by Mike Telin

EVENTS ON TODAY’S CALENDAR:

Today’s events begin at 7:00 pm with the Local 4 Music Fund’s “Tuning In” series. Livestreamed from the Bop Stop, the program features the jazz trio of Barbara Knight (vocals), Phil Lantry (piano), and Tim Powell, bass, in music for jazz trio. Click here at start time. The concert is free, but donations are welcome.

A half-hour later at 7:30 pm the CWRU Symphonic Winds will present a Spring Virtual Concert as part of the Silver Hall Series, streamed from the Maltz Performing Arts Center. Reserve your free tickets here.

Other offerings of note include the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at 7:20 pm, The Philadelphia Orchestra at 8:00 pm, and pianist Jeremy Denk (pictured) on Cal Performances at 10:00 pm. Check our Concert Listings page for more information.  

IN THE NEWS:

Oberlin Conservatory has announced that its successes in implementing online education over the past year have given rise to entirely new opportunities for virtual learning developed for a worldwide audience. This summer marks the launch of Oberlin Conservatory Global, which begins with a series of courses designed for music students, teachers, and lifelong learners of all backgrounds.

“Through the effort and expertise of countless members of our campus community, Oberlin rose to meet those challenges in ways that have inspired us anew to reconsider previously held ideas of what music education in the 21st century can look like,” Conservatory Dean William Quillen said in a press release.

Initial OC Global offerings include programs dedicated to music theory and pedagogy, a guide to technology-assisted musical collaboration, topics in advanced string playing, and a course dedicated to the enduring impact of 1970s rock and roll. They vary in duration from four days to six weeks, and sessions take place primarily in the evening. Fees range from $150 to $250 per program.

Click here to learn more about Oberlin Conservatory Global.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

We begin today’s birthday celebrations back in 1688 when German violinist and composer Johann Friedrich Fasch entered this world on April 15 in Buttelstedt, Thuringia.

Fasch’s work took him to Prague, where for two years he served as Kapellmeister and court composer to Count Morzin. In 1722, he accepted the same position at Zerbst, where he remained until his death. Also in 1722, Fasch was recruited for the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, but withdrew his name for consideration. The position was later filled by none other than Johann Sebastian Bach.

Fasch, a prolific composer whose music was often performed in his lifetime, wrote cantatas, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music. Sadly, most of his catalogue has been lost.

Johann Friedrich Fasch did leave us with a lovely bassoon sonata. Click here to hear the 4th movement performed by Katarzyna Zdybel (bassoon) and Katarzyna Kluczewska (piano).

This date in 1894 saw the birth of American blues singer Bessie Smith in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Nicknamed the “Empress of the Blues,” Smith was one of, if not the most popular female blues singers of the ‘20s and ‘30s.

After the death of her parents, Smith and her siblings earned money by performing on street corners. She later toured in a group that included Ma Rainey before setting out on her own. Smith was signed to  Columbia Records in the 1920s, and her songs such as  Jail House Blues, Prison Blues, and Send Me to the Lectric Chair addressed social issues including chain gangs, the convict lease system and capital punishment. Unfortunately her life was cut short when she was killed in a car accident at the age of 43. Click here to listen to a 1929 recording of Smith singing St. Louis Blues.

We conclude today’s birthday celebrations in the year 1924 when English conductor and violinist Sir Neville Marriner entered the world in Lincoln. As a violinist, Marriner played with the Philharmonia and London Symphony orchestras. He also performed with the chamber orchestras of Reginald Jacques, Boyd Neel, and the London Mozart Players.

Marriner is best known as the founder of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, of which the ensemble’s discography is legendary. He was also the founder and first music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Click here to read more about his productive career, and here to listen to Marriner conduct the ASMF in the Orchestral Suites of J.S. Bach.

by Mike Telin

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Today we honor two composer/pianists who came into the world on April Fools Day: Ferruccio Busoni in 1866 and Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff in 1873.

Born in Empoli, Italy, Busoni revealed himself to be a pianist and composer of note at an early age. After holding several teaching positions he dedicated himself to writing music and touring. Also a musicologist, Busoni’s visits to the United States sparked his interest in the music of North American Indigenous people. In addition to the Piano Concerto, his  transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach are legendary.

