by Mike Telin
When is the tempo of a waltz too slow? For composer Christopher Auerbach-Brown the answer may well be never, as was evident during the first full performance of his 2014 work titled The Slow Waltzes at the Bop Stop on Sunday, June 12. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Following Colin Davin’s May 2013 performance at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, ClevelandClassical.com wrote: “Davin is in his twenties, and it is rare to have such a young guitarist achieve the level of sophistication and refinement that was on display throughout his distinguished program.” [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
There are competitions for everything, so why not one for snare drummers? Anyone who might have scoffed at the notion need only to have attended the final rounds of the Modern Snare Drum Competition on Saturday afternoon, May 28 in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The eight finalists competing in two divisions all brought superb artistry to their performances of a required work as well as a solo of their choice. [Read more…]
by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series
Genre: String Quartet — piece for four string players; usually two violins, viola, and cello
Scoring: Two violins, viola, and cello
Era: Modern/Postwar
Length: c. 20 minutes
Will you recognize it? Perhaps from your nightmares
Recommended Recordings: Emerson Quartet or Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). Shostakovich was one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets are some of the most important in their genres. He also wrote brilliant concertos, chamber music, film scores, ballets, and operas. [Read more…]
by Neil McCalmont
On Friday, June 24 at CIM’s Mixon Hall, ChamberFest Cleveland put on a thrilling concert titled “Obsession,” exploring the more intimate side of several composers’ lives and oeuvres.
“Obsession” began with two of Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, his only vocal composition for which he did not also write the words. [Read more…]
Wesley Collins, currently third-chair viola in the Boston Symphony, will inherit the principal viola chair of The Cleveland Orchestra from Robert Vernon at the beginning of the next Severance Hall Season. A 2007 graduate of CIM, where he studied with Vernon, the Cincinnati native is the son of musicians. His father was the former principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony.
Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra on its five-concert tour of European Festivals from August 18-24, marking their sixteenth international tour together. Here are the venues and program details. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The sixth in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists
“This is a great piece. Poe’s story is well-known,” harpist Sivan Magen said during a recent telephone conversation from his home in New York City. “André Caplet’s music follows the text very well. The music has a lot of energy, and is not angelic like so much of the music that is written for the harp.”
Tonight, Saturday June 25 at 8:00 pm in Harkness Chapel, Sivan Magen will make his ChamberFest Cleveland debut on a program titled Fairy(tales) & Tales of the Macabre featuring André Caplet’s Conte Fantastique, after Poe’s The Mask of the Red Death for harp and strings (score pictured below). [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Now that summer is officially upon us, it’s time to locate the picnic basket, fill it with your favorite summer foods, and head to the Cuyahoga National Park with family and friends to enjoy a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center. And, if anyone in your vehicle is under the age of 18, their seat on the lawn is free.
If you can’t make it to Blossom, the Orchestra has scheduled three early Friday evening concerts in its Summers@Severance series. Special “happy hour” drink prices will be offered one hour prior to each concert on Severance Hall’s front terrace. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy the outdoor delights of University Circle.
“As usual the summer season is a mix of musical genres and artists,” Cleveland Orchestra artistic administrator Ilya Gidalevich said during a recent telephone conversation. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Creating a sonorous volume of sound you could hardly imagine without being there, more than 40 trombonists marked the end of the 2016 Cleveland Trombone Seminar with a massed performance of music by Wagner, Mozart, Mahler, and Richard Strauss on Sunday, June 19 in Drinko Hall at Cleveland State University. [Read more…]