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Archives for October 2023

Oberlin Artist Recital Series: Seraph Brass at Finney (Oct. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

In Medieval angelology, “Seraph” refers to the highest order of the nine ranks of angels, often depicted playing trumpets, whose members are associated with light, ardor, and purity.

In brassology, “Seraph” denominates an all-female brass organization, now in its 10th year, whose playing embraces all those astral virtues, plus impressive stamina, breathtaking virtuosity, and an engaging sense of showmanship.

Although angels are traditionally genderless, Seraph Brass was established “with a mission to showcase the excellence of female brass players and highlight musicians from marginalized groups, both in personnel and in programming.”

Performing in their usual configuration as a quintet, Seraph founder and trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpeter Raquel Samayoa, hornist Rachel Velvikis, trombonist Elisabeth Shafer, and tubist Robyn Black recently visited Oberlin to give master classes, hold a lunch conversation, and play an evening performance on Friday, October 13. [Read more…]

Renée Fleming & Friends at Severance (Oct. 15) 

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  by Peter Feher

“Farewell” was the final word that the audience heard at Severance Music Center on Sunday, October 15. The evening couldn’t have ended in a more fitting fashion, considering the talent that made this performance in Mandel Concert Hall one for the history books.

In 2017, soprano Renée Fleming disputed The New York Times’ intimation that she was retiring from the operatic stage, but the no-nonsense diva has closed a certain chapter in her singing career in order to embark on another. Since turning 60, Fleming has focused almost exclusively on projects to which she has a personal connection, evangelizing on behalf of the composer-friends who have written pieces for her.

Penelope, by the late musical polymath André Previn, is one such work and something of an all-star chamber production. [Read more…]

Detroit Opera: playing with perspective in Madame Butterfly (Oct. 15) 

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by Kevin McLaughlin

The Madame Butterfly performed at Detroit Opera last Sunday, October 15, reminded us of this opera’s stubborn beauty. Puccini’s ravishing score, coupled with radiant singing, sparkling sets, and inspired lighting and costumes, overtook potential criticism of its perspectival flaws.

Don’t get me wrong — there is much bigotry and male and racial chauvinism to call out in David Belasco’s play and Giuseppe Giacosa’s and Luigi Illica’s libretto, as well as a lack of agency of the lead. And Detroit’s Japanese and Japanese American artistic team of Matthew Ozawa (artistic director), Kimie Nishikawa (scenic design), Maiko Matsushima (costumes), and Yuki Nakase Link (lighting) did so, but without changing much.

Their version (a co-production with Cincinnati Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Utah Opera) leans into the white male fantasy aspect of the story, rather than mitigate or excuse it. [Read more…]

CityMusic Cleveland celebrates Black Excellence (Oct. 19) 

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by Kevin McLaughlin

“Celebrating Black Excellence” was CityMusic’s organizing theme for the latest of their 2023-24 season presentations, held at the sound-absorbent East Zion Baptist Church on Thursday, October 19.

You can quibble about how “Black” the program was, with a lineup that included Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto, selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Manuel de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance.

But as for “Black excellence,” there was an abundance. Works by Jessie Montgomery, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and William Grant Still each sparkled in smart, moving, and inspiring ways. And the three vocal soloists, all current students at Oberlin Conservatory, shone.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, October 24, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

12:00 pm – Tuesday Noon Organ Plus Concert: Students from the Oberlin Conservatory Department of Historic Performance Practice. Program to be announced. Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Freewill offering.

7:30 pm – Tuesday Musical Association: Cuarteto Latinoamericano. “Mexico: A Musical Journey.” Cuarteto Latinoamericano and scholar Benjamin Juarez explore connections in Mexican visual art, history, and culture through the music of six iconic composers, alongside a narrated multimedia presentation of paintings. E.J. Thomas Hall, University of Akron, 198 Hill St. Tickets available online.

For details, visit our Concert Listings.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, October 23, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Announcements: Ohio Arts Council announces approval of $600K in grants

•Job listings & opportunities: bookkeeper at Firelands Symphony, after-school coordinator for Piano Cleveland, Saxophone & Jazz Day at Dana School of Music, U of A All-Star Band and Honor Band, and OMEA Solo Prep Day

•In the news: two Israeli Philharmonic musicians on the outbreak of war

•Almanac: Alexander Andreyevich Archangelsky & Ned Rorem

[Read more…]

Remembering Stephen Rubin

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by Daniel Hathaway

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Stephen Rubin on October 13.

