by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com
If you’ve never quite understood all the fuss about Gilbert & Sullivan, then you owe it to yourself to see Ohio Light Opera’s production of Iolanthe, in repertory at the College of Wooster through August 9. Do not delay, or you’ll miss one of the most luscious, lighter-than-air confections ever seen. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
Ohio Light Opera’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is in the midst of a repertory run through early August in the Friedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster. It is a splendid affair in every regard, and I can recommend it without reservation. The principal roles are double-cast — I saw it with the July 11 ensemble. [Read more…]
by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical
Once the glitter and glitz of opening night and getting the season up on its feet is in the past, Ohio Light Opera settles into the imported, more traditional, part of the season. As it happened, the first four productions were all from the American Lyric Theater. Now we’ll be treated to Iolanthe, a not-so-well-known Gilbert & Sullivan; La Périchole by the French master, Offenbach, and closing the season will be a Viennese confection by Franz Lehár. Cloclo (an OLO premiere) is a sort of step-sister to The Merry Widow.
Any operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan is full of confusion, disguises, mistaken identities, and so forth, and all set to wonderful music, of course. But Iolanthe seems to go a bit over the top. In this one, the women are all fairies, or ‘peri’, while the men are all Peers of the Realm, always in full regalia, no matter the setting or purpose. It’s really a dandy battle of the sexes – in disguise. First there was Iolanthe, herself, falling in love with a peer, who turns out to be the Lord High Chancellor. They have a son, Strephon, who is a fairy above the waist but his legs are mortal. [Read more…]
by Delaney Meyers
On Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 pm, The Emerson String Quartet will perform with cellist Jerry Grossman in Ludwig Recital Hall as part of Kent/Blossom Music Festival’s 50th anniversary concert season. I spoke with Philip Setzer, violinist of the Emerson, by telephone and asked about the program and his personal connections with KBMF as an alumnus. The Quartet is this year’s Kulas Guest Artist.
Setzer said that “the theme, if there is one, is of loss and mourning, but also a celebration of life.” The all-20th century first half will open with the adagio from Barber’s string quartet, a work that is very meaningful to the ensemble. Setzer said that the string orchestra version, known as Adagio for Strings, “has become iconic as a piece of national and international mourning.” [Read more…]
by David Kulma
Time Canvas continued its three-part “Home Not Home” concert series on Saturday, July 7 at Historic St. John’s in Ohio City. Meditating on the music of historically displaced people, this second event focused on the tradition of 15th-century Sephardic Jews in Spain before their expulsion in 1492. The 46 songs, played by violinist Chiara Fasani and guitarist Joshua Stauffer, were arranged and dressed up as Aires de Sefarad by the late Jorge Liderman, an Argentine-American composer of Jewish descent. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
ENCORE Chamber Music’s final Sunday Unplugged concert of the summer on July 8 focused on composers of “diverse cultural backgrounds.” Its title, “Imagine No Country,” paraphrased a line from John Lennon’s peace anthem Imagine. The international music featured was by four composers: two living — American Richard Danielpour and Argentine Osvaldo Golijov, both of Jewish descent — and two deceased — Japanese Tōru Takemitsu and Romanian George Enescu. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
On Sunday evening, July 8, Roger Daltrey, legendary lead singer of The Who, joined members of the current incarnation of the band and the Cleveland Orchestra in a concert performance of Tommy in front of a sold-out Blossom Music Festival audience. This was the last show on an 11-city, 13–performance tour. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
With over a hundred Blossom Music Center performances to his credit, Jahja Ling was the obvious — and ideal — choice to replace the indisposed Franz Welser-Möst for The Cleveland Orchestra’s opening concert on Saturday, July 7. Perfect weather and a revelatory performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition celebrated the beginning of Blossom’s 50th Anniversary season in a memorable way. And there were fireworks, too. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
ChamberFest Cleveland wrapped up its seventh season with an excellent concert on Saturday, June 30 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. “Dawn of a Revolution” included works by Claude Debussy, a world premiere by Sebastian Chang, and a musical tapestry woven with inspired new choreography by David Shimotakahara. [Read more…]
by Delaney Meyers & Mike Telin
The Saturday, June 30 performances at the Tri-C Jazz Fest began with a captivating set by Vinicius Cantuaria. During the 1:00 pm, seventy-minute concert at the intimate Hanna Theater, the Brazilian took the audience on a sonic journey of the enthralling world of bossa novas. There were no long introductions and no gimmicky jokes, he and his band came onstage and let their music do the talking. [Read more…]