Ravinia 2023 Issue 3

MARCO BORGGREVE (ARIEL); KATE LEMMON (NINOMIYA) in One [Country]) and based on Basque themes. Ravel retained many folk-like char- acteristics, such as irregular rhythms and modal melodies. Languid peasant dance themes surround frenzied sections filled with pyrotechnic outbursts. Intervallic traits found in the opening theme return periodically in later movements, creating a unifying effect. Ravel’s scherzo-like Pantoum is derived in name from a poetic form employed by some late-19th-century French writers, such as Pierre Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine. Originating in the Malay pantun , this form requires the second and fourth rhyming lines of each quatrain to become the first and third lines of the next stanza. Ravel ingeniously, if imprecisely, adapted this poetic format to his musical ideas. Contrasting trio material alter- nates with the scherzo theme. A Baroque compositional device—a repeat- ed eight-measure passacaglia melody—lends structure to the third movement. The theme begins unaccompanied in the piano’s bass register. During the subsequent 10 varia- tions, the fundamental melodic line wanders throughout the ensemble. An Oriental-styled passage connects to the finale, a brilliant piece that stretches the sonorous limits of chamber music toward a more symphonic conception. FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887 Schubert wrote a melancholy letter to his friend Leopold Kupelwieser, who had depart- ed Vienna for a stay in Rome, on March 31, 1824. Despite the success of his songs, the composer was in a virtual state of despair. The “reading parties” organized among his friends for plays and poetry had come to an abrupt end, as several members of the close circle left Vienna. Ill health constantly afflicted Schubert himself. Furthermore, two more of his operas failed to gain favor with the public. Yet, Schubert continued to compose. To Ku- pelwieser, he outlined his recent activities: “I have done very little songwriting, but tried my hand at several instrumental things, for I have composed two quartets for violins, viola, and cello, and an octet, and want to write another string quartet. On the whole I want to prepare myself like this for a grand symphony.” The aforementioned quartets were those in A minor, D. 804, and D minor, D. 810, both composed in 1824. Two years passed before Schubert completed the third quartet—the G major, D. 887—intended as a preparatory exercise before the composition of his “grand symphony,” the one today commonly referred to as the “Great C major.” Schubert dated the G-major quartet between June 20 and June 30, 1828, although some scholars have suggested a starting date two years earlier. This work was first published some 23 years after his death, when A. Diabelli & Co. issued it as op. 161. The premiere of its first movement took place at a concert of Schubert’s compositions on March 26, 1828—the first and only public event the composer ever organized. A concert announcement in the Theaterzeitung lists the “First movement from a new string quartet, performed by Herren Professor Böhm, Holz, Weiss, and Linke.” Not until December 8, 1850, was the complete work given a perfor- mance, by the Joseph Hellmesberger Quartet at Vienna’s Musikverein. Schubert commences his final quartet with a sonata-form Allegro molto moderato . Dense G-major chords change to G minor to estab- lish a modal conflict that continues through- out the work. The initial theme’s charac- teristic dotted rhythms first appear in the violin, accompanied by tremolos in the lower strings. A second appearance of this theme begins with an octave leap, an important el- ement later in the movement. After a brief pause, a syncopated secondary melody en- ters. Development primarily emphasizes the first theme’s dotted rhythms and octave leap. Schubert’s thick opening sonorities signal the beginning of the recapitulation, although modalities are reversed (minor, then major). Both main themes reappear and eventual- ly gravitate toward G major. A brief coda alludes to the major/minor conflict, with G major prevailing at the end. The Andante un poco moto is a five-part ron- do. Its expressive minor-key refrain begins in the cello then moves to the violin. Only one contrasting theme appears, a melody that be- gins quietly before assuming a dramatic vi- tality. The ensuing Scherzo alternates a lively B-minor tune with a lighter, bucolic trio. The quartet culminates in a sonata-rondo move- ment, whose continuous 6/8 meter recalls the saltarello, a popular Italian folk dance. Schubert displays great textural imagination in his varied instrumental combinations and enormous creativity in the expansion and de- velopment of his two primary