Ravinia 2026 Issue 1

and Clement soloed in the December , , premiere at the eater an der Wien. Despite this close connection between Clement and the Violin Concerto, Beethoven dedicat- ed the published score to longtime friend Stephan von Breuning. e Breunings became surrogate relatives to Beethoven, whose own family su ered from his father’s alcoholic ts of violence. Frau Hélène, the widow Breuning, be- came a stable mother gure. e boys—Chris- topher, Lorenz, and Stephan—were boyhood companions. Stephan and Ludwig once fell in love with the same young woman, Jeannette d’Honrath. Beethoven also might have harbored romantic feelings for their sister, Eleonore von Breuning. Stephan moved to Vienna in , accepted work with the Imperial War Council, and reunited with his friend Ludwig. e Breuning connection continued one step further in relation to the concerto. At the in- sistence of Muzio Clementi, an Italian pianist/ composer/music publisher living in London, Beethoven recast this work as a piano concerto, doing little more than adding a le -hand ac- companiment to the right-hand melody. For this edition, Beethoven composed solo caden- zas, including a novel rst-movement cadenza for piano and timpani. Clementi’s edition was dedicated to Julie von Breuning ( née Julie von Vering), Stephan’s bride who died tragically in , one year a er their marriage. Beethoven le no authentic cadenzas for the violin ver- sion. Clement, according to traditional practice, probably improvised cadenzas in performance. Later violinists, notably Joseph Joachim and Fritz Kreisler, contributed their own cadenzas. Max Rostal, an English violinist of Austrian birth, transcribed Beethoven’s piano cadenzas (retaining the timpani part) for violin. For this performance, María Dueñas performs her own cadenzas. e Violin Concerto o ers a congenial, broad- ly scaled contest between solo violin and or- chestra. Four timpani strokes (on the pitch D) Theater an der Wien introduce the woodwinds’ rst phrase. Before the second phrase, the four percussive pitches repeat (on A). Beethoven extended the sequence to timpani and strings, altering the pitches to D-sharp and A. is unusually prominent tim- pani gesture—criticized by contemporary re- viewers, who mockingly referred to this work as the “Concerto for Timpani”—lends an o -over- looked cohesion to the Allegro ma non troppo . A second theme vacillates between major (wood- winds) and minor (strings), always combined with the repeated pitches. Beethoven delayed the solo entrance as long as possible: the violin nally joins with a variation of the rst theme. e lyrical contrasting melody returns, but the violin plays only one phrase, spending the rest of its time weaving a countermelody. Devel- opment begins almost imperceptibly. emes retain their complete identities, but the violin still circumnavigates the second theme. Before the restatement of main melodies, a ravishing new G-minor theme is introduced by the violin. Recapitulation heightens the dialogue between the soloist and orchestra. Only a er the unac- companied cadenza does the solo violin ren- der the complete second theme over ensemble pizzicatos. e Larghetto adopts a modi ed variation form. Muted orchestral strings state a tranquil theme. e solo violin remains an indirect participant in the rst two variations, layering virtuosic decorations above the wind melody (horns and clarinet, then bassoon). e third variation be- longs to the orchestral strings and winds alone. e violin returns with a new, embellished mel- ody. is idea alternates with another variation of the rst theme. An ad libitum violin cadenza connects to the nal movement. Beethoven be- gins his rondo with a catchy, folkish melody that reappears almost without alteration between contrasting themes. A er its cadenza, the violin remains an active musical participant until the nal chordal outburst of the elaborate coda. –Program notes © Todd E. Sullivan MARÍADUEÑAS Spanish violinist María Dueñas has emerged as a luminous talent in classical music, leading to an exclusive contract with Deutsche Gram- mophon, a signi cant milestone in her bur- geoning career. Her debut album, Beethoven and Beyond —released in and made with Manfred Honeck and the Vienna Symphony— showcased her interpretation of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, featuring cadenzas composed by herself. e recording earned Dueñas the Opus Klassik award, adding to an array of top recognition from international competitions, including the Menuhin Competition, the Spi- vakov Competition, and the Zhuhai Mozart Competition. For her second album, released in February , she focused on Paganini’s Caprices and works inspired by Paganini from composers spanning from Berlioz to contempo- rary artists, which contributed to her honors as Young Artist and Instrumentalist of the Year at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Establishing herself as a globally recognized soloist, Dueñas has already collaborated with such leading orchestras such as the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, San Francisco and Pittsburgh Symphonies, Staatskapelles Berlin and Dresden, Philharmonia Orchestra, Munich and Oslo Philharmonics, Deutsche Kammer- philharmonie Bremen, Bamberg and Vienna Symphonies, NHK Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Cham- ber Orchestra of Europe, Danish National Sym- phony Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris. Her strong artistic partnership with Los Ange- les Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel has in- cluded performances at the Hollywood Bowl’s th Anniversary celebration and the pre- miere of Gabriela Ortiz’s violin concerto Altar de Cuerda , which she toured to Barcelona, Par- is, London, Boston, and Carnegie Hall as well as recorded for the Grammy-winning album Revolución diamantina . Highlights of the past year have included her debuts with the Vienna and New York Philharmonics, concerts with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for Zubin Mehta’s th birthday, and a tour through Aus- tralia and New Zealand. María Dueñas is mak- ing both her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. MARINALSOP, Ravinia Chief Conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page . RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 11 – JULY 19 , 2026 86 XENIEZASETSKAYA(DUEÑAS)