Prior to his 2019 performances of the monumental Piano Concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra, Garrick Ohlsson — who won the Busoni Competition in 1966 — told Clevelandclassical.com that during his lifetime, Busoni was a leading teacher, composer, and theorist as well as a great pianist. “People were drawn to him. He was in the middle of musical and artistic society. He taught in all sorts of places including the United States, Finland, and Russia — he was a true internationalist. But one of the problems with Busoni as a composer is that he’s very eclectic in his choice of language. If you see his name on the program, you don’t know if you’re going to have a tonal neoclassical, a completely atonal piece, or an overripe Romantic one like this.” Click here to read the preview.

Olhsson recorded Busoni’s five-movement concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra and Men’s Chorus under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi in 1989. Click here for part one and here for part two.

Born in Semyonovo, near Novgorod, in northwestern Russia, Rachmaninoff’s life and celebrated career are well-documented. What people may not know is that he had a long relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra. Rachmaninoff first came to Cleveland in 1923 to perform his second piano concerto at the Masonic Auditorium on March 29 and 31, an event that coincided with the 25th anniversary of Adella Prentiss Hughes’ reign as Cleveland’s musical impresario. He returned in 1932 just after the Orchestra moved to Severance Hall, and four more personal appearances followed: November, 1937 (the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini), October, 1939 (Piano Concerto No. 1), March, 1941 (Beethoven Concerto No. 1 & the Paganini Rhapsody) and January, 1942 (Piano Concerto No. 2). The 1923 and 1932 engagements were led by Nikolai Sokoloff, the rest by Artur Rodzinski.

The January, 1942 Severance Hall concert also included his symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead (1907), and the recently composed Symphonic Dances, Op. 45. (1940). His return was highly anticipated. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press, Cleveland News and Akron Beacon Journal, as well as local foreign language publications, all ran previews announcing the concerts.

How was the almost 69-year-old pianist’s performance of his concerto received by the local critics?

Plain Dealer critic Herbert Elwell wrote, “There was even more enthusiasm when Rachmaninoff appeared in the concerto. As usual he gave to his own music luster and animation that only his brilliant pianism can give it. And it was with evident pleasure that listeners heard from his own hands the drooping wistful melodies that have now reached the domain of popular music.”

However, Cleveland Press critic Arthur Loesser was unfavorably impressed by the tempos. “It must be said that much of Mr. Rachmaninoff’s performance was on the streamlined side, some of it even seemed to be functioning with a tailwind. Those of us who know this concerto pretty thoroughly had trouble recognizing our friendly note-figures in the rush.”

Loesser went on to say, “Great praise must be bestowed upon Dr. Rodzinski…for the highly skilled accommodation of his beat to Mr. Rachmaninoff’s frequent willfulnesses as well as for his success in keeping the occasionally heavy scoring in good balance.” Click here to read our “From the Archives” preview and here for our “What would Rachmaninoff post on Facebook” feature.

On a more somber note, today we are reminded of the reality in which we live. It was one year ago that Jazz greats Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (85), and John “Bucky” Pizzarelli (94) died of COVID 19. Although both artists enjoyed long, fruitful careers, they still had a lot more to say — more concerts to play, music to write, and young people to inspire.

Click here for a concert from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Center on December 15, 2018 featuring Ellis Marsalis, Gerald Watkins, Jason Stewart, Andrew Bahan, and Derek Douget.

Click here to enjoy an evening of jazz and conversation with Bucky and John Pizzarelli — father-son virtuosos of the seven string guitar — recorded live in concert in 2014.

by Mike Telin

Happy Thursday.

TODAY ON THE WEB:

At 12:00 pm it’s Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra on WCLV 104.9 Ideastream & on the web. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst leads performances of Wagner’s  Tannhäuser Overture, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (Michael Sachs), Beethoven’s Scherzo and Finale from String Quartet No. 10 ‘Harp’ and Strauss’s Polka française Kreuzfidel.

 

At 5:00 pm The Violin Channel presents Tessa Lark, violin (pictured), Amy Yang, piano, and Frank Vignola, guitar. The set-list includes Kreisler’s Syncopation, Praeludium and Allegro, and Liebesleid, Telemann’s Fantasia No. 4 in D, Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 4 in e, Michael Torke’s Milk from Spoon Bread, and the fifth movement from Avner Dorman’s Violin Sonata No. 4. View here. (Free)

There’s more Cleveland Orchestra at 7:00 pm with the debut of In Focus Episode 7: “Memory & Transformation.” Franz Welser-Möst leads Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in c and Messiaen’s “Le Christ, lumière du Paradis” (Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà). Online only on the Orchestra’s Adella streaming platform. Free to subscribers and Orchestra donors of more than $300/year. Adella subscriptions available.

