by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. Today’s events: Eric Charnofsky on WRUW, a duo cello recital at Harkness Chapel and Cleveland Art Song Festival gets underway
. In the News: a new opera at Spoleto USA and great reviews at home for The Cleveland Orchestra in the NY Times
. The Almanac: birthdays of Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Edmund Rubbra, Alicia de Larrocha, and Robert Moog.
TODAY’S EVENTS
From 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm today, tune in the radio broadcast of Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music from WRUW at Case Western Reserve University with host Eric Charnofsky. His playlist includes works by New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn, Ottorino Respighi, Georges Auric, John Corigliano, and Swedish Festival Music by August Söderman. Click here to listen to the internet feed. At 7:30 pm, cellists Evan Fein (Juilliard School) and Ragnar Jónsson (Iceland) perform works by Elliott Carter, Fein, Morton Feldman and Brahms in Harkness Chapel at Case (ticketed event).
Then at 8:00 pm Cleveland’s Art Song Festival celebrates its return to live concerts with a recital by soprano Tamara Wilson and pianist Warren Jones (pictured above) in Mixon Hall at CIM. “Enchantment,” includes the world premiere of Evan Snyder’s Tiffandra’s Spellbook, and works by Debussy, Severac, Chausson, Han, Handel, Strauss, and Grieg. Tickets available online. Read our preview articles here and here.
To check out concerts happening this week see our Concert Listings.
INTERESTING READ:
Spoleto Festival USA is scheduled to premiere Rhiannon Giddens’ new opera Omar. Read the New York Times article here.
The Cleveland Orchestra attracted a lot of attention from The New York Times with their performances of Schubert and Verdi on their home turf. Read Zachary Woolfe’s review here, and Clevelandclassical.com’s review here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
On May 23, 1885, Paraguayan composer Agustín Barrios Mangoré was born in San Bautista de las Misiones. The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society presented Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas in a 2020 online concert devoted to his music, including special guests Paquito D’Rivera (clarinet), Milagros Caliva (bandoneon), and Marcelo Enrique Barrios (the composer’s great-grandson).
Add Edmund Rubbra, born in 1901 in Northampton, to the list of underperformed British composers who should receive more exposure. Harry Christophers talks about a new recording he’s made of Rubbra’s music with The Sixteen here.
Mark the birthday of Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha, born on this date in 1923 with a special tribute filmed on the 91st anniversary of that event.
Finally, take note of the birthday in New York of American experimental composer Robert Moog on May 23, 1934, with a two-part Pacific Radio interview conducted in his studio that covers the invention of the synthesizer named after him, and the music written for it.