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Roman Rabinovich:
"The Rachmaninoff
concerto is one of
my favorite pieces."
From Russia With Love
25-year-old Roman Rabinovich tackles
Rachmaninoff's famed piano concerto.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
A
'though Roman Rabinovich's
family left Uzbekistan for Israel
before he turned 10, the touring
concert pianist remains drawn to the cul-
ture of the part of the world he knew first.
Besides regularly performing the pieces
of Russian composers, Rabinovich enjoys
reading the works of 20th-century Russian
poets.
The musician, who appeared with the
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in 2006,
returns to play Rachmaninoff's Piano
Concerto No. 3 in D minor in a program
titled "Russian Romance."
The concert, slated for March 12 at the
Michigan Theater, also includes orches-
tra interpretations of Mikhail Glinka's
Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture and Sergei
Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major,
Op. 100.
A lecture at 7 p.m. introduces the 8 p.m.
concert.
"The Rachmaninoff concerto is one of
my favorite pieces:' says Rabinovich, 25,
whose early instrumental lessons were
given by his parents, both music teachers.
"I love playing it because of its incred-
ible beauty. It's a challenging piece for
both pianist and orchestra and often is the
highlight of any pianist's repertoire.
"My first language is Russian; and I
grew up with works by Rachmaninoff,
Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev so I feel very
connected to them."
The piano concerto, known for its
deep melodies, demonstrates mastery of
high technical difficulty because of the
scales and arpeggios, explains Ann Arbor
Symphony Orchestra conductor Arie
Lipsky
"I have had the pleasure of mentor-
ing Roman for a long time,' Lipsky says.
"Now, he is a winner of the 2008 Arthur
Rubinstein International Piano Master
Competition and is returning to Ann Arbor
to perform the most dazzling concerto ever
written. It will be a tremendous event."
Glinka, influential for Russian musi-
cians of the 19th and 20th centuries, was
thought of as the patron of Russian clas-
sical music, according to Lipsky. Glinka's
overture is known for its exuberance and
excitement.
The conductor describes the Prokofiev
symphony as being about the human
spirit, capturing the essence of strength,
generosity and purity of soul found in free
and happy individuals.
Rabinovich, whose career has taken
him to stages throughout Europe and the
United States as well as Israel, considers
his career a very natural process.
"My parents started teaching me piano
when I was 5 or 6, and I quickly fell in love
with it," he says. "I started performing in
concerts when I was 9, and my first big
performance was the next year with the
Israel Philharmonic as Zubin Mehta did
the conducting."
Rabinovich, who studied at the Rubin
Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, moved to
the United States when he was 17 and
went to the Curtis Institute of Music in
Philadelphia. His master's degree was
earned at the Juilliard School in New York.
"I feel very comfortable on stage
Rabinovich says. "I'm really very excited to
be there."
Carnegie's Weill Hall in New York,
Glazunov Hall in St. Petersburg and the
Salle Cartot in Paris are among the many
venues where Rabinovich has worked. His
time is divided among orchestras, cham-
ber groups and festivals.
"I met Arie Lipsky when I was 10, on
tour with a group of young musicians
from Israel," the pianist says. "One of the
cities in which we performed was Buffalo,
where Arie was working. We played
together a few times, and that's a wonder-
ful thing for me."
Rabinovich's talents have taken him
from sound to sight with projects in draw-
ing and painting. Some recent concerts
have been linked with exhibits of his work.
Refaeli, 25, who became famous
worldwide when she graced the cover
of the 2009 Sports Illustrated swim-
suit issue; (12) actress Emmanuelle
Chriqui, 33, voted No.1 on last year's
Askmen list; (11) actress Natalie
Portman, 29; (7)
actress Scarlett
Johansson, 26; and
(2) actress Mila
Kunis, 27. On the
website, there are
bios of all these
women, plus photos
and a short video
Mila Kunis
about each of them.
reviews but strong
box office.
In real life, Agron
started dating her co-
star, Brit actor Alex
Pettyfer, soon after
their movie began
filming. However,
Dianna Agron
they officially broke
up a few weeks ago.
Agron mostly grew up in a San
Francisco suburb. Recently, I received
a letter from the religious school coor-
dinator of the Bay Area synagogue
that Agron, her parents and her broth-
er attended. The coordinator described
both parents as "true mentshes" and
Dianna as "very sweet and lady-like."
Dianna's father was born Jewish and
her mother is a convert to Judaism.
Dianna was a bat mitzvah.
"My mom took me to museums when I
was very young and showed me art books:'
he recalls. "I loved what I saw and wanted
to try doing similar work myself.
"I started drawing when I was 9 or 10,
and now I draw whenever I can. I keep a
sketchbook with me everywhere I go. I just
had a show in Arizona for a month."
Rabinovich, who does both represen-
tational and abstract projects shown on
his website, www.romanrabinovich.net , is
going high-tech.
"I recently started drawing on my phone','
explains the musician-artist, who visits
museums as he lands in new cities sched-
uled in his concert career. "There's a draw-
ing application, and it's fascinating to me."
Although Rabinovich has not done
recordings as yet, there are some plans to
change that aspect of his career.
"I chose the piece for the Ann Arbor
concert, and I'm looking forward to per-
forming it," says Rabinovich, who regularly
returns to Israel to see family as well as
perform.
"When I was in Ann Arbor a few years
ago, I played a Mozart concerto, and that
was a wonderful experience. I would like
to keep doing what I'm doing now as a
pianist and artist."
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra's "Russian Romance" concert will be performed
8 p.m. Saturday, March 12, preceded by a 7 p.m. lecture, at the Michigan Theater,
603 E. Liberty St., in Ann Arbor. $10-$53. (734) 994-4801; www.a2so.com .
Jews
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
Shayna Punims
The very popular website Askmen.
corn is out with its annual list of the
"World's 99 Most Desirable Women"
and Jewish "lookers" grabbed about
10 percent of the spots. The number
preceding the woman's name is her
ranking; the number following is her
age: (97) businesswoman Ivanka
Trump, 29, a convert to Judaism
who recently announced she and her
husband, Jared Kushner, are expect-
ing their first child; (91) actress Lea
Michele, 24, the star of TV's Glee;
(83) actress Rachel Bilson, 29; (81)
actress and Glee co-star Dianna
Agron, 24; (55) actress Rashida
Jones, 34; (19) Israeli model Bar
32
March 3 2011
More On Agron
Agron (Quinn Fabray on Glee) is now co-
starring in her first major feature film, I
Am Number Four, a sci-fi film with so-so
Rango
Opening on Friday, March 4, is the
animated film Rango. Johnny Depp
stars as the voice of Rango, a cha-
meleon who lives in a terrarium and
magically finds himself transported
to the Old West, where he is sheriff
of a town called "Dirt."
Various desert
animals, fill the
human roles found
in most westerns.
Isla Fisher, 35, co-
stars as the voice
of Beans, a desert
iguana. Australian
Jewish
actress
Claudia Black
Claudia Black, 38
(TV's Farscape), has
a supporting voice role as Angelique,
a red fox. I I