Archives for October 2020

by Daniel Hathaway

CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY SEASON UPDATE:

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society writes that they will present twelve free, pre-recorded programs online this fall and winter in two different series, and hope to resume live concerts with five performances between March and May.

“Safe With Sound,” a series produced by the Society and hosted by series Artistic Director Eric Charnofsky (above), will include music and conversations with artists featured on the CCMS series. The first episode, spotlighting the Imani Winds, is already available. Upcoming programs will feature James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong, the Takacs Quartet, and the Bennewitz Quartet (who will be performing an exclusive, full-length concert).

The first two episodes of “Front Row from Lincoln Center,” produced by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Wu Han and David Finckel, artistic directors, will air on October 23 and November 6. More information here.

NEW VIDEO FROM CHAMBERFEST CLEVELAND:

ChamberFest Cleveland has shared a new video of the Brahms Horn Trio from Season 8, prior to its public release. Watch the June 22, 2019 performance by violinist Diana Cohen, hornist William Caballero, and pianist Roman Rabinovitch here, and plan to tune in to WCLV on November 11, when rebroadcasts of performances resume. “For the full schedule of dates, artists, repertoire and programs notes, please reply RADIO! to info@chamberfestcleveland.com.”

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German violinist, clarino trumpet player and composer Johann Christoph Pezel departed this life on October 13, 1694, having served as Stadtpfeifer and Stadtmusicus (a member of the municipal wind band) in Leipzig and Bautzen. His music is frequently played these days by modern brass ensembles, but ensembles were more complex in Pezel’s time. As an example, listen to his Sonata Ciacona a 6 in a performance by ACRONYM here (there’s a score to follow).

In 1912 on this date, Moravian-American composer Hugo Weisgall was born in Ivancice, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He moved with his family to the U.S. at the age of eight, studying at Peabody and Curtis, and completing a doctorate in German literature at Johns Hopkins — which made him a valuable aide-de-camp to General George S. Patton during World War II.

In addition to his interest in Jewish cantorial music, Weisgall is known for his operas (especially Six Characters in Search of an Author) and extended song cycles, including Soldier Songs. The latter preserves a Wilfred Owen poem Weisgall set after investigating the mistreatment of Germans by Czechs in the hospital at Terezin. Listen here to Six Characters as performed by Chicago’s Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. There don’t seem to be any recordings of Soldier Songs — enterprising baritones, take note!

We highlighted English-born violist and composer Rebecca Clarke in the Diary on her birthdate on August 27, when we recommended a CIM video of her Viola Sonata. She died on this date in 1979 in New York City. Watch here another CIM performance, this time of her 1921 Piano Trio by the Hazel Trio (JuEun Lee, violin Richard Li, cello, and Jonathan Mak, piano) from May, 2019.

by Jarrett Hoffman

DEBATING THE “GOAT,” AND CONNECTIONS TO CLASSICAL MUSIC:

The morning after Akron native LeBron James won his fourth NBA championship, this one with the Los Angeles Lakers, a cascade of articles have already been written on the topic of whether he might now, just maybe, be the GOAT — the “Greatest Of All Time” among basketball players. James vs. Jordan: it’s an exhausting question that nevertheless generates plenty of opinions, and to be sure, plenty of clicks.

It’s also a question that’s based on the adversarial nature of sports — one person or team versus another. That’s not what classical music is about. To be sure, there is plenty of competition when it comes to forging a career, but most of all, discussions in the field are based on aesthetics.

Rivalries are compelling, and easy for casual fans to become wrapped up in. But even some basketball icons and journalists feel that those debates can dumb down the conversation around a sport, crowding out discussions of intricate tactics and, yes, also aesthetic beauty.

Still, it’s interesting to wonder how and if such debates could fit into classical music. We have big competitions that help launch careers, but what would it look like to have a “showdown” among the top, established names in composition or performance? Grammys are one thing, but let’s think more creatively.

Cleveland Chamber Choir offered one unique possibility with its “March Madrigal Madness” program in 2018, though the stakes would feel higher if the competing composers were still living, able to watch the results unfold. Another option: could a few orchestras pit their recordings of a single piece against each other, and have listeners vote online? (It would have to be friendly — at least on the surface.)

