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Ohio Light Opera: Hello, Dolly! (June 23)

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by Daniel Hathaway

On June 23, Ohio Light Opera rang up the curtain on the second production of its 43rd season in Freedlander Theatre at The College of Wooster. Following on the heels of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, the company’s first-ever staging of Hello, Dolly! continued the inclusion of Broadway in OLO’s repertoire.

The story line has its origin in an 1855 play and an 1842 farce that Thornton Wilder mined for his 1938 play The Merchant of Yonkers. When that turned out to be a flop, in 1954 Wilder made the crucial decision to re-center the show around the character of the legendary marriage broker Dolly Gallagher Levi and renamed it The Matchmaker. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, June 27, 2022 

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by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S ENTRIES:

. Walker, Ives, and Furtwängler on today’s “Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music”

. Update on Cliburn gold medalist Yunchan Lim, Youth Wind Symphony joins CSU

. Almanac features Happy Birthday composer & piano sonatas by George Walker on his natal anniversary

ON TODAY:

2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Radio Broadcast: Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, Eric Charnofsky, host. George Walker’s Five Fancies for clarinet and piano four hands, William Bland’s Sonata No. 4 for guitar and piano, Charles Ives’ Turn Ye, Turn Ye for choir and pipe organ, and Wilhelm Furtwängler’s second symphony. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend of June 24-26, 2022  

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by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. a long list of concerts in all shapes, flavors and sizes

. taking note of births and first performances: Terry Riley, William Grant Still, and Magnus Lindberg

THIS WEEKEND’S EVENTS:

The results of ENCORE’s String Quartet Intensive will be on display in three Young Artist Concerts on Friday at 7pm, and Saturday at 4pm and 7pm at Gilmour Academy’s Dodero Center in Gates Mills.

ChamberFest Cleveland presents “Color X Expanse” on Friday at 7:30 at Disciples Church, visiting piano music by Fritz Kreisler and George Walker, Kodaly’s Violin/Cello Duo and Fauré’s Piano Quintet. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: Davin-Levin guitar & harp duo (June 3)

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by Daniel Hathaway

You’d think that two instruments that create their sound by plucking strings might not provide enough variety to sustain interest over the course of a whole program, but guitarist Colin Davin and harpist Emily Levin have news for you.

The Davin-Levin Duo played the second recital of the 2022 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival on June 3 in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Their engaging program, containing original arrangements of 20th-century works and a recent piece, was the first of four during the festival to feature guitarists playing with other instrumentalists, and Davin and Levin made the most of their opportunity to plunge into the rich possibilities of collaboration. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: Zooming with cellist & rising star Jonathan Swensen

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by Mike Telin

When looking at cellist Jonathan Swensen’s Facebook page, you can’t help but think that he is one busy guy. And one who has a good time doing what he does.

“I’m enjoying the traveling and the discovery that come with this life,” he said over Zoom. “Every audience and every hall has its special charm. I love experiencing different cultures. But it’s funny because I can go to so many places where I don’t speak anyone’s language, and be able to share something that comes from the heart. Something which any listener can understand, and that is very nice.”

Leading up to Swensen’s ChamberFest Cleveland debut on Thursday, June 23 at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall, I reached him at his home in Copenhagen. [Read more…]

Stars in the Classics to present al fresco Summer Shows

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by Daniel Hathaway

Textile artist Jodi Kanter has developed a second career as a musical impresario. As artistic director of M.U.S.i.C. (Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics), she heads a non-profit organization that searches out talented young musicians, gives them the opportunity to perform in concerts they curate themselves, and compensates them for their services.

Those opportunities come in the form of two styles of concerts each season: Classical Cabarets and Musical Salons. The latter, presented in the intimate settings of private homes, include Mid-Winter Musical Salons, Spring Salons, Halloween Salons, and Holiday Salons.

Recently, Kanter has added outdoor events to the mix. [Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, June 22, 2022

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by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S ENTRIES:

. Hello Dolly! at Ohio Light Opera

. Almanac: Sir Peter Pears, Jeffrey Mumford, and Darius Milhaud celebrate anniversaries of their debuts 

ON TODAY:

At 2:00 pm Ohio Light Opera presents Cinderella, music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II at Freedlander Theatre, 329 E. University St., Wooster. Purchase tickets here.

To check out live concerts happening this week in Northeast Ohio, see our Concert Listings. [Read more…]

The Sparks Fly Upward at the Maltz PAC (June 12)

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by Daniel Hathaway

“Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward,” a line from The Book of Job, inspired the title of a full-length opera that received its Cleveland premiere last weekend at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. I saw the last of four performances on Sunday afternoon, June 12.

With libretto and music by Cathy Lesser Mansfield, the opera, which really more resembles a staged oratorio, filled the stage of Silver Hall with the 40-member cast and chorus.

The Sparks Fly Upward traces the saga of three families, two Jewish (the Rosenbaums and the Steins), one Christian (the Webers), beginning in the fall of 1938, when the Nazis start deporting Jews to Poland and the atrocities of Kristallnacht signal troubles to come. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, June 20, 2022

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by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S ENTRIES:

. Yesterday was Juneteenth, celebrating the end of slavery in 1865, but only established as a federal holiday in 2021 and not widely implemented until 2022. Since it falls on Sunday this year, we celebrate it on the following Monday

. Almanac: the birth of pianist André Watts in 1946, the debut of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring at Glyndebourne in 1947, and the first public demonstration of Columbia Records’ 33-rpm “Long Playing” discs at a press conference in New York City in 1948

. Early warning: astronomically speaking, Summer begins tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21 at 5:13 am with the Summer Solstice

ON TODAY:

Tune in to Eric Charnofsky’s “Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music” today at 2pm for two hours’ worth of newish music, with works by Frank Martin, Joan Tower, Stephen Whittington, Zvronimir Nagy, Marin Marais, and Mark John McEncroe. (Question: which of these composers is a stowaway on a program of recent music?) [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Spirited Away” at Disciples Church (June 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The post-COVID era may be on the horizon, but it hasn’t arrived yet. That dastardly microbe that has wrought havoc in the performing arts world for more than two years is still on the prowl.

Just ask Jessica Peek Sherwood, ChamberFest Cleveland’s new executive director, whose first official acts since coming on board June 1st have been to replace musicians whose positive test results have left them on the sidelines.

Swapping out individuals in a festival roster can often be accomplished quickly and efficiently, as for ChamberFest’s opening concert when Rising Star Sterling Elliott offered to step in for another cellist without missing a beat. It’s not so simple when a guest ensemble like King’s Return, the Dallas male vocal quartet, is scheduled to headline a concert. [Read more…]

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