by Daniel Hathaway
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:
FRIDAY
Today at 9 am and 2 pm, Piano Cleveland continues the first round of its Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. repeated Daily through Sunday afternoon, online only.
Tonight at 7 pm, CIM Opera Theater stages Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel in Mixon Hall, repeated on Sunday at 3.
And at 8:00 pm, Baldwin Wallace Opera Theater stages Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s operatic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Scott Skiba and conducted by Dean Buck at the Kleist Center in Berea. Repeated Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 3.
SATURDAY
At 7:30, Daniel Meyer conducts BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi (pictured) in works by Dmitri Kabalevsky & Leoš Janáček, and Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony at the Church of the Covenant.
At the same hour, Mélisse Brunet will lead the Canton Symphony, soprano Jessica Leigh, soprano, bass-baritone Sunghoon Han, and the Canton Symphony Chorus in Gabriela Lena Frank’s Adean Elegy and Johannes Brahms’s A German Requiem in Umstattd Hall at Zimmermann Symphony Center.
SUNDAY
At 3:30 pm, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra, Domenico Boyagian, conductor, with pianist Shuai Wang, will play Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.
At 4:00 pm, the CIM New Music Ensemble, Keith Fitch, director, will feature works by guest composer Libby Larsen and Fitch in Mixon Hall.
For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.
NEWS BRIEFS:
Oxford University’s Magdalen College Choir has announced that it will begin phasing girls into the ensemble for the first time since its founding in 1480. The Choir is best known for its Mayday morning ritual of singing carols from the chapel tower. Read the Oxford Mail story here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Apollo’s Fire will revive Jeannette Sorrell’s program “O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths” for performances from April 9-25 in Cleveland, New York City, Chicago, and London, with additional performances in Akron & Beachwood, and Evanston. IL. Read a press release here.
WEEKEND ALMANAC:
On March 27, 1927, Russian cellist and conductor Mistislav Rostropovich was born in Baku, and American composer and arranger Ferde Grofé was born in 1892 in New York City.
Click here to listen to a 1969 live performance of the Dvořák concerto featuring Rostropovich with George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra.
Grofé talks about his influence on Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in an excerpt from an interview (skip the silly stuff and start at 1:39), and conducts a rehearsal of his Mississippi Suite. And for sci-fi buffs, here’s a cleaned-up print of the 1950 film Rocketship X-M, with score by Grfd on this date in 2005, American pianist Grant Johanneson, who served as president of the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1977 to 1985 died in Berlin. Click here for a true blast from the past: Johanneson performs the third movement of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 83 on The Ed Sullivan Show, on May 5, 1963.
The Ed Sullivan Show aired from 1948 until 1971 and changed the landscape of American television. Sullivan’s stage was home to iconic performances by groundbreaking artists from rock ‘n’ roll, comedy, novelty, pop music, politics, sports, opera and more.
There were historic rock ‘n’ roll performances by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones and The Doors; sensational Motown acts by The Jackson 5, Supremes and Temptations; hilarious stand-up comedy acts by Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin and Carol Burnett; unforgettable Broadway performances by the stars of musicals like My Fair Lady and West Side Story. This list of who stepped on The Ed Sullivan Show stage goes on and on.
You might be wondering — how did The Ed Sullivan Show become the home to the top talent and historical performances of its era?
Often, talk show hosts are charming and competent on camera, yet maybe not the most business-savvy off-screen. Ed Sullivan was just the opposite—pasty in the bright lights, shifty in his stance, and notorious for bungling introductions and monologues.
Ironically, that high discomfort factor helped develop the cult of Ed. There was just something novel about an awkward host, and like a fender bender on the side of the highway, people just couldn’t avert their gaze.
Off camera, Sullivan was a brilliant tracker and arranger of talent. A variety show always has variety, but nothing was as eclectic as the mish-mash that Sullivan put together, from puppet shows to opera, the show had it all.
Click here to read the entire article.