As the coronavirus crisis continues to challenge the music industry, maybe an effort like that to reach out to casual fans isn’t a bad idea — something fun and harmless, with an ounce of drama, yet still with a substantive and even beautiful artistic result.

TODAY ON THE WEB:

I’ll highlight two live streams and one re-broadcast on tonight’s local schedule. In the first category, hear the CIM Orchestra at 7, and the Diamond Brass Quintet at 7:30 (presented by Rocky River Chamber Music Society). Then at 8:00, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Early Music America joins Les Délices in replaying the ensemble’s recent “Recovering Roots” program. More info in our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German composer and lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti were born on this date in 1687, 1872, and 1935, respectively.

We covered Vaughan Williams in our Diary on August 26, the anniversary of his passing, though it’s neat to celebrate him again today with his A Sea Symphony, which was also premiered on his 38th birthday. (Here’s a performance from the BBC Proms in 2013.)

As for Weiss, one recent performance of his music in Northeast Ohio came in the 2019 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, when Petra Poláčková opened her recital with the Tombeau Sur La Mort de M. Comte de Logy. You can hear her play it on YouTube in a presentation by Cleveland’s own Guitars International.

There are so many possible recordings with which to remember Pavarotti — himself a GOAT contender among tenors — but how about his memorable final performance: Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. (One note: it was later revealed to have been pre-recorded, though it’s unclear whether that was due to illness on the part of Pavarotti, or the cold temperature.)

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

The second streamed event in Music From the Western Reserve’s season features Cleveland Orchestra Principal Horn Nathaniel Silberschlag and fourteen of his friends. Read a preview of the Sunday broadcast here.

Also during these two days: No Exit sponsors a concert by Boston’s Transient Canvas, Oberlin Stage Left continues its pre-recorded large ensemble performances, the Kent State Orchestra goes digital for its first outing, and Heights Arts moves its “‘Not Too Close’ Encounters 20th Anniversary Birthday Concert” into the great outdoors. Consult our Concert Listings for times and connection details.

INTERESTING NEWS, READS, AND VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

The New York Times will run an article by David Allen about The Cleveland Orchestra’s new recording initiatives in its Sunday print edition (online readers may already have perused it here).

The only musician named in the most recent round of McArthur Fellowships is three-time Grammy-winning jazz singer Cecile McLorin Salvant, already the recipient of a Doris Artist Duke Award. Read the Musical America article here.

Another Musical America recommendation is a One on One video conversation with Detroit Symphony President and CEO Anne Parsons. She talks about “how the DSO has been adapting to the pandemic, from streaming its archives in the spring, to live outdoor concerts in the summer, to the current concerts on the stage of an empty Orchestra Hall, conducted by new Music Director Jader Bignamini.” Watch on demand here.

THIS WEEKEND’S ALMANAC:

Italian opera composer Giuseppi Verdi was born either on October 9 or 10 of 1813 in Parma. Remember both the composer and the prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp in Theresienstadt, who were compelled by their captors to perform Verdi’s Requiem sixteen times in 1944 before being sent to Auschwitz. CityMusic Cleveland sponsored a special Yom ha-Sho’ah performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center on May 2, 2019 led by James Gaffigan.

Russian-Southern Ural composer Lera Auerbach was born on October 10, 1973 in Chelyabinsk. Auerbach played a solo recital on CIM’s Mixon Masters Series in September, 2013, and Kellen Degnan and April Sun played her 24 Preludes for violoncello and piano in Mixon Hall at CIM in November, 2017 (watch here). And just before the pandemic hit, the Jasper String Quartet played her Frozen Dreams on the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival in March, 2020.

We remembered the death of Canadian-American composer R. Nathaniel Dett in the October 2 Diary. He was born on October 11, 1882 in Drummondville, Ontario.

Austrian symphonist Anton Bruckner died in Vienna on October 11, 1896 at the age of 72. Watch a video of George Szell leading Bruckner’s 3rd Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic in June, 1963 (Bruckner starts at 49:30), and watch a Cleveland Orchestra promotional video for the 5-DVD boxed set of recordings of Nos. 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 recorded live at Severance Hall, the Wiener Musikverein, and St. Florian’s Abbey between 2006 and 2012 with Franz Welser-Möst at the helm.

