by Daniel Hathaway
When Joseph Bologne, aka Chevalier Saint-Georges, the dashing, mixed-race fencing champion born around 1839 on the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe hung up his sabre, he took up his violin in its place and entered Parisian high society as a composer and virtuoso soloist.
He also organized the commissioning and conducted the premieres of Haydn’s “Paris” symphonies, and helped establish the format and style of the classical string quartet in his spare time.
In addition to penning violin concertos for himself, Bologne wrote symphonies concertantes and half a dozen comic operas, of which only one survives in nearly complete form. L’amant anonyme received a colorful, sweetly tuneful, if dramatically uneventful production by Oberlin Opera from November 6-9 in Hall Auditorium. I saw the show on Sunday afternoon with the Friday-Sunday cast. [Read more…]
“At 50, The Takács Quartet Remains As Essential as Ever,” The New York Times 
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These days, the Danish String Quartet keep their touring schedule simple. Arrive in a new city in the morning, play a concert in the evening, and repeat. That’s not because the group doesn’t like exploring new places — it’s because they’ve got little ones waiting at home.
At Severance Music Center on Friday, November 7, the lights dimmed, Saul Bass’s spirals began to spin, and The Cleveland Orchestra launched into Bernard Herrmann’s score for Vertigo, the second Alfred Hitchcock film (after Psycho) they’d played live-to-picture that week.