by Daniel Hathaway
TODAY’S FEATURED VIDEO:
Continuing this week’s Earth Day theme, click here to watch Act III of Margaret Brouwer’s Voice of the Lake. “Evening Near the River. The soprano and mezzo have been on a camping trip along Lake Erie and near the Maumee River. They have seen parts of the lake and the river filled with algae, seen some of the causes of the algae, and some things that are being done to improve or alleviate the situation. The soprano sings that she is filled with fear for the lake and the people and the mezzo sings a lullaby to help her sleep. The mezzo shares photos of what they have seen.”
Domenico Boyagian leads Brouwer’s Blue Streak Ensemble and Chamber Singers with Angela Mortellaro, soprano, Sarah Beaty, mezzo-soprano, Brian Skoog, tenor, and Bryant Bush, bass and the CIM Children’s Choir in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music on October 19, 2018.
STREAMING TODAY:
The second episode of The Cleveland Orchestra’s new podcast series, On a Personal Note, is available beginning today. In “A Romance with Rosenkavalier,” violinist Katherine Bormann muses about whether you can be in a long-term relationship with a composition, and talks about why she’ll stick with Richard Strauss’s Rosenkavalier Suite until the end. Listen here.
Other online highlights: Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra, Shai Wosner and Orion Weiss from Carnegie Hall, Oberlin Stage Left’s Rands at Oberlin with a sneak peak at English hornist Robert Walter’s performance of Bernard Rands’ concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra, and a mix of American Songbook tunes, harpsichord music and a Beethoven’s Birthday medley on Piano Cleveland’s Quarantine Concert Series. Check the Concert Listings for details.
BW VIRTUAL BACH FESTIVAL:
In a normal year, the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival would be the highlight of this late April weekend. Instead, BW will revisit past performances online Friday and Saturday. The cancellation of events also means that the usual open house at the Riemenschneider Bach Institute won’t happen. But Paul Cary, the director of BW’s Jones Music Library, has put together an online exhibit of one of the Institute’s most valuable holdings for this, its 50th Anniversary. Take a look here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
On this date in 1564, English playwright William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Here are two performances by local musicians of music inspired by or dating from the lifetime of The Bard. Lutenist Ron Andrico and vocalist Donna Stewart of Mignarda performed at the 2016 launch of “Shakespeare in Cleveland” at Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library (the music starts 7 minutes in). And lutenist Brian Kay, a regular member of Apollo’s Fire, presented “Music of Shakespeare’s Time” on CCBC TV, the public access channel of the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland in March, 2017.
Also on today’s date in 1891, composer and pianist Sergei Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka, Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine. Combine Shakespeare and Prokofiev in this brief selection from the ballet Romeo and Juliet performed by The Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst from January of this year. And enjoy a celebrated recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 by Gary Graffman and the Orchestra, George Szell conducting.