themes. –Program notes © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan Franz Schubert by Josef Kriehuber (1846) ARIEL QUARTET Formed when its original members were just teenagers studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance in Isra- el, the Ariel Quartet is presently celebrating its 25th anniversary, having garnered critical praise worldwide for their musical insights and impassioned performances. Ten years ago the ensemble received Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, having been the resident quartet at Cincinnati’s Col- lege-Conservatory of Music since 2012—fol- lowing the footsteps of the LaSalle and Tokyo Quartets—and receiving tenure at the institu- tion in 2021. The Ariel Quartet was mentored extensively by Walter Levin (LaSalle Quar- tet) and Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet) while completing graduate and undergrad studies at the New England Conservatory, over the course of which the ensemble was awarded first prize at the Franz Schubert and Mod- ern Music Competition in Austria, the grand prize of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and third prize at the Banff International String Quartet Compe- tition, among other honors. Recent concert highlights have included the Ariel Quartet’s sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, a series of performances at Lincoln Center with pianist Inon Barnatan and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and the US premiere of the Quin- tet for Piano and Strings by Daniil Trifonov with the composer as pianist for the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati. The quartet made its recording debut in 2018 on Avie with works by Bartók and Brahms, and it has devoted significant artistic energy to the complete works of Beethoven, perform- ing the cycle on six occasions throughout the US and Europe and writing comprehensive program notes on the 16 quartets. The Ariel Quartet regularly collaborates with a range of eminent musicians and ensembles, includ- ing pianists Orion Weiss, Jeremy Denk, and Menahem Pressler, as well as the American, Pacifica, and Jerusalem String Quartets, and has toured with cellist Alisa Weilerstein. They have also been in residence at such festivals as Caramoor, the Perlman Music Program, and Yellow Barn. The Ariel Quartet held a fellowship at Ravinia Steans Music Institute in 2006 and 2007 and violist Jan Grüning was an RSMI fellow in 2011, the same year he joined the quartet. This performance is their first return to Ravinia. AYANO NINOMIYA Equally at home as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, violinist Ayano Ninomi- ya has performed throughout the United States as well as across Canada, Puerto Rico, Europe, China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. From 2010 to 2015, she was first violinist of the acclaimed Ying Quartet as well as an Associate Profes- sor at the Eastman School of Music, and she has since been part of the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music. Hav- ing won numerous awards, including from the Naumburg and Tibor Varga Internation- al Competitions and Astral Artists National Auditions, Ninomiya made her Carnegie Hall in 2016 performing Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto and has also been featured in Weill Hall, Zankel Hall, and Merkin Hall. She is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), a conductorless string orchestra comprising soloists and leaders of quartets and orchestras from around the United States, and she has appeared on multi- ple tours of Musicians from Marlboro across France and the US East and West Coasts. In addition to Marlboro, Ninomiya has been a guest of such festivals as Kingston, Ska- neateles, Caramoor, Bowdoin, and Moab, as well as the Prussia Cove International Mu- sicians Seminar, the Canberra International Festival (Australia), and the Adams Festival (New Zealand), among others. She appears on several recordings, including three albums with the Ying Quartet—the complete works by Robert Schumann and Anton Arensky, plus one featuring music by Randall Thomp- son, Samuel Barber, and Howard Hanson— and a solo album of violin works by Larry Bell. Across her studies at Harvard University (where she graduated magna cum laude ), The Juilliard School (master’s degree), and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, her men- tors included Miriam Fried, Robert Mann, Eszter Perenyi, Michèle Auclair, and Robert Levin. Ayano Ninomiya was a Ravinia Steans Music Institute fellow in 1998 and ’99, re- turned for alumni tours in 2000, ’02, and ’03, and joined the faculty in 2020. She also gave solo concerts at Ravinia in 1998 and 2001. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 29