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The image of

Tchaikovsky’s

First Concerto

is this

overblown very

bombastic piece but

actually it’s really an

elegant and beautiful

and graceful piece

It has more in

common with

Swan Lake

than

the

Overture

a programmer, is putting things in con-

text. We can listen to music with new

ears. If you put old music next to new

music, both of them sound different.

It’s not just about [contrasting] new

and old music, but certainly con-

temporary music helps us shake out

the cobwebs. It makes us realize that

all music was new at some point.”

Barnatan’s programming skills

will be on view next summer when

he becomes music director of the

three-week La Jolla SummerFest

in Southern California. In recent

years, he performed with the festi-

val’s orchestra and gave a few recitals

during the organization’s non-summer

season. When the offer arose, he initially

worried about finding time to do the

job. “But the more I thought about it,

the more excited I got,” says Barnatan.

“To be a 21st-century musician, you

can’t just go onstage and play. It involves

many more things. Programming is

one of them, and getting out of your

comfort zone, getting to know a lot of

different music. It was fascinating to

me to explore a bigger canvas for

programming.”

His mother was a dancer, and

Barnatan is collaborating with

choreographer Mark Morris a

new project focused on Schubert.

Barnatan enjoys working with

other artists, and multi-arts

collaboration may figure in his

plans for La Jolla. He also might

organize festivals around a

theme. But he’s still formulating

his ideas. “Watch this space,”

he says with a laugh. “I’m very

busy, but [planning for La Jolla]

tends to occupy my brain a lot.

I’m listening to a lot of music,

thinking, researching. It really

gives me something to do on

planes.”

Wynne Delacoma was classical

music critic for the

Chicago

Sun-Times

from 1991 to 2006

and has been an adjunct

journalism faculty member

at Northwestern University.

She is a freelance music

critic, writer, and lecturer.

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 9 – JULY 22, 2018

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