ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad

Archives for January 2017

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a conversation with Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet hornist Fergus McWilliam

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Berlin-Phil-Wind-QuintetIt’s a great time of year for woodwind quintets in Northeast Ohio. Last week, Tuesday Musical brought the Imani Winds to E.J. Thomas Hall, and on Tuesday, February 7, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society will welcome the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet back to Plymouth Church for their latest appearance on the Society’s series.

The Berliners — Michael Hasel, flute, Andreas Wittmann, oboe, Walter Seyfarth, clarinet, Fergus McWilliam, horn, and Marion Reinhard, bassoon — will play a far-reaching program that includes Anton Reicha’s Andante arioso for English Horn and Woodwind Quartet, Kalevi Aho’s Quintet No. 2, György Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles, and Carl Nielsen’s Quintet, Op. 43.

I recently spoke with Fergus McWilliam by telephone from Berlin. Born in the Scottish Highlands, McWilliam was enraptured by the horn as a small child when he attended his first orchestral concert at the Edinburgh Festival. [Read more…]

Boston’s A Far Cry chamber orchestra in concert at Baldwin Wallace (Jan. 24)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

A-Far-Cry-Jordan-HallNow ten years old, Boston’s conductorless string orchestra A Far Cry made a long-distance runout performance in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory on Tuesday, January 24, part of a three-day residency at BW. The orchestra’s wide-ranging program reached back to the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus in arrangements of some very early polyphony, then leapfrogged into more modern times for double violin concertos by J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt and a commissioned work by Lembit Beecher.

[Read more…]

Earth and Air: String Orchestra to present “Norwegian Melodies”

by

by Mike Telin

Earth-&-Air-ConcertIf you were to ask any classical music enthusiast to list some works by Edvard Grieg, most people would name his Piano Concerto and the incidental music he composed for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. But there are hidden gems to be enjoyed.

On Friday, February 3 at 7:30 pm in Tucker Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Earth and Air: String Orchestra and director David B. Ellis will continue their second season with a concert titled “Norwegian Melodies: Music by Edvard Grieg.” The program features three of the composer’s lesser-known compositions — Two Nordic Melodies, Op. 63, Two Melodies, Op. 53, and Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34 — as well as the popular Holberg Suite, Op. 40. [Read more…]

French pianist Lucas Debargue to make Cleveland debut at Reinberger Hall February 3

by

by Mike Telin

DebargueDuring any music competition, it is not unusual for the jury and the critics to disagree as to who the winner should be. Such was the case during the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, when the jury awarded French pianist Lucas Debargue the fourth prize, while his emotional expression and musical individuality earned him the Moscow Music Critics’ Award as “the pianist whose incredible gift, artistic vision, and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience.”

On Friday, February 3 at 8:00 pm in Reinberger Chamber Music Hall at Severance Hall, Lucas Debargue will make his Cleveland recital debut with a program featuring Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in C, K. 132, Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No. 4, Op. 52, Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, and Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata No. 1 in f, Op. 5. [Read more…]

Ogni Suono saxophone duo to perform on Syndicate series

by

by Mike Telin

OSSaxDuoWhen saxophonists Noa Even and Phil Pierick formed Ogni Suono in 2009, they were faced with a dilemma. “There’s not a lot of repertoire for saxophone duo,” Noa Even said during a recent telephone conversation.

They recognized the only way to solve that problem was to commission new works. The Duo’s debut album, Invisible Seams, features some of their early collaborations with composers. Then, with support from New Music USA, Even and Pierick launched SaxoVoce, a long-term commissioning project exploring the musical, dramatic, and theatrical possibilities inherent in the synthesis of saxophone and voice.

On Sunday, February 5 at 7:30 pm at Historic St. John’s in Ohio City, the Syndicate for The New Arts will present Ogni Suono in a concert featuring works written for their SaxoVoce project. [Read more…]

No Exit: a conversation with composer Emily Koh

by

by Mike Telin

Emily-KohComposers never know how and when they will find inspiration for a new work. For Emily Koh it was during a visit to a museum. “I was walking around the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and a painting by Esphyr Slobodkina caught my attention,” Koh said during a recent telephone conversation. “Her pieces are abstract, colorful, and angular — all the things I find interesting, not only in music, but in art and sculpture as well.”

On Saturday, February 4 at 8:00 at SPACES Gallery, No Exit will present the world premiere of Emily Koh’s esphyr, performed by violinist Cara Tweed, pianist Nicholas Underhill, and percussionist Luke Rinderknecht. The concert will also include Lou Harrison’s Suite for Solo Piano (tribute to Arnold Schoenberg), Christopher Deane’s Mourning Dove Sonnet for vibraphone, Nicholas Underhill’s Habanera for violin, and George Antheil’s Violin Sonata No. 2. The program will be repeated on Monday, February 6 at Cleveland State University’s Drinko Auditorium, and on Saturday, February 11 at Heights Arts. Both concerts begin at 8:00 pm.  [Read more…]

Les Délices: “Mozart in Paris” (Jan. 22)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

LesDelicesPlymouth012217The 21-year-old Mozart planned to take Paris by storm on his second visit in 1778, but he chiefly succeeded in alienating colleagues and patrons alike with his arrogance. The composer fared far better on Sunday afternoon, January 22 at Plymouth Church, when Les Délices presented “Mozart in Paris,” a program that surrounded his Oboe Quartet with works by Gluck, Cambini, Duport, and Boccherini, all pieces that the Parisian public might have heard in the French capital during that period. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony: Beethoven with Benjamin Zander & HaeSun Paik (Jan. 21)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

ASO-Beethoven-PaConc3Charismatic conductor and motivational speaker Benjamin Zander made the most recent of his periodic appearances with the Akron Symphony Orchestra on January 21 at E.J. Thomas Hall. The all-Beethoven program featured the Ninth Symphony and the Third Piano Concerto with soloist HaeSun Paik.

[Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us