by Daniel Hathaway
The COVID pandemic has played with our concept of the passage of time so greatly that when Oberlin Opera announced it was staging Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s La finta giardiniera in March, many of us said to ourselves: Didn’t they just perform that piece recently?
No, it’s been ten years since Jonathan Field’s outsized rabbits lock-stepped across the Hall Auditorium stage, adding another layer of absurdity to an already harebrained plot.
The opera centers on the pretend garden-girl of the title, Violante. Having been stabbed and left for dead by her jealous lover, Count Belfiore, Violante is still in love with him and seeks him out. She and her servant Roberto take up fake identities (under the names Sandrina and Nardo, respectively) as gardeners at the estate of the Podestà (a type of mayor). A love heptagon ensues, involving those mentioned plus the Podestà’s housekeeper (Serpetta), niece (Arminda), and niece’s ex-lover (Don Ramiro). [Read more…]
Of the many orchestra performances held at Severance Music Center in a given year, only one of them features a musician roster made up entirely of women. This brief break from the status quo comes courtesy of the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, which has been performing in the space now known as Mandel Concert Hall for 90 years.
This article was originally published on 
This article was originally published on 
