Archives for April 2021

by Jarrett Hoffman

TODAY ON THE WEB:

At noon, Trinity Cathedral presents a Virtual Brownbag Concert by one of the premier arts and disabilities organizations in the U.S. — Dancing Wheels, a professional, physically integrated dance company uniting the talents of dancers both with and without disabilities. Freewill offering.

And at 7 pm, multi-instrumentalist and composer (and 2017 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow) Tyshawn Sorey performs on Youngstown State’s Pipino Performing Arts Series, in addition to giving a master class at 5:30 pm — both online, both free.

Details in our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

What was the last performance that George Frideric Handel attended, eight days before his death on this date in 1759? Somewhat fittingly, that would be his own Messiah, our focus today. Of course, there are a number of ways to delve into such an extensive and beloved work, let alone one that comes with a complex interpretive history.

We can start with some listening. One pair of contrasting options: an intimate performance here by Boston Baroque led by Thomas Pearlman (a video which also comes with a poignant message from one listener in the comments, posted during the pandemic), and a larger-scale take on the piece here from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Heard side by side, those recordings almost sound like two different pieces at the beginning, thanks to differences in the number of instruments, in the key, and even more so in tempo.

It’s also interesting to hear from a Messiah master such as conductor Jane Glover, who celebrated her 100th performance of the work during a slate of appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2018. Before those dates, ClevelandClassical.com’s Daniel Hathaway spoke to Glover about an array of topics surrounding the piece:

The range of performing forces she’s led, from choirs of 24 up to 450? (“Whatever you do with this remarkable piece, it comes up fresh as paint.”)

Condensing the work just slightly, as she prefers? (“I love every number, but I know that it becomes a very long evening if one is doing every golden note of it, so we have to make the odd nip and tuck.”)

Her preparation as a conductor? (She brings her own set of marked parts to every Messiah gig, which works out wonderfully — except for the one time they all got lost in the mail and never turned up.) 

What Handel might think of the piece’s popularity these days? (“Even for someone as confident and outgoing as he was, he would be astonished to learn what it has meant to every single generation of music lovers ever since.”)

It might also be fun to touch on one strange fact about the premiere, and one strange, possible myth about the piece. First the fact: a crowd of 700 people watched the first performance, on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, and to create space for seating, men were asked to remove their swords, while women were requested to wear dresses without hoops. I think it’s safe to say those aren’t such common problems today, but in their place, we have the phenomenon of manspreading. (“Hallelujah.”)

And now to that possible myth: that the custom of standing for the “Hallelujah” chorus dates back to Messiah’s London premiere in 1743, when King George II supposedly and suddenly stood up, and the rest of the audience followed suit to avoid offending him. The first mention of that occurrence doesn’t come until thirteen years later, raising doubts about whether that’s true at all.

But supposing it is true, it’s fun to run through the different reasons the king might have had for doing that. All sorts of theories have popped up. Was he simply moved by the music, more so there than at any other moment in the piece? Was he coming down with a bothersome case of pins and needles — relatable — or could it have been an attack of gout? Might he have just wanted to stretch his limbs after sitting for a couple hours? Had he been sleeping and startled awake by the chorus? Was he acknowledging what he somehow thought to be a tribute to him — the words “And He shall reign for ever and ever”?

Whatever the case, enjoy this performance of the “Hallelujah” Chorus by the Royal Choral Society and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and although we can’t see the audience stand up, you’ll hear it about fifteen seconds in. It’s accompanied by plenty of rustling, and at least one big cough — that joy of in-person concerts we’ll someday be reacquainted with.

By Daniel Hathaway

A CHANGE IN OUR NEWSLETTER SCHEDULE:

Beginning this week, our weekly newsletter will be emailed to subscribers at 5:00 pm on Wednesdays. This change will give the editors a bit more time to prepare the weekly Concert Listings and for our staff to write and copyedit articles before posting. Because details of the classical music scene can change so quickly these days, we recommend that you check the website frequently for new and updated information.

DALLAS INVITES THE MET ORCHESTRA:

Fabbio Luisi, who served as principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera before taking the helm at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (photo above), has invited some 50 of his former colleagues to Texas to join the DSO in two benefit performances of Mahler’s First Symphony on April 30 and May 1.

The MET Orchestra has been furloughed without pay since the house closed its doors on March 12, 2020, although recent negotiations with general manager Peter Gelb have yielded a plan for partial salary restoration. On their Facebook page, the MET musicians wrote, “We cannot overstate the impact this unprecedented collaboration will have on our members, both financially and artistically, after this long year of cultural famine.” Read more in New York Times articles here and here.

MIGNARDA RELEASES NEW ALBUM:

The voice and lute duo of Donna Stewart and Ron Andrico, who perform as Mignarda, announce the release of their 14th CD on April 10.

