by Mike Telin
On Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 pm at Severance Hall, conductor Susanna Mälkki will be making waves during her Cleveland Orchestra debut with a program that will begin with Jean Sibelius’s tone poem The Oceanides. “It’s not performed very often, which is very surprising, because it is a jewel and personally one of my favorites of Sibelius,” the Finnish conductor said during a recent telephone conversation.
This week’s concerts will also mark pianist Jeremy Denk’s Cleveland Orchestra debut in performances of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3. “Jeremy and I performed this concerto a few months ago in San Francisco,” Mälkki pointed out. “He plays it beautifully, so I’m very happy to be able to do it again with him.” The concert will also include Stravinsky’s complete ballet music to Pétrouchka. “It’s just incredible music and I’m so thrilled to be able to conduct it again.” The program will be repeated on Friday, April 24 in Finney Chapel as part of the Oberlin Artist Recital Series, and on Saturday, April 25 at Severance Hall. Both performances will begin at 8:00 pm. [Read more…]