And for something lighter, mark the birth of the late Italian film composer Ennio Morricone on October 11, 1928 (or it might have been October 10) with this April, 2019 Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert performance of “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission. Stephanie Cohn is the soloist.

by Daniel Hathaway

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERES IN FOCUS OCT. 15 :

The initial concert on The Cleveland Orchestra: IN FOCUS video streaming series will be available to subscribers, donors, and membership holders on the Orchestra’s new Adella platform on Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 pm and later on demand. (Adella is named after the Orchestra’s founder, Adella Prentiss Hughes.)

The fall series replaces in-person performances. In the first episode, an all-string orchestra program, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will lead the third set of Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, the premiere of George Walker’s Antifonys, and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir of Venice. This and subsequent performances have been recorded in Severance Hall without audience, and with physical distancing protocols in place for the musicians. Click here for further information. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni.)

ADDED TO TODAY’S CALENDAR:

Oberlin grad and 2014 Chartres Competition prizewinner Dexter Kennedy is first up on this fall’s organ series from Christ Church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to be live streamed tonight. Kennedy writes in a Facebook post, “It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 7 months since my last recital, but I’m looking forward to performing again this Friday, albeit in this socially distant way. Finally getting to some of the pieces learned during quarantine out for a spin!” The series continues with recitals by Todd Wilson on October 23, and Scott Hanoian on November 13. See the Concert Listings for details.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Two French composers have birthday anniversaries on this date.

Camille Saint-Saëns was born in 1835 in Paris and went on to a long career as organist at St-Merri and La Madeleine in Paris, teacher of Fauré and Ravel, and composer of a vast catalogue of works. As a keyboardist, he gave one of his last piano recitals in 1921 at the age of 86 — then went on holiday to his favorite vacation spot, Algiers, where he died a month later.

Celebrate the composer with a very private work he forbade to be played publicly during his lifetime: Carnival of the Animals, which parodies the music of Offenbach, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Rossini, and is usually accompanied by the delicious nonsense poetry of Ogden Nash. Here’s a performance by the Zagreb Music Academy Chamber Orchestra, and Nash’s opening lines go:

Camille Saint-Saëns
Was wracked with pains,
When people addressed him,
As Saint Sanes.
He held the human race to blame,
Because it could not pronounce his name.
So, he turned with metronome and fife,
To glorify other kinds of life.
Be quiet please —    for here begins
His salute to feathers, fur, and fins.

Another famous work is his Danse macabre, a Halloween favorite, recorded here on a Brunswick 78 record by Nikolai Sokoloff and The Cleveland Orchestra in 1926.

Reynaldo Hahn, another French composer (though he was born in Venezuela, where he spent only the first three years of his life), was born on this day in 1875. He’s celebrated for his vocal music, and one of his most popular songs is À Chloris, sung here by Matthew Maisano on his Cleveland Institute of Music master’s recital in 2016, and more recently by Joyce DiDonato on last May’s “Call to Unite” 24-hour global pandemic initiative. DiDonato impressively serves as her own collaborative pianist.

by Daniel Hathaway

PLAGUES REMEMBERED:

This week in “Resilience,” Apollo’s Fire is revisiting in words and music London’s Great Plague of 1665 and the cholera and dysentery outbreaks during America’s Civil War. In the same vein, British-born conductor Nicholas McGegan — music director emeritus of the Bay Area’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and popular guest conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra —  spent part of the pandemic lockdown developing an illustrated lecture about the 1665 pestilence. It streams at 2:00 pm on October 14. Read an article in San Francisco Classical Voice here.

THIS WEEK FROM MUSICAL AMERICA:

Nashville Symphony principal oboe Titus Underwood is featured in the latest episode of “Musical America Unscripted.” Today marks the anniversary of that venerable publication, which brought out its first issue in 1898. (And check out MA’s weekly survey of streaming events. There’s a link at the top of our Concert Listings page.)

HAPPENING TODAY:

We already mentioned Apollo’s Fire’s “Resilience” concerts that begin tonight in Akron (read our feature story here). Also tonight, organist Christopher Houlihan brings his Vierne 150th Festival to a conclusion with a solo recital of works by Louis Vierne from the chapel of Trinity College Hartford (see the Almanac below for more about the French organist).

