By Daniel Hautzinger
Dances are usually joyous, but on July 9 at Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall violinist Jung-Min Amy Lee gave a recital that explored the somber side of the dance in repertoire ranging from Bach to Esa-Pekka Salonen. [Read more…]
ClevelandClassical’s Young Writer Fellow, Daniel Hautzinger, has wrapped up ChamberFest Cleveland’s third season in an article for the national website of the Music Critics Association of North America. Read his piece, “Cleveland ChamberFest in 3rd year has convivial vibe” on Classical Voice North America.
by Mike Telin
With a catalogue of works as robust as that of celebrated American composer Jeffrey Mumford, the task of selecting a group of compositions to be featured on a recording could be quite daunting. Happily, on his recently released two CD set titled though a stillness brightening on the Albany Records label, Mumford has painstakingly chosen ten selections that highlight his prowess as a composer.
In his introduction to the CD, writer Christian Carey notes that “Jeffrey Mumford’s music is filled with counterpoint. Whether written for large ensembles or intimate chamber forces, it features a counterpoint of melodic lines – and a counterpoint of ideas… Through the use of a wide range of dynamics and articulations, they embody a number of moods.” Carey’s words perfectly describe the ten works featured on this recording – colorfully nuanced, layered musical motives are abundant. [Read more…]
By J.D. Goddard
On Tuesday, July 1, the house was full and the audience bustled with excitement for Ohio Light Opera’s opening performance of Pirates of Penzance in Freedlander Hall on the campus of Wooster college. The customary standing and singing of “God save the Queen” set the tone for the afternoon’s English fare. As the curtain raised we were immediately swept into the action, a rocky seashore on the coast of Cornwall, town of Penzance.
The Pirates of Penzance tells the story of Frederic, a young apprentice who was mistakenly indentured to a band of pirates in his youth. At the end of his servitude, Frederic decides to leave the pirates and devote his life to their extermination. He meets a bevy of beautiful maidens, instantly falling in love with one of them, Mabel. Unfortunately, the pirates reappear and take the maidens captive, leading to a series of increasingly ridiculous plot twists. [Read more…]
By Daniel Hautzinger
Performance experience is obviously invaluable for young musicians, but playing at a conservatory in front of peers and professors who know the piece intimately can be intimidating. As such, an audience out just to enjoy free music on a pleasant Sunday afternoon is well-appreciated. Hence Kent/Blossom Music Festival’s well-attended student recital at the airy Hudson Library on July 6. (There were a total of four student concerts last weekend, the other three in Ludwig Hall at Kent State University).
The students have two weeks to learn a piece mostly on their own, with occasional coachings from festival faculty members. The ensemble communication was impressive on Sunday in such circumstances, and each groups’ blend was enhanced by the library rotunda’s softening acoustics. [Read more…]
By Mike Telin
Each summer talented young musicians make their way to the Oberlin College campus to participate in Credo, where for three weeks they study chamber music with leading artist-teachers from around the world. But what makes a Credo experience different from many summer music camps and festivals is Credo’s commitment to community service. Participants perform concerts in prisons, nursing homes, early childhood centers and hospice facilities as well as volunteering at local food banks, homeless shelters and parks. “Credo is about chamber music and chamber music is about relationships,” Credo’s Artistic Director and Professor of Viola at Oberlin, Peter Slowik told us during a recent telephone conversation. “Credo is about catalytic relationships and it gives people a sense of what they can do with their music apart from the concert hall.”
This summer marks Credo’s 15th anniversary and in honor of the occasion, Slowik and his creative team have put together several seminars designed to introduce audiences to the social, musical, and artistic elements which influenced Haydn’s masterpiece, The Creation. [Read more…]
By Daniel Hautzinger
Learning and putting together Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is a scramble against time. The piece features complicated rhythms (sometimes notated without time signatures), infinitely long phrases, and complicated layering of parts. György Ligeti’s Horn Trio and Schoenberg’s First Chamber Symphony are similarly difficult works. But students at Kent/Blossom Music Festival (KBMF) are assigned to learn them in two weeks for performance.
“Two weeks is just enough time,” said Keith Robinson, artistic coordinator of Kent/Blossom, professor of cello at Kent State and KBMF, and cellist in the Miami String Quartet, who gave a recital as part of the festival. “You want something that will challenge them for two whole weeks.” [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
30-year-old German-Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich is developing a reputation for stepping in to save concerts at the last minute. In 2008, on less than a week’s notice, he replaced Julian Rachlin in Prokofiev’s second concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl (an occasion when conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya was also an emergency substitute for the ailing Edo de Waart).
Then in 2010, his surprise debut with the New York Philharmonic in Vail, Colorado, involved replacing Nikolai Znaider in the Mendelssohn concerto on three days’ warning. (Hadelich was at the airport about to board a plane to Italy when he got the call).
His appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra on Saturday evening for the opening concert of its Blossom season may have been even more hastily arranged, as Renaud Capuçon’s illness and his replacement by Hadelich had to be announced in an insert to the program. [Read more…]
By Daniel Hautzinger
“Bach was full of joy, and I think that really stems from his faith. He was a strong Lutheran and you see this in all of his music. He was a very complete, whole being. And yeah, I think he loved to throw back a few beers,” said cellist Steuart Pincombe over the phone.
Bach and beer? Besides alliteration and a secure place in German culture, they don’t seem to have much in common, what with the stern image we have of Bach. But “Bach and Beer” is the title of a program that Pincombe will present at the Bottle House Brewery in Cleveland Heights on July 15th, a chance to drink deeply of “two of the finer things in life,” as Pincombe put it. [Read more…]
By Daniel Hautzinger
Ida Kavafian is clearly a devoted teacher. She serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, Bard College Conservatory, and Juilliard, and was the Kent/Blossom Music Festival’s Kulas Guest Artist this year, giving master classes and coachings to student musicians. As part of that residency, she gave a recital in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University on July 3.
Kavafian’s desire to aid the next generation of musicians was evident even while performing. While playing Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D with guest pianist Yekwon Sunwoo and the Glauser Quartet, she visibly encouraged the young quartet (the members are all students at the festival), amiably cueing and connecting with them. And when the Glauser hesitated to come out for an encore, leaving Kavafian and Sunwoo to enjoy the applause, she clucked at such nonsense and beckoned them back on stage like a proud mother.