CSO: First Symphonies of Bernstein & Mahler
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
J'Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Tickets: $90 / $25
Lawn: $10
Ravinia Wine Club
Sponsored by Terlato Wines
5:30 p.m. in the Tree Top restaurant porch
Select the "Wine Club" ticket for this $15 add-on
Ravinia Wine Club
Ravinia Wine Club, sponsored by Terlato Wines
5:30 p.m. in the Tree Top restaurant porch
Join us on August 1 for a formal wine tasting in an educational setting featuring a selection of the finest wines from the Terlato Wines portfolio. The special package price includes the pre-concert wine tasting and your choice of reserved or lawn concert tickets. Ravinia Wine Club: The perfect pairing of Terlato Wines and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
To purchase, select the “Wine Club” ticket option before adding to your cart.Dining Availablity For Tonight: Ravinia Market, Lawn Bar, and Park View are all open tonight. Tree Top is closed.
Program
| Bernstein: | Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”) | |
| Mahler: | Symphony No. 1 |
About The Artist
Program Notes
- Leonard Bernstein made Gustav Mahler a vital part of the classical experience in the US, beginning the first complete recordings of Mahler’s symphonies and initiating a yearlong festival of his works with the New York Philharmonic in 1960, the composer’s centennial.
- Gustav Mahler sampled two of his original songs in his First Symphony (like fellow Austrian Romantic composer Franz Schubert would do in his chamber music), as well as a somber and brooding version of the nursery rhyme “Frère Jacques,” which is a recurring theme—as a round, like the original—in the third movement.
- Glimmers of Gustav Mahler’s Jewish roots can also be heard throughout his First Symphony’s third movement, as the rhythms and instrumentation are similar to klezmer music. His personal faith was more complex than following a single religion: shortly before he premiered the First Symphony, Mahler had adopted Catholicism.
- There’s a touch of theatricality throughout Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony—it originally had a “program” of imagined scenes for the music like in Hector Berlioz’s or Franz Liszt’s “symphonic poems”—but it literally stands out when the brass players take Mahler’s written instruction and stand for the final minutes of the symphony.
- Leonard Bernstein gave the premiere of his First Symphony just two and a half months after he became an overnight star making a surprise debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1943. He concluded his Ravinia and CSO debut with it a little over five months later.
- Traditional Jewish themes can be found in Leonard Bernstein’s First Symphony, even more so than in Gustav Mahler’s First. The Lamentation (the final movement) represents the prophet Jeremiah mourning the destruction of Jerusalem. This was especially profound at the time of the 1944 premiere, as a metaphor for the depravity of the Nazi regime overseas.
- J’Nai Bridges was a soloist in Ravinia’s world premiere of a chamber orchestra version of Leonard Bernstein’s US Bicentennial–celebrating Songfest five years ago on the Fourth of July.
Park Details
Experience Ravinia's KidsLawn
at today’s concert!
For select concerts, including today’s, our new interactive, family-friendly space on the north lawn will be open for you to experience with your children. Today's KidsLawn features our large-scale percussion instruments on the lawn that will be open to kids of all ages. See a full listing of KidsLawn dates.