Well-known as the successful publisher of a stream of best-selling books, Rubin was also deeply committed to the preservation and advancement of classical music journalism, and ClevelandClassical.com has been a direct recipient of his largesse.

Appalled by the gradual disappearance of critical writing from the pages of mainstream newspapers, he launched the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism at the Oberlin Conservatory in 2011 in cooperation with Dean David Stull.

The first Institute was held at Oberlin in January, 2012, when ten students (pictured below) wrote overnight reviews of Finney Chapel performances to be evaluated by a panel of leading critics.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, October 21-22, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Saturday’s events begin at 7 with Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival’s mashup of Bach & Bartok with pianists Zarina Melik-Stepanova & Alexandra Nguyen & Jamie Ryan & Josh Ryan, percussion, in Gamble Auditorium.

Marking the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder in Wyoming, on Saturday at 7 Avon Lake UCC, Gregory Ristow will conduct the first of two performances by Cleveland Chamber Choir & Lakewood High School Chamber Choir of Craig Hella Johnson’s affecting modern oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard. The program will be repeated on Sunday at 4 at Trinity Cathedral (rehearsal pictured above).

Also on Saturday, at 7:30, organist Robert Mollard will join Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony for Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Worship, Ottorino Respighi’s Church Windows & Camille Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony at. E.J. Thomas Hall.

On Saturday at 8 pm, Jeannette Sorrell will lead Apollo’s Fire in a one-night-only performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Amanda Forsythe & Sonya Headlam, sopranos, Cody Bowers, countertenor, Jacob Perry, tenor, Edward Vogel, baritone, and Apollo’s Singers in Kulas Hall at CIM.

Saturday wraps up with “A Night in Hollywood,” an 8 pm concert by Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Carl Topilow, conducting, at Severance Music Center.

There’s more to Easter Island than its iconic statues, as pianist Mahani Teave will prove in her 2 pm recital on Sunday on the Tri-C Classical Piano Series at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Island native will perform works from her debut album, Rapa Nui Odyssey.

And there’s more keyboard music on Sunday: At 4 pm, organist Daniel Colaner will play a solo recital at the Shrine of St. Stanislaus, and at 5 pm, pianist Zsolt Bognár will perform on the Music From the Western Reserve series at Christ Church, Hudson. [Read more…]

DIARY: Friday, October 20, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus will host composer and conductor Eric Whitacre (pictured), with cellist Mingyao Zhao & pianist Daniel Overly in a Severance Music Center performance of Reena Esmail’s When the Violin and Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil.

Across East Boulevard, but also at 7:30, JoAnn Falletta will guest conduct the CIM Orchestra, with Micah Kroeker, trombone, in Brian Raphael Nabors’ Upon Daybreak, Ferdinand David’s Concertino for Trombone, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo and Juliet in Kulas Hall.

And across town at 8 at Convivium 33 Gallery, Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project will present Dutch composer, vocalist, poet and visual artist Jaap Blonk.

For details, visit our Concert Listings.

INTERESTING READS:

New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe sums up the character and career of the Emerson String Quartet on the eve of their final performances at Alice Tully Hall. Read “After 47 Years, the Emerson Quartet Has One More Weekend” here.

According to a 2023 report on racial, ethnic and gender diversity prepared by the League of American Orchestras, Black musicians account for just 2.4 percent of orchestra members in the United States.

But not at the Gateways Music Festival, which this week will celebrate the 30th anniversary of an initiative established in 1993 by Juilliard-trained pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: Splendour in London at Church of the Gesu (Oct. 15)

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by Daniel Hathaway

After the dreary and destructive 17th-century Puritans had committed regicide, pillaged churches, padlocked theaters, and nearly succeeded in quashing all culture in England, Britain was thirsty for some public grandeur once the monarchy had been restored in the 1660s. At Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal, and in London’s newly reopened theaters, Henry Purcell was ready to supply it.

On Sunday, October 15 at Gesu Church in University Heights, Jeannette Sorrell led Apollo’s Fire and Singers in “Splendour in London,” a smorgasbord of Royal music by Purcell and his equally celebrated 18th century successor, George Frideric Handel. [Read more…]

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