The music, unbound, rises to the clouds
And floats there,
While clouds sway and dance to the erotic melody;
Cicadas provide the background
Against which the crowd fades into nothingness.
And the rhythmic sounds take ownership
Of the night.

Listen to each note as it takes life and moves into
Independent being,
Traipsing softly across the grass,
Flitting from treetop to treetop just out of reach;
Watch closely and you’ll see the
Creatures of the night
Taking up the dance.

The sweet soprano voice of violins
Calls to the throbbing dignified bass
In a language only they can understand.
It is a private party,
With trombones and drums and flutes
As special guests,
While we become voyeurs, eavesdropping
On the intimacy they alone share.

Suddenly an intruder appears
And the notes are chained, not free,
Dancing only at the stranger’s command
In polite and orderly fashion,
Waiting, restrained, until they can escape,
Their wild passions loosing once again
Into the night.

Nadine McBeth 8/5/06
© 8/6/06

Wagner: Overture to The Flying Dutchman
All the orchestral color and surging tension you could wish to evoke a mighty, storm-tossed sailing ship. Cue it up on your iPod the next time you visit Santiago Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum. Your heart will soar at the sound of Wagner’s music and the sight of the museum poised like a glistening, white bird on the Lake Michigan shore.

Mozart: Act I Trio, “Soave sia il vento” (May the wind be gentle), from Così fan tutte Three minutes of tenderly sublime singing as the opera’s two sisters wish Godspeed to the lovers they think are heading off to war. That the lovers and the old gentleman who joins them in the farewell are playing a cruel trick on the young women doesn’t undermine the lustrous moment.

John Adams: Grand Pianola Music
Movement III, “On the Dominant Divide”
Opening with a brassy rustle in the orchestra, it builds to a thrilling outpouring of relentless, glittering arpeggios on the pianos, culminating in what Adams correctly calls a “flag-waving, gaudy tune.’’ It’s impossible to listen to its heroic bombast without wanting to dance grandly across a very large room.

Dvořák: Aria, “O silver moon,’’ from Rusalka
Sometimes one turn of melody or shift in harmony is enough to bring on the goose bumps. Listen to Renée Fleming or the soprano of your choice nestle into the slowly unfolding peak of this folk-tinged love song and feel your heart melt.

J.S. Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004) for solo violin
Noble, austere, full of rhythmic vitality and endlessly inventive melody, this is Bach at his most profoundly moving.

John Schauer
Associate Director of Communications, Publications
Ravinia Festival

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
First movement: [Allegro]
Perhaps more than any other Baroque piece, this work for me typifies the thrilling sound of brilliant Baroque orchestration. It’s like Las Vegas neon turned into glorious sound.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
First movement: Allegro con brio
Sometimes it’s hard not to believe that this is the most thrilling symphonic movement of all time. The final coda—that moment when you first think the movement will end, but instead Beethoven takes off on a final, frantic flight—can really take your breath away.

Rossini: Overture to Guillaume Tell
Baby Boomers and those even older will forever associate the final portion of the “William Tell Overture,” as it is usually called, with The Lone Ranger television and radio series, but that still doesn’t destroy the incredible excitement it can generate.

Donizetti: Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor
Here is a selection that has been lampooned by many artists, not the least of which are the Three Stooges. When properly sung, it clearly demonstrates the glory of human voices joined in a gorgeous ensemble. And that tune! Just try to get it out of your head.

Tchaikovsky: “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is performed to death by countless ballet companies every Christmas, but that still hasn’t dulled the luster of this catchy piece. The sudden minor-key interlude by the cellos inevitably brings tears to my eyes.

The event is all made possible by the Ravinia Women’s Board, which is made up of 132 talented women from all over the Chicagoland area who are essentially ambassadors for the festival. The members’ goals are to enhance the park experience for everyone and raise money for Ravinia, which is not-for-profit. They host themed nights like the Latin Dance Night, advocate for amenities like the Ravinia Festival Gift Shop, help fund beautiful artwork around the park, continue the festival’s commitment to education and outreach, and so much more.

The Gala co-chairs Bobbie Besant Denison and Claudia Stewart Lane and Women’s Board chairman Jane Casper had been tirelessly planning and organizing this past year to create the fantastic showcase of the park. With Kehoe Designs constructing the romantic décor inside the tent, Jewell Catering prepared exquisite food, and Kiri Te Kanawa showcased the evening performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with James Conlon conducting.

The 1,000 guests enjoyed a cocktail reception sponsored by BMO Capital Markets, while the dinner was sponsored by Aon Corporation, and Howard Stotler sponsored the evening concert for the second year in a row for the largest event hosted by the Women’s Board. Overall the Gala raised about $1.2 million which will help fund Ravinia Festival’s education and community projects.

Words cannot describe the beauty of the night adequately, so I have attached some pictures below to help recreate the grand celebration of Ravinia Festival.

