by Daniel Hathaway
IN THE NEWS:
Oberlin Conservatory honored long-serving faculty members Michael and Marlene Rosen, Professors of Percussion and Voice, respectively, with a virtual retirement party last Tuesday. The online party culminated in an Oberlin Stage Left performance by the Oberlin Percussion Group conducted by Mike Rosen, who has taught at the school for 50 years (watch the performance here — scroll down to “New Release”). For a virtual celebratory toast, in keeping with newly-minted pandemic traditions, the Rosens provided a recipe for French 75, their favorite cocktail, in both original and non-alcoholic versions. Clink!
Apollo’s Fire has added outdoor concerts and touring dates to its summer schedule. Local concert sets include “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (May 30 & 31), and “Bach, Vivaldi & Friends” (July 10, 13 & 14). The Orchestra will be on the road for summer festival concerts at Tanglewood (July 16), Chautauqua (July 27), Caramoor (August 1), and Ravinia (August 3). Details here.
ORCHESTRAS RETURN:
The Canton Symphony returns to the stage of Umstattd Performing Arts Hall on Sunday, May 23 after a hiatus of 15 months for an in-person performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A. Details here.
And BlueWater Chamber Orchestra is recording a concert at the Maltz Performing Arts Center to be broadcast online on Thursday, May 27 at 7:30 pm. Daniel Meyer conducts “Honor, Hope and Gratitude: Tender reflections on a challenging year,” with guest pianist Angela Cheng. Complete information here.
COMPETITION NEWS AND AWARDS:
Cooper International Piano Competition veteran and ChamberFest young artist Evren Ozel has advanced to the finals in the Concert Artists Guild competition. Winners will be announced on June 8.
Two local groups, the Eiless Quartet (Senior Division) and the Lumiére Quartet (Junior Division) are scheduled to perform in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, to be live streamed on the Violin Channel from May 14-16.
And Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Vinay Parameswaren is among the fifteen recipients of career assistance awards from the Solti Foundation.
ONLINE AND IN-PERSON TODAY:
Check in for the first day of the 48th annual Fischoff Chamber Music competition, for Lunchtime With the Cleveland Orchestra (Uri Caine’s arrangement of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations), WCPN’s Applause Performances featuring Cleveland bossa nova king Moises Borges and percussion master Dylan Moffitt, Klaus Mäkelä and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Imani Winds with the Catalyst Quartet, and register for an in-person concert by CityMusic Cleveland at St. Stanislaus. Details here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Before lighting the birthday candles for historical figures born on May 14, let’s observe the passing of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel in 1847 at the too-young age of 43. That Felix Mendelssohn’s sister could hold her own is demonstrated in her piano cycle Das Jahr (played here on a doctoral recital in Montréal by Laurence Manning), and — all too appropriate during a pandemic — her “CholeraMusik” (Oratorium nach Bildung der Bibel), performed here by Cappella Clausura.
On to happier things, German conductor Otto Klemperer was born on this date in 1885 in Breslau, and forced to leave his post at the Hamburg Opera in 1915 after a scandal involving a recently married soprano. In popular culture, his son Werner probably eclipsed his fame as the actor who played the bumbling Colonel Klink in the CBS television series Hogan’s Heroes. But back to the concert world, here’s Otto Klemperer’s take on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the New Philharmonia Orchestra.
The life and career of American composer Lou Harrison, born on this date in 1917 in Portland, Oregon, is summarized in a documentary that includes interviews with John Cage and Virgil Thomson. For a taste of Harrison’s lively music, watch a performance here of his Concerto for Organ, Percussion, and Strings at Trinity Wall Street in April of 2017 by organist Chelsea Chen and Rutgers Percussion conducted by Patrick Gardner, during the Lou Harrison Centennial Festival.
And Cuban-American composer Tania León, born in Havana in 1943, is credited with introducing Afro-Cuban percussion instruments into symphonic works. Her five-movement Ritmicas is a fine example. The performance was organized by the Chicago Center For Contemporary Composition.
