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Cleveland Orchestra delivers magical night of American song with help from pianists Michael Feinstein, Jean-Yves Thibaudet (July 23)

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This article was originally published on Cleveland.com  

by Daniel Hathaway

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Michael Feinstein joined their four hands and Feinstein’s engaging vocals in a newly-minted cabaret show at Blossom on Sunday evening, July 23. “Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More?” explores well-known and rediscovered music by George Gershwin and other selections from The Great American Songbook, along with works by 20th-century classical composers interleaved with anecdotes and engaging chit-chat.

The show, now making the rounds of summer festivals, can either be performed with just two artists on a pair of grand pianos or with a full symphony orchestra. [Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, July 26, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at 2pm, Ohio Light Opera gives its next-to-last performance of Frank Loesser’s How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in Freedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster.

And tonight at 7:30 at Transformer Station in Hingetown, the Cleveland Museum of Arts’ City Stages presents the Toronto-based band Battle of Santiago (pictured), which “combines classic Afro-Cuban rhythms and vocals with a Canadian art-rock spirit and sensibility.”

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Oberlin Conservatory has added a  free, all-J.S. Bach piano recital by Ewa Poblocka to its Piano Festival on Saturday, July 29 at 8 in Warner Concert Hall. Details here. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: Yvonne Kálmán, A Link to the Silver Age of Operetta

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by Daniel Hathaway

After the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, the most frequently performed titles by Ohio Light Opera in the last four decades have been those of the Viennese composer Emmerich Kálmán. This summer, Arizona Lady marks the 14th Kálmán operetta OLO has produced, and the composer’s daughter Yvonne, who now lives in Mexico, is in town to see it. I caught up with her by telephone for a chat that covered a lot of ground in half an hour.

Daniel Hathaway: Are you enjoying your visit to Wooster? 

Yvonne Kálmán: Very much. I love it here. I’ve been here many times. They’ve done 14 of my father’s operettas. I haven’t been to all, but I’ve been to several, and I’ve enjoyed it very much. I’ve made some wonderful friends here and love coming back.

DH: OLO’s a great company, isn’t it? 

YK: It’s the best. The works are performed with complete devotion, and they bring out the best of the author’s intentions.

DH: And I think they’ve done more of your father’s operettas than those of any other composer. 

YK: Well, I’m very happy about that, but we’re not over yet. They have three more to do, and then I want them to start back at number one. [Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, July 25, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Pinafore sets sail only twice more in Wooster, :beta collective performs at Cain Park

. Oberlin Cooper Competition Pianists named, Les Délices announces 15th season, Cleveland Orchestra invites subscriptions to Severance in Recital series

. Almanac recalls oboist de Lancie’s wartime visits to Richard Strauss

HAPPENING TODAY:

It’s the final production week of the summer for Ohio Light Opera. Today at 2pm the  curtain at Freedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster will rise on the next-to-last performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore or The Lass That Loved a Sailor.

And at 7pm, Local 4 Music Fund will present :beta collective (pictured: Chris Anderson,  trombone, Chris Coles, alto sax, tenor sax, vocoder, Brad Wagner, soprano sax, tenor sax, bass clarinet, Theron Brown, keys, melodica, Will Wedmedyk, vibraphone, Aidan Plank, bass, Anthony Taddeo, drums & DB, guitar, compositions & programming) in the Alma Theater at Cain Park. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, July 24, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Charnofsky’s playlist

. BlueWater season

. Almanac remembers Ernst Bloch (pictured)

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 2:00 pm – Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, Eric Charnofsky, host. Featured music: Carlos Chavez’s Third Symphony, Johanna Selleck’s Spindrift (harp), Frank Bridge’s There is a willow grows aslant a Brook (viola/piano, arr. Benjamin Britten), Chen Yi’s Woodwind Quintet No. 3: Suite from China West, Hannah Lash’s Leander and Hero (woodwind quintet) & Ernest Bloch’s Visions and Prophecies (piano). Click here to listen to the internet feed: or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

NEWS BRIEFS:

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra has announced their 2023-24 season. Click here for details. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, July 21-23, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Light operas, carillons, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom

. Almanac notes invention of the metronome & quarter-tone pianos, the founding of Cleaveland & initiatives to perform all of J.S. Bach’s cantatas

HAPPENING THIS  WEEKEND:

Time is running out to catch one of the excellent Ohio Light Opera shows this summer. All six are running in repertory through July 30. Check out the calendar here and plan a road trip to Wooster for a matinee or evening performance.

