by Kevin McLaughlin
Making their Cleveland debut on Monday, January 29 in Rocky River Chamber Music Society’s already highlight-filled season, the Busch Trio showed itself to be an astonishing young ensemble. They brought youth and energy, yes (all are still in their twenties), but they also brought a fearlessness to their program — trios of Mozart, Ravel, and Tchaikovsky — and a level of musicianship and precision that made this reviewer’s jaw drop.
by Kevin McLaughlin
There is something both artful and nonchalant about the songs of Rodgers & Hart. There is no sales job, no “look at this clever harmony, or this sly lyric.” Only effortless joy, romance, and wit. And sometimes performances — like the one by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and The Musical Theater Project at Maltz Performing Arts Center on Saturday night, January 27 — are just as smooth and smart.
“Smooth and Smart…Rodgers & Hart,” an evening of 25 songs with commentary — written, co-produced, and co-hosted by The Musical Theater Project’s Bill Rudman and the Jazz Orchestra’s Paul Ferguson — only confirmed the songs’ perfection. Rudman and Ferguson (pictured) were joined onstage by five horns from CJO, singer-pianist Joe Hunter, drummer Holbrook Riles III, bassist Aidan Plank, and vocalists Evelyn Wright and Michael Shirtz.
Rudman’s scripted commentary between musical numbers kept momentum on a smooth glide, as did film, audio clips, and slides. [Read more…]
by Kevin McLaughlin
“Celtic Celebrations” was the theme for the program comprising two Gaelic-themed symphonies performed by the Canton Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, January 20 at Umstattd Hall. A nice ring to it, even if actual Irishness or Scottishness was sometimes more in the mind than in the scores.
Gaelicism is present, of course, in the symphony nicknames — Felix Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” and Amy Beach’s “Gaelic” — as well as their respective germs of inspiration: Mendelssohn’s almost mystical giddiness after a trip to the Scottish countryside (though not realized in music until over a decade later), and Beach’s methodical use of Irish tunes (added to her own) to create an original (and American) synthesis. More concoctions of mind than authenticities, perhaps, but still — what’s not to like?
Originally published on Cleveland.com
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
by Kevin McLaughlin, Cleveland Classical
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Orchestra hosted a varied program Sunday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and commemorating the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The 44th annual concert, held in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, marked the landmark law that prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin.
Former longtime WEWS news anchor Danita Harris emceed with panache; Daniel Reith, the orchestra’s assistant conductor, was an effective presence on the podium, and Dr. William Henry Caldwell directed the all-volunteer Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus with grace and poise. [Read more…]
by Kevin McLaughlin
The pantheon of jazz saxophone gods surely must look down with approval whenever Joshua Redman performs. With a formidable technique and a saxophone voice that glows with innate lyricism, Redman appeals to listeners of every stripe — those with the flame of tradition in mind and those who couldn’t care less about that.
Recently, with the addition of Gabrielle Cavassa, he has broadened his expressive palette to include the human voice. Cavassa joined the Joshua Redman Group at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium for a superb display of talent on Wednesday, January 10. And though Redman’s expressive and technically astounding tenor sax dominated the evening, what lingered in the heart were Cavassa’s superb interpretations of the songs.
by Kevin McLaughlin
Goats and donkeys and camels — oh my. Add Elizabethan music, costumes, the noble company of Beefeaters and attendants processing under the magnificent arches of Trinity Cathedral, and you have yourself a merry little Christmas pageant.
A celebration that dates to the Roman Empire and Norman times in England, the Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival has been a Cleveland tradition since 1960. The festival is typically held on December 30th, as it was this year, with shows at 2:00 and 4:30 pm — I saw the latter — and the promise of a ham-and-mincemeat feast after the second performance.
The principal task of the volunteer cast of troubadours, shepherds, and sprites, besides singing, parading, and cavorting, was to present the titular giant boar’s head and lighting of the yule log — offering symbolic import for the Christian, and theatrical whimsy for everyone. Soloists, choirs, and audience sing-alongs were accompanied by Todd Wilson at the organ.
by Kevin McLaughlin
Giving hope and joy at the darkest time of the year is one reason, maybe the reason, for the timing of holiday celebrations in December, and music and poetry are good ways to ward off the cold and gloom.
Les Délices’ Christmas-themed program, this year titled “Noel, Noel,” offered many glimmers of cheer on Wednesday evening, December 20 at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Akron. But on their journey from the contemplative toward the celebratory, this serious band seemed more comfortable with the former than the latter.
The program grouped beloved carols, seasonal hymns, and seventeenth century instrumental variations into six sets, like stages on a Christmas journey, from “Darkness” through “Hope,” “Peace,” “Joy” and “Love,” to “Light,” with poetry readings in between. But the musicians’ devotion to skill and restraint came through the loudest.
by Kevin McLaughlin
A gorgeous and frequently surprising offering of Christmas and Hanukkah music from Renaissance Spain and Portugal was the focus of Cleveland Chamber Choir’s program “Holidays from the Iberian Peninsula” on Saturday, December 16 in First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland.
Voices and instruments resonated in this grand space without losing focus. For people who wonder why the Renaissance cultivated an unadorned vocal style that did not favor thick vibrato, this concert offered an explanation: the music of the era was conceived for spaces like this one, where voices resound naturally, and words come through clearly. Under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory Ristow, tempos took on a certain speech-like freedom that gave rightful primacy to the words. The projection and translation of texts above the stage also helped to convey meaning.
by Kevin McLaughlin
Maybe it was the time of year, the familial ties of the visiting conductor and pianists, the anticipation of a new work, or maybe all of it, but somehow a rosy glow enveloped the Cleveland Orchestra concert on Thursday, December 7.
Semyon Bychkov’s appearance on the podium, the U.S. premiere of Julian Anderson’s Symphony No. 2, the return to Cleveland by the Labèque sisters — even Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy (normally a two-hankie affair) — all warmed the heart on this winter’s night.
by Kevin McLaughlin
Originally published on Cleveland.com
Cyrus Chestnut is good company for the holidays. On Friday, December 8 he seemed genuinely delighted, even a little surprised, to have so many people in attendance in Mandel Hall at Severance Music Center to hear him play.
“Wow,” he said, walking onstage with his trio, “So many people!” And, though he didn’t actually say it, he probably thought, “Well, as long as you’re here, do you know the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack? It goes like this…”
Chestnut is an endearing presence onstage. His shyness and slightly awkward patter are kept out of the squeamish zone by the grand virtuosity of his piano playing. The minute after telling the story about his fame in high school for his ability to play the Charlie Brown song (Linus and Lucy) and then forgetting the next song on his setlist, he promptly whirled around to summon magnificence from the keyboard.