“Unquiet Thoughts presents a selection of rarities and perennial favorites by John Dowland (1563 – 1626) and a few of his contemporaries, concentrating on songs with exquisite poetical texts by some of the best poets of the Elizabethan age. It is no accident that we chose the very first song from Dowland’s First Booke as the title of our album, as the eloquent term so appropriately describes a genre that pairs an intimate voice with the most personal of instruments to express the secrets of the soul. Unquiet Thoughts is also the title of our blog (soon to be published in book form), which since 2010 has been a platform that offers our insights and experience of music for voice and lute and its relevance in the modern era.”

More details here.

EVENTS ON TODAY’S CALENDAR:

Two online events look forward to Baldwin Wallace’s upcoming virtual Bach Festival. Director Dirk Garner speaks to recent Conservatory alumni and Festival Choir members in this Tuesday’s edition of BACHCAST, and half a dozen young scholars discuss the projects they’re pursuing through the Riemenschneider Bach Institute.

Today’s breakfast-time stream from London’s Wigmore Hall (still available at lunchtime, tea time, and suppertime) features Christian Wolff’s setting of Susan Griffin’s text about Underground Railway figure Harriet Tubman, while the New York Festival of Song features works written during the pandemic. Performers include Oberlin alum Joshua Blue.

Russian piano wizard Daniil Trifonov will be featured in works by Debussy, Prokofiev, and Brahms he recorded in January for New York’s 92nd St. Y, and the Baltimore Symphony showcases some of its soloists in BSO Session—Spotlight.

And organist Paul Jacobs, who soloed with The Cleveland Orchestra in last week’s Focus 8 performance of the Poulenc Organ Concerto (when he also gave a tour of Severance Hall’s E.M. Skinner instrument), pops up this evening in a concert from the University of Minnesota featuring music by J.S. Bach and Handel.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Two very different musicians to remember on this 13th day of April, when French composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut died in 1377 in Reims, and Polish American pianist and avant-garde composer Frederic Rzewski was born in 1938 in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Machaut, whose musical creations helped define the Ars nova movement of the eventful fourteenth century, was equally active as the author of some 400 poems in the courtly love tradition. His Messe de Nostre Dame may have been the first cyclical setting of the Roman Catholic mass by a single composer. Listen here to a performance by the Ensemble Gilles Binchois in which other music appropriate to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is interleaved.

Just in time for his obsequies, Cleveland’s Les Délices has joined Boston’s Blue Heron to produce Machaut’s Lay of the Fountain. Read Mike Telin’s article here and watch the hour-long program here until April 19.

Rzewski had a traditional academic education at Phillips Academy, Harvard and Princeton, studying with Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and Milton Babbitt. Then he sojourned in Italy, where his career was influenced by Luigi Dallapiccolo and he was introduced to electronic music and improvisation.

Famous for politically-charged works, one of Rzewski’s most famous works is The People United Will Never Be Defeated! — 36 variations on Chilean leftist song meant to be a companion piece to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Conrad Tao plays it here at the 2020 Modern Music Festival. (While listening, think of editor Nicholas Slonimsky’s comment in Baker’s Dictionary: 

[Rzewski] is furthermore a granitically overpowering piano technician, capable of depositing huge boulders of sonoristic material across the keyboard without actually wrecking the instrument.”

by Jarrett Hoffman

BLOSSOM 2021:

Following a year’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Cleveland Orchestra has announced the return of Blossom Music Festival for 2021. The lineup currently includes eleven concerts running from July 3 to September 5 at Blossom Music Center, presented in accordance with local, state, and federal health guidelines. Subscriptions are now on sale, and individual tickets will be available beginning on May 3.

Read the press release for details about health and safety protocols, subscription options, the Under 18s Free program, and the cancellation of two previously announced movie concerts. And find the festival calendar below — but note that additional repertoire and guest artists will be announced in May.

AN AMERICAN CELEBRATION
Saturday, July 3, 2021 at 8:00 p.m.*
*with fireworks

The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell, conductor

Program to include:
Copland, Suite from Appalachian Spring
Tchaikovksy, 1812 Overture
Sousa, Stars and Stripes Forever

MOZART IN THE MEADOWS
Sunday, July 11, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Dame Jane Glover, conductor (Blossom Music Festival debut)

Program to include:
Mozart, Symphony No. 40

THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK: Gershwin and Ellington
Sunday, July 18, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Lucas Waldin, conductor
Capathia Jenkins, vocalist

Program to include:
Gershwin, Fascinating Rhythm
Ellington, Satin Doll
Kern, All the Things You Are
Gershwin, The Man I Love
Gershwin, Summertime

FROM THE NEW WORLD
Sunday, July 25, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Rafael Payare, conductor (Cleveland Orchestra debut)

Program to include:
Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)

BEETHOVEN’S SEVENTH SYMPHONY
Sunday, August 1, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Program to include:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7

