Ravinia 2025 Issue 5

both critics and the public, that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece, is wrong. The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra. The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration pat- terns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, etc., con- stitute here the very essence of the composition and not its garb or orchestration. The Spanish themes, of the dance character, furnished me with rich material for putting in use multiform orchestral effects. All in all, the Capriccio is un- doubtedly a purely external piece, but vividly brilliant for all that.” Capriccio espagnol was first performed in Saint Petersburg on October 31, 1887, under Rimsky-Korsakov’s direction. The score con- tains five movements connected by a thematic thread—the festive, march-like Alborada that appears in the first and third movements and coda of the fifth. Authentic Spanish melodies underpin his Capriccio , and the Alborada may have originated among the multitude of rustic two-beat morning dances. Rimsky-Korsakov interjects clarinet and violin (evidence of his original design) solos between full-bodied or- chestral phrases. The second movement begins with a horn-choir theme, followed by four varia- tions highlighting various ensembles within the orchestra. A varied Alborada reverses the order of solos: violin, joined by clarinet. A sustained drum roll and Spanish-flavored brass fanfare begin the Scene and Gypsy Song+ , followed by rhapsodic cadenzas for violin, flute, clarinet, and harp. Brass introduce a piquant gypsy dance, periodically interrupted by solo violin passages. Rimsky-Korsakov concludes with another viva- cious dance, the Fandango from the northwest- ern region of Spain, Asturias. The Alborada , ex- tended by an unexpected key change, reappears in the final section. –Program notes © 2025 Todd E. Sullivan Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov DAVID ROBERTSON David Robertson occupies the most prominent podiums in orchestral and new music, as well as opera. A champion of contemporary compos- ers, he is renowned as an adventurous program- mer. Robertson has served in numerous artistic leadership positions, such as chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a transformative 13-year tenure as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and additionally with the Orchestre National de Lyon, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and, as protégé of Pierre Boulez, Ensemble In- terContemporain. He frequently appears with the world’s great orchestras, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Philadel- phia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orches- tra, Czech and Vienna Philharmonics, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, São Paulo State Sym- phony Orchestra, and Seoul Philharmonic, as well as with many major ensembles and festivals on five continents. Since his 1996 Metropoli- tan Opera debut, Robertson has conducted a vast range of repertoire, including the 2019/20 season-opening production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess , which won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2021. In 2022, he conducted the Met’s reprise of the production and made his Rome Opera debut conducting Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová . This season’s high- lights have included Robertson celebrating the Boulez Centennial with the New York Philhar- monic, Juilliard Orchestra, Aspen Music Fes- tival, and Lucerne Festival Contemporary Or- chestra, plus guest-conducting engagements in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Seoul, and Leipzig. He also led Europe- an tours by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orches- ter Berlin and the Australian Youth Orchestra. Robertson is the Director of Conducting Studies at The Juilliard School and serves on the Tian- jin Juilliard Advisory Council, and he is in the midst of a three-year appointment as Creative Partner of the Utah Symphony and Opera, where his guitar ensemble, Another Night on Earth, made its US debut. David Robertson first appeared at Ravinia in 2004, leading the New York Philharmonic in a special performance in honor of the centennial of Ravinia, where, in 1905, the orchestra became the first classical en- semble featured in the park. SHEKU KANNEH-MASON Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s mission is to make music accessible to all, whether that’s performing for children in a school hall, at an underground club, or in the world’s leading con- cert venues. Over the past year, he has held res- idencies at the 2024 Lucerne Festival as Artiste Étoile and at Berlin’s Konzerthaus, appeared with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague and on tours with Jakub Hrůša and Semyon Bychkov, and performed with the Philadelphia Orches- tra, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Cologne’s WDR Symphony, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, Pittsburgh Sym- phony, Stuttgart’s SWR Symphony, and the New World Symphony, as well as the Camerata Sal- zburg and Sinfonia of London on tours. With his pianist sister, Isata, he made his duo recital debut in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium fea- turing a newly commissioned piece by Natalie Klouda. They also toured to stages in Bordeaux, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto, Philadelphia, Dub- lin, Munich, Berlin, and Antwerp, as well as at the Rheingau Festival and London’s Wigmore Hall. Sheku also give concerts with duo part- ners guitarist Plínio Fernandes and jazz piaa- nist Harry Baker. Since his BBC Proms debut in 2017, Kanneh-Mason has performed on the festival every summer, including as soloist at the 2023 Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. A Dec- ca artist, Kanneh-Mason recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with violinist Nicola Benedetti, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and the Philhar- monia Orchestra in 2024, and the 2022 album Song showcases the cellist in a wide range of arrangements and collaborations. is a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Hannah Roberts and in 2022 was named the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Or- der of the British Empire (MBE) in 2020. After winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, Kanneh-Mason further propelled his career with a performance at the 2018 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle, which was watched by two billion people worldwide. Sheku Kanneh-Mason is making his Ravinia debut. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 85 CHRISLEE(ROBERTSON); MAHANEELA(KANNEH-MASON)