Ravinia 2026 Issue 1

HUNTERPAVILION 5:00 PM SUNDAY, JULY 19 , 2026 CHICAGO SYMPHONYORCHESTRA MARIN ALSOP, conductor MARÍA DUEÑAS, violin † BEETHOVEN Symphony No. in F major, op. (“Pastoral”) Awakening of Happy Feelings on Arriving in the Country: Allegro ma non troppo Scene by the Brook: Andante molto moto Joyous Gathering of Country Folk: Allegro [ attacca ] Tempest, understorm: Allegro [ attacca ] Shepherd’s Song. Happy, Grateful Feelings a er the Storm: Allegretto – – BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D major, op. Allegro ma non troppo Larghetto [ attacca ] Rondo: Allegro MaríaDueñas † Ravinia debut This concert is performed In Memory of Charles &Margery Barancik . Viennese patron, ended the annual salary pro- vided by the prince. is downslide continued into the new year. His attempts to schedule a bene t concert that spring met with opposition, and the perfor- mance never transpired. Financial prospects im- proved slightly when Muzio Clementi agreed to publish some of Beethoven’s music in London. e terms appeared quite generous, but the rst payment did not arrive for three years. A more immediate and prestigious opportunity arose in October , when Jérôme Bonaparte, brother to Napoleon and King of Westphalia, o ered Beethoven the position of First Kapellmeister at his court in Kassel. Word quickly spread that Beethoven was se- riously considering the appointment. A group of noblemen banded together to formulate a countero er: an annuity to keep this “artistic treasure” in Vienna. Terms of the agreement would not be formalized until March , . eir salary proposal amounted to a fraction of Bonaparte’s o er, but the attered musician considered it su cient to remain in the city. Beethoven’s bene t concert took place during the preliminary negotiations for this annuity. He selected pieces intentionally to impress pro- spective benefactors, a strategy con rmed by the published dedications to Archduke Rudolph (Piano Concerto No. ), Prince Kinsky (Mass in C major), King Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria ( Choral Fantasy ), and jointly Prince Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky (Symphonies Nos. and ). Beethoven’s maneuver worked, and three of these dedicatees—Lobkowitz, Kinsky, and Rudolph—underwrote his salary. Programming two large-scale symphonic pre- mieres served another purpose. Never one for small plans, Beethoven sought to rede ne this genre by expanding the boundaries of musical expression: Symphonies Nos. and exhibit fundamentally opposite musical attributes. e Fi h possesses tightly integrated thematic ma- terial, an aggressive rhythmic drive, and brash, Ludwig van Beethoven (1814) LUDWIGVANBEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No. in F major, op. (“Pastoral”) Scored for two utes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, timpani, and strings Beethoven unveiled several new works on his Akademie, or bene t concert, on December , , at the eater an der Wien. is gargan- tuan program included the soprano concert aria Ah! per do , a piano concerto (No. ), two movements of his Mass in C major, an impro- vised fantasy for solo piano, and premieres of two symphonies (No. in C minor and No. in F major) and the Choral Fantasy for piano, orchestra, and chorus. e incredible duration of this program has provoked, both then and now, dumbfounded reactions. What convinced Beethoven to impose four hours of unfamiliar and underprepared music upon his friends and supporters? e easiest response might be: To prove his mastery of all major instrumental and vocal forms, both sacred and secular. Explanations are rarely that simple with Bee- thoven. Other agendas determined the size and scope of his concert. Economic considerations naturally factored into the programming. His income had decreased precipitously during the previous two years. First, relations with the e- ater an der Wien soured a er the second unsuc- cessful production of his opera Leonore (later renamed Fidelio ) on March and April , . Later in October, a violent argument with Prince Karl Lichnowsky, Beethoven’s rst major RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 11 – JULY 19 , 2026 84