by Stephanie Manning
LOOKING AHEAD:
The first week of June gets off to a quiet start, but things will quickly pick up into the weekend as summer offerings like the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival and ENCORE Music & Ideas Festival kick into gear.
Learn more about what’s ahead by visiting our Concert Listings.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which has been going on since May 21 in Fort Worth, Texas, announced its six finalists last night. Among them is Evren Ozel (pictured, photo by Mike Grittani), the second-prize winner in last year’s Cleveland International Piano Competition. Local audiences may also recognize him from appearances at ChamberFest Cleveland and the Cooper Competition.
As part of the final rounds, Ozel will perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 tomorrow evening with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He will perform again on Friday, June 6 with Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4. All rounds can be streamed live here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
by Jarrett Hoffman
And to you, Sir, as well. Sir Edward Elgar was born on this date in 1857 in Lower Broadheath, England, outside of Worcester.
Classical musicians know him best for the orchestra piece Enigma Variations (heard here in a 1957 live recording by William Steinberg and The Cleveland Orchestra) and the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. But the general public is more likely to recognize the trio from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, a popular choice for graduation ceremonies — sometimes performed on repeat until every last senior has come and gone from the stage. (Pro tip for performers to keep themselves entertained: switch off every other note with your stand partner.)
Click here to watch Elgar conduct the trio as part of a ceremony marking the opening of Abbey Road Studios in 1931. (He instructs the orchestra to “play this tune as though you’ve never heard it before”). Or for a memento from the early months of the pandemic, hear Cleveland Orchestra trumpeter Michael Sachs play the melody as part of a congratulatory message to graduates in May of 2020.
Elgar was also a performer: an excellent violinist, as well as a bassoonist. Perhaps that was part of his inspiration behind the Op. 62 Romance — the other part being the playing of Edwin F. James, who was then the principal bassoon of the London Symphony, and who premiered the work in 1911 with Elgar on the podium.
Here are two recordings of this short, lyrical, poetic work. One as written, with that beautiful orchestration — listen here from bassoonist Klaus Thunemann and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, led by Sir Neville Marriner. And one that replaces the ensemble with an organ (yet another instrument in Elgar’s performing arsenal), creating a much more intimate color. Watch here from bassoonist Sophie Dervaux and organist Wolfgang Kogert.
That first link isn’t a video, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t contain anything visual of value. What accompanies the music is a still of a portrait of Elgar — and if you’re considering a change in your facial hair style, look no further than this full-bodied, elegantly shaped topiary of a mustache as something to aim for.
Hats off to you, Sir. Hats off to you indeed.
