra B) Tuesday 11-1:30 rehearsal (orchestra A) 2:30-5 rehearsal (orchestra B) Wednesday 11-2:30 (orchestra A) 3:30-7 (orchestra B) Thursday 7 program A Friday 7 program B Saturday 2 program A Sunday 2 program B This week the orchestra is split in two. Needless to say with my luck I ended relegated to o...

Program A WAGNER Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg SCHREKER Prelude to a drama, Die Gezeichneten INTERMISSION BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 James Conlon, conductor Miriam Fried, violin Program B DVORÁK Carnival Overture, Op. 92 GRIEG Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 INTERMISSION BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 James Conlon, conductor Orion Weiss piano Program C BRAHMS Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 INTERMISSION BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 James Conlon, conductor Gil Shaham, violin Monday 11-1:30 2:30-5 rehearsals Tuesday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (A) Wednesday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (B) Thursday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (C) Friday off Saturday off Sunday off OK, I’m way behind again… This week ended up a bit differently than originally planned. Itzhak Perlman was supposed to play the Beethoven concerto and then conduct the next night. I’m not sure what happened to him, but I ...

A BEETHOVEN Overture to Fidelio, Op. 72c BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 (Emperor) INTERMISSION BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (Eroica) Sir Andrew Davis conductor Leon Fleischer piano B WILLIAMS The Olympic Spirit WILLIAMS Theme from Jaws WILLIAMS Bicycle Chase from E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial WILLIAMS Main Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind WILLIAMS Theme from Jurassic Park WILLIAMS Harry's Wondrous World from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone WILLIAMS March from Superman WILLIAMS Theme from Schindler's List WILLIAMS March from Raiders of the Lost Ark INTERMISSION WILLIAMS Flag Parade from The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode I) WILLIAMS Anakin's Theme from The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode I) WILLIAMS Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode I) WILLIAMS Across the Stars from Attack of the Clones (Star Wars Episode II) WILLIAMS Battle of the Heroes from The Revenge of the Sith...

A MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 INTERMISSION MAHLER Symphony No. 7 James Conlon conductor Sarah Chang violin B MAHLER Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major, (Symphony of a Thousand) James Conlon conductor [Redacted] Symphony Chorus Chicago Children’s Choir Milwaukee Symphony Chorus C BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 INTERMISSION DVORÁK Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 James Conlon conductor Jorge Federico Osorio piano Monday off Tuesday 11-1:30 rehearsal Wednesday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (A) Thursday 11-1:30 2:30-5 rehearsals Friday off Saturday 2-4:30 rehearsal 7:30 concert (B) Sunday 12-3 rehearsal 5 concert (C) Last week ran the gamut. Haitink and Lang Lang – it’s hard to think of them as part of the same profession. Haitink’s Mahler 6, excellent as it was, served more to bring to mind the sort of performances we used to give here regularly. Kudos to Andrew Patner for making the same point with more eloquence. Apparently the Gala concert went beautifully,...

program A SMITH The Star-Spangled Banner ENESCU Romanian Rhapsody in A Major, Op. 11, No. 1 SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 INTERMISSION BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 Leonard Slatkin conductor Joshua Bell violin program B RACHMANINOV Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 INTERMISSION RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 Leonard Slatkin conductor Denis Matsuev piano Monday off Tuesday 11-1:30 2:30-5 rehearsals Wednesday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (A) Thursday 2:30-5 rehearsal 8 concert (B) Friday off Saturday off Sunday off This is where the pro forma statement about how nice it is to be back belongs. Welz Kaufman’s welcoming remarks to the orchestra were brief enough that anyone blinking (or stifling a yawn) surely missed them. He left the official pleasantries to the chairperson of the Ravinia board who greeted us graciously. The usual offering of cake prompted the usual grumbling about the quality of the cake. ...

as ye sow… HINDEMITH Overture to Neues vom Tage HINDEMITH Trauermusik FRIEDMAN Sacred Heart: Explosion INTERMISSION BERLIOZ Harold in Italy Leonard Slatkin, conductor Pinchas Zukerman, viola All-Access Chamber Series Eugene Izotov, oboe John Bruce Yeh, clarinet Albert Igolnikov, violin Paul Phillips Jr., violin Robert Swan, viola John Sharp, cello Michael Hovnanian, bass Mozart Oboe Quartet Prokofiev Quintet, Op. 39 Brahms Clarinet Quintet Dvorak Slavonic Dance in E Minor, Op. 72, No. 2 Monday off Tuesday 10-12:30 rehearsal 1:30-3:30 Prokofiev quintet rehearsal Wednesday 10-12:30 1:30-3:30 rehearsals Thursday 10-12:30 rehearsal 8 concert Friday 1:30 concert 3:30-6 Prokofiev quintet rehearsal Saturday 2 All-Access Chamber Series concert 8 concert Sunday 3 concert 7:30 Ars Viva Benefit (Week 38 was last week. I’m now on vacation.) After Sunday the orchestra is on vacation until the Ravinia summer season begins in July. Usually we have our main vacation after Ravinia, in August and Septem...

