by Alexandra A. Vago
July 27th marked the last of five faculty concerts featured in the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, Kent State’s summer partnership with The Cleveland Orchestra for nearly fifty years. The highlight of the evening in Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall was the beautifully executed second half, featuring two intimate cello sonatas performed by cellist Richard Weiss and pianist Joela Jones. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The semi-finals of The Cleveland International Piano Competition continued at 3:00 pm on Sunday, July 31 in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art, when a large audience was treated to polished performances by Nikita Mndoyants (27, Russia, left) and Yuanfan Yang (19, United Kingdom, right). In addition to being accomplished pianists, the two are also award-winning composers. They also each concluded their programs with the second of Prokofiev’s three “war sonatas.” [Read more…]
by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series
Genre: Concerto —a work for soloist(s) and orchestra
Scoring: Piano and orchestra
Era: Classical
Length: c. 25 minutes
Will you recognize it? It was popularized by the 1967 Swedish movie Elvira Madigan
Recommended Recordings: Alfred Brendel, Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, or Mitsuko Uchida, conducting from the keyboard with The Cleveland Orchestra
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Perhaps the most renowned child prodigy in history, Mozart began composing at age four and was playing the piano and violin for European royalty by age six, alongside his elder sister Nannerl. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
When the names of the eight semi-finalists were announced on Saturday evening shortly after 7:00 pm, four pianists had the daunting pressure of putting the final polishing on their 60-minute recital programs and performing less than 24 hours later. On Sunday, July 31 the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium played host to the first two of four semi-final sessions. [Read more…]