CLASSICAL MYSTERY TOUR: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES
Sunday, August 8, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Martin Herman, conductor (Cleveland Orchestra debut)
with Classical Mystery Tour

TCHAIKOVSKY’S FOURTH
Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Karina Canellakis, conductor (Cleveland Orchestra debut)

Program to include:
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4

ROMANTIC BRAHMS
Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Jahja Ling, conductor

Program to include:
Brahms, Symphony No. 3

ENIGMA VARIATIONS
Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Elim Chan, conductor (Cleveland Orchestra debut)

Program to include:
Elgar, Enigma Variations

HOLLYWOOD UNDER THE STARS
Saturday, September 4, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra
Richard Kaufman, conductor

TODAY ON THE WEB:

Off to London and New York today. Wigmore Hall kicked off the morning — at least over here in Eastern Time — with a concert by Benjamin Appl and pianist James Baillieu, and will follow up this afternoon with pianist Imogen Cooper (both will be available on demand for 30 days). NYC brings us the Met Opera’s nightly stream (Massenet’s Cendrillon), CMS Lincoln Center’s exploration of Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, and a program focusing on “The Art of the 21st Century Trombone” from Cutting Edge Concerts. Details in Musical America’s streaming guide.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

The Amati are one of the most important families of luthiers in the history of the violin, and on this date in 1684, the greatest instrument maker in that family, Nicola Amati, died in Cremona, Italy. Some say that his instruments, particularly the larger and wider “Grand Pattern” ones, were known for producing more power in their tone. On the other hand, the Smithsonian Institution describes the instruments as beautiful and penetrating in their sound, though not powerful. Have a look at one of the instruments in the possession of the National Museum of American History here, and watch a short demonstration of both an Amati and a copy on YouTube.

And Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé was born on this date in 1933. A beautiful summary of her life and career can be found in her 2018 obituary by Margalit Fox in The New York Times, in which Fox describes her as “among the last of the old-time prima donnas for the transcendent purity of her voice, the sweeping breadth of her repertory and the delirious adulation of her fans…” Here’s a pairing to show off her beautiful voice in two very different contexts: “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and the single “Barcelona” from the album of the same name, a collaboration with Freddie Mercury.

Blossom photo by Roger Mastroianni

By Daniel Hathaway

CONCERTS THIS WEEKEND:

If the current trends continue, we’ll be posting an increasing number of in-person events in the Concert Listings. There are two on Sunday: CityMusic Cleveland at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus at 3:00 pm, and French chamber music on the Sacred Heart Concert Series in Oberlin (pictured) at 5:00 pm.

Online only events on Saturday include NPR’s Amplify with Lara Downes, Oberlin Conservatory Large Ensembles, and the JACK Quartet with Shai Wosner.

On Sunday, there’s the New World Symphony with Matthias Pintscher and pianist Inon Bartanan, the CIM New Music Ensemble, Kent’s Black Squirrel Winds on Hudson’s Music from the Western Reserve series, violinist Jennifer Koh, and Chanticleer.

See our Concert Listings for details.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

There are only birthdates to honor this weekend. For April 10, that includes French jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling (1930, in Cannes), and Uzbek pianist Yefim Bronfman (1958 in Tashkent).

For April 11, it’s a longer list: French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682 in Avignon), Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni (in 1866 in Empoli, near Florence), American composer, conductor, organist, and music critic Harvey B. Gaul (1881, in New York), Czech conductor Karel Ancerl (1908 in Tucapy), and Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916 in Buenos Aires).

We’ll concentrate on Ginastera, the most prominent composer on the list, who like many Porteños (denizens of Buenos Aires) was of mixed Spanish and Italian ancestry — his father was Catalan, his mother Italian. He spent most of his career in Argentina, with brief sojourns in the U.S. (the first in 1945-47 to study with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood) before moving to Europe in 1970. (Photo: Ginastera with his wife, Argentine cellist Aurora Natola, and Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.)

Ginastera’s compositions incorporated varying elements of traditional Argentine music in the course of his career, though those influences became more abstract over the decades.

Cleveland Orchestra principal cello Mark Kosower recorded the First Cello Concerto with his former orchestra, Germany’s Bamberg Symphony (follow along with the score), and played the Second Concerto with Cleveland in October of 2018 (here’s a brief excerpt from a Severance Hall  rehearsal with guest conductor Gustavo Gimeno).

In other Cleveland Orchestra performances, George Szell led Pampeana No. 3 in a live concert in November, 1956, and Louis Lane conducted the Variaciones Concertantes in a live radio broadcast in 1969.

More recently, Oberlin Harp Professor Yolanda Kondonassis recorded the Ginastera Harp Concerto on the Oberlin Music CD Ginastera: One Hundred. Her performance of the work with Raphael Jiménez and the Oberlin Orchestra was also featured in the inaugural edition of Oberlin Stage Left, where she talks about the piece with Conservatory Dean William Quillen.