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Archives for August 2016

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra makes its Blossom debut (August 27)

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by Jane Berkner

Orpheus-Chamber-OrchestraThe dark, threatening cloud over Blossom Music Center on Saturday evening, August 27 delivered a thunderstorm right at the appointed concert hour. Fortunately for the large audience gathered to hear the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra play four of J.S. Bach’s celebrated Brandenburg Concerti, it blew over rather quickly. Waiting an extra ten minutes for the thunder to subside was not a huge concession, especially given that this was the much-anticipated debut of Orpheus at Blossom. [Read more…]

Windborne’s Led Zeppelin at Blossom Music Festival (August 20)

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by Robert Rollin

Windborne-Led-ZeppelinSaturday night, August 20, at the Blossom Music Center, the rock quintet Windborne and the Blossom Festival Orchestra, conducted by Brent Havens, presented “The Music of Led Zeppelin, A Rock Symphony.” Havens arranged Zeppelin’s songs with an eye towards authenticity, so that longtime fans of the group would recognize the tunes in a tasteful orchestral tapestry that supported and augmented their original intent. Led Zeppelin at times used orchestral forces in its pieces, and Haven’s arrangements were consistently faithful to the originals. [Read more…]

Stephen Toombs: an appreciation

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by Steven Plank
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

ToombsIn a sadly pleasing strain
Let the warbling lute complain.

Alexander Pope’s memorable couplet from his Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day poetically voices the doleful propensity of the lute, and with the news of the death of Stephen Toombs on August 17, it also seems to voice the Cleveland musical community’s deep sense of loss. In his 28 years as the music librarian at Case Western Reserve University, Stephen combined a love of scholarship and the diverse sources that bring it to life with a passion for the music that was dearest to his heart: Renaissance and Baroque music for the lute.

The intertwining of these strands was deep-rooted in his training as musicologist, librarian, and lutenist, and given the high distinction of the performance practice program at the University, this meant that at his arrival there, both the school and its new librarian could rejoice in a match most felicitously made. [Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 14: Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894)

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by Neil McCalmont
Last in McCalmont’s List Series

DebussyGenre: Symphonic Poem — an orchestral work based on a narrative
Scoring: Orchestra
Era: Late 19th century / Impressionist
Length: c. 10 minutes
Will you recognize it? The opening flute solo is a staple of classical music
Recommended Recordings: Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Composer: Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Debussy was a maverick of Western music clashing with tradition even as a student. Many of his professors found his early works far too dissonant and experimental. Though scholars largely associate him with the Impressionist movement in the visual arts, Debussy rejected the term for his own music. [Read more…]

Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble at Blossom Music Center (August 13)

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by Alexandra Vago

Silk-Road-EnsembleBad weather was no deterrent for concertgoers at the Blossom Music Center on Saturday, August 13. The audience in a nearly-packed pavilion and on an umbrella-laden lawn gave The Silk Road Ensemble two standing ovations, one at intermission and one at the conclusion of their stellar performance. [Read more…]

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to make its Blossom debut on August 27

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by Mike Telin

Orpheus-Chamber-Orchestra

Founded in 1972 by Julian Fifer and a group of like-minded musicians, the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has been recognized for performances that combine the intimacy and warmth of a chamber ensemble with the grandness of an orchestra.

Most importantly, the conductorless ensemble has been recognized for its collaborative leadership style in which the musicians collectively decide on their interpretations of musical scores. On Saturday, August 27 at 8:00 pm, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will make its long-awaited debut at Blossom Music Center with a program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3, 5, 6, and 2.

[Read more…]

Robert Page, 89

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

RobertPageMendelssohnChoir

‘Legacy’ might be the most overused word in the English language. But no word is more appropriate to describe American conductor Robert Page, who passed away at his home in Pittsburgh on Sunday, August 7. He was 89.

Born in Abilene, Texas on April 27, 1927, Page went on to become a beloved figure in Cleveland. He served as director of choruses for The Cleveland Orchestra from 1971 to 1989; assistant conductor of the Orchestra for 12 of those years; and chorus master of Cleveland Opera for 6 years. His work with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus on their recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana won him a Grammy Award — one of his two.

[Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 13: Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913)

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by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series

StravinskyGenre: Ballet — a dance work accompanied by music, usually with costumes and scenery
Instrumentation: Large orchestra
Era: Early 20th century
Length: c. 35 minutes
Will you recognize it? From Disney’s Fantasia (1940)
Recommended Recordings: Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra (1969 recording)

Composer: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Stravinsky was one of the most versatile and influential composers of the 20th century, and many compare his impact on music to Picasso’s on art. Having lived with and studied composition under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov until the latter’s death in 1908, Stravinsky rose to fame with his innovative ballets, The Firebird and Petrushka, culminating in the groundbreaking Rite of Spring. [Read more…]

T.G.I.F. — Summers@Severance with The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 12)

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by Nicholas Jones

IMG_1286

Some music makes you yearn; some makes you cry; some makes you think. And some music just makes you glad to be alive. At The Cleveland Orchestra’s final Summers@Severance concert of the season last Friday, August 12, joy radiated from just about every aspect of the music.

[Read more…]

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