Germaine Maschoff
Communications Intern

Full House® is Ravinia Festival’s grass-roots campaign to increase the average pavilion attendance of CSO concerts. The problem that we must face each season is how exactly do we, nay, all organizations promoting classical music, encourage a younger audience to attend? Or, how do we encourage those who already attend to bring their friends and family?

One of the ways that we at Ravinia go about finding answers to these all-important questions is to host Full House tent parties following designated CSO performances. At these parties, members of Ravinia’s staff, Board of Trustees, and Women’s Board ask concert goers to share their thoughts regarding their experience at that evening’s concert and give us suggestions as to how we can entice new listeners to give us a try.

The feedback that we have received thus far is phenomenally insightful, but we are always happy to hear from our guests. If you attended a CSO concert this summer and would like to tell us about your experience in the park, please visit the Full House section of our website for additional information about the Full House program, and to complete a brief survey.

I would like to extend a big “thank you!” to all those who attended our Full House events, and to everyone who came out to see the CSO this summer. This has been a truly remarkable year, and I am already looking forward to Ravinia’s announcement of the 2009 CSO season this fall!

Ashley Ciesielka
Communications Coordinator

But the true event of recent days was James Conlon’s much lauded performance of the Mahler Eighth Symphony with the CSO, the CSO Chorus in celebration of their 50th anniversary, the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Chicago Children’s Choir and eight terrific soloists. Even the cicadas were charmed, silencing their ecstatic rattle just before the phrase. “The ineffable here is accomplished…”

Welz Kauffman
President/CEO

One of the many things I appreciate about Ravinia is its welcoming of diversity – not only ethnic, but also age. In the classical music world, where we know that folks begin purchasing tickets to orchestral concerts at age 45, on average, we do everything we can to celebrate and honor our more experienced patrons – from programming, to the start time of performances, to the upgrading of our dining opportunities. And at the same time, one of the happiest sounds at Ravinia comes not from our stages, but from the lawn, where the giggles and gurgles of our youngest patrons inspire smiles all through the Park – kids getting great music and enjoying family time.

One of the first Ravinia patrons I encountered was the dignified and elegant Kay Mayer, a devoted music lover who actually attended the one and only Ravinia performance by George Gershwin in 1936! Kay passed in her sleep recently – she will be sorely missed.

Welz Kauffman
President/CEO

First, Feist, and artist who brought a crowd of folks not typically seen at Ravinia – probably more a Pitchfork or Lollapalooza crowd – and folks very welcome at Ravinia and who enjoyed the beauty, serenity, and, by the by, a terrific performance.

Then Bernard Haitink, in his long awaited Ravinia debut, warming up his powerful, searing Mahler 6 with the CSO for their tour together to Europe. The Ravinia crowd, having heard the Sixth last summer under Conlon as part of his Mahler cycle, was bowled over by Haitink’s interpretation and not at all concerned that he’d just done it downtown. Performances such as these, conductors such as Haitink, are few and far between and should be savored whenever they appear – and the weather gods, while predicting 95 degrees, dropped to a balmy 75 by concert time making for a gorgeous evening.

And then there is the Rach/Rock star, Denis Matsuev, blowing everyone away with a Rachmaninoff Third Concerto (exquisitely accompanied by Slatkin and the CSO) with the weather gods providing highly appropriate thunder and lightning topped only by Matsuev’s pyrotechnics. And then he provided a packed Martin Theater with rarities by the Russian master, a sizzling and intimate Second Sonata, and four encores by Russian Romantic giants – Rachmaninoff’s G Minor Prelude (also an encore at the CSO performance but this time captured for WFMT), Scriabin’s fiendishly difficult Op.8 no. 12 Etude, Liadov’s charming Music Box, and Ginsburg’s arrangement of Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg from Peer Gynt – fitting for a true king of the keyboard.

Welz Kauffman
President/CEO

In that same year, musician Alice Peacock decided to do something about it. Peacock founded Rock For Reading, which “leverages the power of ROCK to inspire literacy - motivating and empowering people to enrich their lives through reading.”

Peacock, who calls Chicago home, has played Ravinia twice before. I’m really excited that Ravinia is partnering with her charity for such an important cause. R4R has made some huge strides in promoting literacy here in Illinois, and its success has shown that people and communities working together can make a substantial difference. When she performs at Ravinia Festival in support of John Hiatt on July 18, you can help by bringing gently used books for grades Kindergarten through 8 to donate. Just drop off your donations at the West Gate, then enjoy the concert! If you love reading, have kids that love reading or are still a book-loving kid yourself, please do your part by giving your books to kids who need them.

Liv Swenson
Communications Intern

Debuting in 1974 with the New York Philharmonic, Conlon has appeared with virtually every major North American and European orchestra. Conlon’s immense and diversified symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire earned him countless other past awards including; the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2007, the Zemlinsky Prize in 1999, and the Opera News Award in 2005. He also received France’s highest distinction – the Légion d’Honneur in 2002.

Heather Haigh
Marketing Intern