It’s great weather for outdoor music, and what could be more al fresco than tower bells? On Friday, July 21 at 12:15, Keiran Cantilina, Church of the Covenant assistant carillonneur, will play “Music Old and New” on the Alexander McGaffin Carillon in University Circle, followed on Saturday at 6 by Katarzyna Takao-Piastowska, City Carillonneur of Emmerich am Rhein, Germany, who will play Polish music from the 16th & 19th centuries, and Polish Film and Cabaret music from the 20th century as well as American folk songs.

The Cleveland Orchestra performs twice this weekend at Blossom. On Saturday at 7, Kahchun Wong (read an interview here) conducts Yasushi Akutagawa’s Music for Symphony Orchestra, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Zlatomir Fung (pictured, read an interview here) & Debussy’s La mer. On Sunday at 7, Keith Lockhart conducts an innovative two-piano program featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet & Michael Feinstein (who also does vocals) in music from the world of George Gershwin, including Rhapsody in Blue. [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland: CIPC for Young Artists Concerto Final Round (July 15)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The last hurdle to be cleared on the way to the awarding of prizes in Piano Cleveland’s Competition for Young Artists brought the finalists to the stage of Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Saturday, July 15 to play concerto movements with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, led by Steven Byess.

Six items were on the docket: the three Junior Division players chose the opening movements of concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, and Grieg, while the three Seniors each chose Chopin, with only one repetition. Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg emceed the proceedings. I watched the well-produced webcast.

Concertos, which occupy a singular position in the orchestral ecosystem, are often performed with only a read-through beforehand, which means that both the soloist and the orchestra have to show up well-prepared. But anything can happen in the heat of battle — and adjustments have to be made on the spot with intelligence and sensitivity. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (July 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

In 1858, a French government critic described Offenbach’s first two-act operetta, Orpheus in the Underworld, as “a profanation of holy and glorious antiquity.” But instead of reacting to its “blasphemy and lascivious goings on” with shock and horror, Parisians flocked to see the show, which ran for a then-record of 288 performances.

Ohio Light Opera shows why in the production I saw — cleverly staged by Steven Daigle, brightly conducted by Michael Borowitz, and colorfully designed by Daniel Hobbs — in its opening performance at Freedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster on July 13. Satire can scarcely ever be overdone, and the opportunity to skewer society’s sacred cows — or its gods — opens many doors wide.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, July 19, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Orpheus in Hades in Wooster, Meridian Bros in Hingetown, Miami Quartet (pictured) in Kent

. Almanac remembers Peggy Stuart Coolidge & Will Marion Cook

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at 2, Ohio Light Opera descends into Hades with a matinee performance of Jacques Offenbach’s zany Orpheus in the Underworld in Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre.  At 7:30, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s City Stages series visits a variety of Latin music in a Transformer Station performance by Meridian Brothers, a five-piece band “with a strong psychedelic and experimental sensibility.”

Also at 7:30, the Miami Quartet makes its annual appearance on the Kent Blossom faculty series in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State with works by Schubert, Mendelssohn & Dvořák.

Click here to visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, July 17, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Charnofsky highlights Peter Schickele, IU memorializes André Watts

. Debut of Handel’s Water Music

HAPPENING TODAY:

Host Eric Charnofsky writes: “Music by Peter Schickele will highlight Monday’s edition (#505) of Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, in celebration of the composer’s 88th birthday! (and no, there will not be any PDQ Bach on the program this time). Other featured composers will include Beethoven, Verne Reynolds, Julius Benedict, and Gregg Wramage. Tune in Monday afternoon, 2-4 pm Eastern time, to 91.1 FM in Cleveland or the live stream link here:

R.I.P. ANDRÉ WATTS, 77

Pianist André Watts died of prostate cancer on Wednesday, July 12 at the age of 77. Read an obituary from The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where Watts taught beginning in 2004.

NEWS BRIEFS

Organizations that have recently released news of their 2023-2024 seasons include Apollo’s Fire and the Cleveland Museum of Art Fall Performing Arts Series. [Read more…]

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