by Daniel Hathaway
Although the momentum of musical events in Northeast Ohio typically slows down after the December holidays, and The Omicron Variant — which sounds like a new Robert Ludlum spy thriller — has led to a few cancellations and postponements this time around, the concert calendar still offers an interesting variety of performances. Here’s a rundown.
ORCHESTRAS
The Cleveland Orchestra welcomes Franz Welser-Möst back to town to lead three programs and the local debuts of two new works. On January 6, 7, and 8, Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le silence shares a program featuring Igor Levit (pictured above) in Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto, and on the 13th, 14th, and 15th, Bernd Richard Deutsch’s Intensity will separate two symphonies — Mozart’s No. 36 and Dvořák’s No. 8.
Vinay Parameswaran will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus on January 16 in the 42nd annual event celebrating the slain civil rights leader, in whose honor the Orchestra will also host a Community Day on January 17. The latter event features performances by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Youth Chorus, members of The Cleveland Orchestra, and a gospel ensemble. [The January 16 concert has now been postponed to Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 7:00 pm. The January 17 event is also postponed, new date TBA.]
The Akron Symphony has postponed two January-February concerts to the spring and summer, but the Youngstown Symphony will feature Cleveland Orchestra assistant concertmaster Stephen Tavani in the Brahms Concerto on January 16, and the Cleveland Pops will welcome jazz trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling as guest artist in a Severance performance on January 22.
OPERA
While Grand Opera remains an elusive art form in these parts, micro operas are alive and flourishing, and viewers can enjoy nine of them courtesy of Baldwin Wallace Voice Performance, Cleveland Opera Theater, and On Site Opera in three online broadcasts on January 14, 15, and 16. There’ll be an opportunity to talk back with the composers and librettists at the end of each half-hour performance. Details in our Concert Listings. [Note: these events have been rescheduled for February.]
CHAMBER MUSIC
Among visiting groups, Cleveland Chamber Music Society will present the Danish String Quartet (pictured) on January 25. Oberlin’s Sacred Heart Concert Series will take a shorter road trip to St. James Church in Lakewood for a performance by Housner & Company on the 16th.
Locally-produced chamber music includes performances by CityMusic Cleveland on the 21st (St. Stanislaus) and 22nd (St. Jerome) that will feature the premiere of a commissioned piece by Elena Ruehr.
Continuing the theme of new music, No Exit will once again join Zeitgeist from Minnesota’s Twin Cities, this time for premieres of works by Philip Blackburn and Edward Smaldone in three different venues: KSU’s Ludwig Recital Hall (27th), Heights Arts (28th), and the Bop Stop (29th).
SOLO RECITALS
On January 12, Youngstown State faculty violinist Wendy Case will play Brahms’ First Sonata with pianist YounJung Cha Gaun on the Music at Noon series in the Butler Institute of American Art, and Fine Arts Association faculty trombonist Matthew Saunders will play his own Twenty Variations in a 7 pm recital at the organization’s home in Willoughby.
The Donald P. Pipino Series at Youngstown State University continues on January 29 with a recital by composer, sound artist, and toy pianist Phyllis Chen at the McDonough Museum.
Organist Nicole Keller will take the Holtkamp organ in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art out for a spin on January 9 at 2 pm (NOTE: this recital has been postponed until spring due to the COVID surge.) And the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will host Daryl Robinson of Christ Church Cathedral, Houston at Immaculate Conception Church on Friday evening, January 28.
WORLD MUSIC LIVE AND ONLINE
The final weekend of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s “Revealing Krishna” exhibit will be enhanced by a concert of Cambodian ceremonial music and dance on January 28.
And beginning on January 20, Les Délices will continue its online programming with “The Highland Lassie: Music from 18th Century Scotland,” just in time for Robbie Burns Day (the 25th), and will release its SalonEra program “Ottoman Influence,” curated by Daphna Mor, beginning on January 31
Published on ClevelandClassical.com January 5, 2022.
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