Oy Vey! DVORÁK Symphony No. 8 INTERMISSION OLIVER Federal Street (Great God, we sing that mighty hand) HATTON Duke Street (O God, beneath thy guiding hand) ROOT Shining Shore TRADITIONAL Good Night, Ladies BISHOP Home, Sweet Home IVES New England Holidays [redacted] Symphony Chorus Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Monday 2-4:30 Trout Quintet rehearsal Tuesday 10-12:30 rehearsal 12:30-2:30 Prokofiev Quintet rehearsal 7:30 concert (Rameau/Vivaldi) Wednesday 12-2:30 3:30-5:30 rehearsals Thursday 10-12:30 rehearsal 8 concert Friday 9:30-11:30 In-school concerts 1:30 concert 7:30 Trout Quintet concert Saturday 8 concert Sunday 7:30 Ars Viva Benefit rehearsal This week = last week. I’m behind again. We had one of the quirkier podium performances this week. In rehearsals the ratio of talk to useful information conveyed threatened to fall into the red zone. To make matters worse, although more entertaining, the Maestro’s score for the Ives didn’t seem to match the set of parts the players were...

Bicket’s charge VIVALDI Piccolo Concerto in C Major RAMEAU Suite from Les Boréades INTERMISSION VIVALDI The Four Seasons Harry Bicket, conductor Jennifer Gunn, piccolo Yuan-Qing Yu, violin Monday off Tuesday 10-12:30 rehearsal Wednesday 10-12 1-3:30 rehearsal Thursday 10-12:30 rehearsal 8 concert Friday 8 concert Saturday 8 concert Sunday 3 concert (Beyond the Score) The Vivaldi/Rameau program is repeated on Tuesday the 27th so, yes, we play the Four Seasons five times in a one-week span. It really feels more like seven since by the end of a Beyond the Score concert I feel as if I’ve run through the piece three times in a row. Any so-called baroque music specialist taking the podium at our concert hall is working behind enemy lines. The best ones drop in, stir up as little hostility as possible while accomplishing a limited mission and try to get the heck out unscathed. To that end, Bicket did an admirable job of coaxing an old dog to do a few new tricks. He came across as a fine music...

man of steel HAYDN Symphony No. 101 (The Clock) INTERMISSION SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4 Bernard Haitink, conductor Monday off Tuesday 10-12:30 rehearsal Wednesday 10-12:30 1:30-3:30 rehearsals Thursday 10-12:30 rehearsal 8 concert Friday 8 concert Saturday 8 concert Sunday 3 concert At the Tuesday rehearsal Haitink made a few gracious remarks about the Muti appointment that were brief, understated and to the point – typical Haitink. Kudos to him as well for keeping the brain numbing aspects of the Shostakovich 4 as in check as can be hoped for. Nevertheless, we have to play the piece six times over the next two weeks, which is damaging enough. Unlike the Mahler 1, which we played twice in less than a year, the Shostakovich 4 was last performed in January of ’06. I suppose that is long ago enough, but it still seems odd to repeat the same symphony so soon when there are more than a dozen others. The run of concerts in ’06 included what has to be the most talked about Beyond the Score p...

Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds -the Bhagavad-Gita RAVEL Menuet antique LIEBERSON Neruda Songs INTERMISSION MAHLER Symphony No. 1 Bach Week Program Concerto in D Minor for two violins, BWV 1043 Cantata: Non sa che sia dolore , BWV 209 Motet: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied , BWV 225 Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G, BWV 1048 Richard Webster, conductor Monday off Tuesday 10-12:30 rehearsal 7:30 concert (Wagner, Chin, Berlioz) Wednesday 12-2:30 3:30-6 rehearsals Thursday 10-12:30 rehearsal Friday 10-1 Bach Week rehearsal Saturday 1-3 Bach Week rehearsal Sunday 7:30 Bach Week concert The lack of concerts in my schedule is no mistake. Even though it was not my turn, I volunteered to be on call this week to avoid the Mahler 1st Symphony. Over the years I’ve come to loathe the piece and so take advantage of every opportunity to get out of playing it. Unfortunately for me it is one of those things that comes up at least once a year. If I’m not mistaken, the orchestra played it a...

why is this week different from all other weeks? BERIO Ritirata Notturna di Madrid SALONEN Piano Concerto INTERMISSION BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor Yefim Bronfman, piano Monday off Tuesday 10-12:30 1:3-4 rehearsals Wednesday 10-12:30 rehearsal 6:30 concert Thursday 8 concert Friday 1:30 concert Saturday off Sunday off All in all, an enjoyable week in the house of notes. Of course the answer to the question posed above, and no small part of the allure of the week has to be because we get Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings off. Salonen is not a very excitable conductor. If you ask me, that’s a big asset when it comes to the Beethoven 7th, which all to easily crosses the line into bacchanalia in the wrong hands. I’m a big fan of period instrument performances anyhow. That aside, I sometimes get the feeling as a modern orchestra, bulked up on Bruckner, Strauss, and Mahler, it is all too easy to go overboard on these late classical/early romantic symphon...