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German composer Heinrich Schütz was born in Kostritz on this date in 1585. Renowned for his evocative settings of texts, Schütz’s vocal music comes in all shapes and sizes, from two-part motets that reflected the decimation of choirs during the Thirty Years War, to splendid polychoral works he wrote after study trips to Venice. It’s a pity that his only opera, Daphne, has been lost.

Listen here to Concerto Palatino perform his astonishingly expressive motet Anime mea liquefacta est from the Symphoniae Sacrae, and here to his funeral cantata, Ein Musikalische Exequien, a Protestant requiem commissioned long before it was needed by a patron who wanted to enjoy it while he was still alive. Lionel Bringuier leads the Belgian choir Vox Luminis, who sang most recently in Cleveland at St. John’s Cathedral in October, 2018.

French organist and composer Louis Vierne was born on this date in Poitiers. Legally blind, Vierne served as organist of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris from 1900-1937, collapsing at the console during a recital.

Tune in to the live stream of Christopher Houlihan’s all-Vierne recital tonight to hear him play selections from the 24 Pièces de fantaisie, Op. 51, and the Symphony No. 4, Op. 32. (Details in the Concert Listings).

There’s also a celebrated recording of Vierne’s Mass for choir and two organs recorded in Notre-Dame and featuring the composer’s later successor Pierre Cochereau. Listen here. (NB: most of the accompanying photos are of Notre-Dame in Montréal!)

On this date in 1930, Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo. Two of his nature-inspired compositions are available in performances by the CIM New Music Ensemble, Keith Fitch, director. Click on the links to watch Water-ways (from a November, 2015 concert), and Rain Spell (from February, 2018).

And Australian composer Carl Vine was born on October 8, 1954 in Perth. His Piano Sonata No. 1 was among the works that Cleveland International Piano Competition laureate Spencer Myer played in the 2005 contest. Watch those performances here and here.

by Jarrett Hoffman

HAPPENING TODAY:

Buckle up and be sure to charge that computer, there’s plenty to catch today — all online.

At 11:30 am, hear the poetry of Langston Hughes and music of the Harlem Renaissance in a presentation by Prester Pickett, Coordinator of Cleveland State’s Howard A. Mims African-American Cultural Center.

Along with that celebration of Black artists, we recommend a 7pm webinar devoted to issues and perspectives around race in music. “Black Reflections: Three Conversations on Racial Justice in Concert Music — Experiences of Black Artists” will be moderated by saxophonist and former Baldwin Wallace faculty member Steven Banks.

For live music delivered via stream, look no further than Trinity Cathedral’s Brownbag Concert at noon featuring the Decho Ensemble. Saxophonists Jake Swanson and Sarah Marchitelli play works by J.S. Bach, Jean-Baptiste Singelée, and Brahms.

Another live-streamed event comes at 7: organist Christopher Houlihan continues honoring “Vierne at 150” with a lecture, demonstration, and Q&A in advance of tomorrow’s performance to cap off the festival.

And for the best in re-broadcasts of past performances, you have two options: “Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra” at noon (von Suppé, Mendelssohn, and Mozart) and the Met Opera’s HD Archives (Wagner’s Das Rheingold).

See our Concert Listings for links and details.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Even people who want nothing to do with classical music have at least heard of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was born on this date in 1955 in Paris. He’s a household name — perhaps the most famous classical musician of his time? And there are many ways to give a snapshot of his career, from his earliest days as a child prodigy, to his bounty of awards and honors, and his remarkable flexibility of genre, from the classics to contemporary music, bluegrass, tango, and more.

But for once, the clearest picture of who a musician is might actually come from the first line of their own bio: “Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his enduring belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding.” I’ll point out two examples of that statement: his Silk Road Ensemble, devoted in large part to cross-cultural collaboration, and his Bach Project, which he famously brought to the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico last year.

Here’s just one performance to remember: Yo-Yo Ma joins violinist Itzhak Perlman, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and pianist Gabriela Montero in John Williams’ Air And Simple Gifts at President Obama’s Inauguration in January 2009.