A half-hour later, the 92nd St Y presents Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan. The cellist and pianist perform Falla’s Suite Populaire Espagnole and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata. Tickets $20. View here.

Also at 7:30 pm, the University of Akron School of Music presents A Tribute to Women in Music, in celebration of Women’s History Month. Solo and ensemble works by Jenni Brandon, Johanna Magdalena Beyer, Amy Cheney Beach, Libby Larsen, Florence Price, Clara Schumann and more. Online only. Click here at start time. (Free)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

We begin by paying respects to composer (Achille) Claude Debussy who died of cancer at 55 on March 25, 1918 at his home in Paris. Influenced by the Symbolist poets of the late 19th century, Debussy was a leader in the impressionist movement, although he rejected the notion of being called an impressionist composer.

Click here to listen to Debussy play “Clair de Lune” from Suite bergamasque.

Click here to listen to Pierre Boulez lead the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance of Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune.

Debussy’s music influenced many composers, including Olivier Messiaen, Bill Evans, and Béla Bartók — which brings us to our birthday celebration.

On March 25, 1881 composer, pianist, ethnomusicologist, and teacher Béla Viktor János Bartók was born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary, now Sânnicolau Mare, Romania.

Bartók began studying piano with his mother, and at age nine started composing dance pieces. From 1899 to 1903, he studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest. It was there that he met Zoltán Kodály and the two became lifelong friends and colleagues — they both shared an interest in folk music.

In 1908 Bartók and Kodály traveled into the farthest regions of the country to collect folk tunes, but what they discovered was that the Maygar folk melodies popularized by Franz Liszt they had previously thought of as Gypsy music were based on a pentatonic scale similar to that found in Asian folk melodies.

Although one doesn’t need to be an expert on all of this to enjoy Bartók’s music, here are a couple important things to remember:

• Bartók catalogued more than 9,600 melodies of Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovakian origin.
• Bartók incorporated these melodies into his compositions, often quoting them note for note.
• Bartók’s musical style is a mixture of folk music, classicism, and modernism.

If you’re so inclined, click here to listen to Thomas Little (AKA The Classical Nerd) explain all you need to know about the composer in seven and a half minutes.

If you’re looking for something a little more in-depth, click here to watch A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts’ beautiful documentary about the composer.

If you want to know more about the theory behind Bartók’s musical practices, click here to watch Axis Theory make the complicated simple — it really is quite fun.

On a personal note, my introduction to Bartók’s music came early in my teens when my junior high school band director gifted me an LP of George Szell conducting The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance of the Concerto for Orchestra. From then on I was seriously hooked.

Click here to listen to the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky give the Broadcast premiere of the piece (with its original ending) on December 30, 1944.

If you’re looking for something special to do on that first Zoom date, click here to enjoy Bluebeard’s Castle (you’ll need to scroll down a bit).

Click here to listen to Pierre Boulez and the Philharmonia Orchestra play The Miraculous Mandarin (you can follow along with the score).

Click here to get a bird’s-eye view of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.

And finally, click here for a performance of the Sixth Quartet played by the Hungarian String Quartet (again, you can follow along with the score).

by Mike Telin

TODAY ON THE WEB:

Happy Thursday.

At 12:00 pm it’s Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra on WCLV 104.9 Ideastream & on the web. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst leads performances of Sibelius’ Tapiola, Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari as well as Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.

At 7:00 pm, the Local 4 Music Fund: Tuning in series continues with the Beta Collective — Brad Wagner, soprano sax, tenor sax, bass clarinet, Chris Cole, alto sax, tenor sax, vocoder, Paul Ferguson, trombone, Theron Brown, keyboards, melodica, Aidan Plank, bass, Anthony Taddeo, drums, percussion, and Dan Bruce, guitar. The free event is live streamed from the Bop Stop. Click here at start time.

A half-hour later at 7:30 pm, Cleveland’s French Baroque ensemble Les Délices debuts Women of Genius (photo). The program features Music and poetry of Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Marie de Louvencourt, Mme. Duval, Julie Pinel, Marie-Françoise Certain & Marguerite Louise Couperin.

You can enjoy a pre-concert conversation with art historian and National Gallery of Art curator Eve Straussman-Pflanzer. The topic: female visual artists of the Baroque period and their powerful interpretations of the Judith story, including a focus on paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani.

Read our preview here and our review here.  The program will be available on demand through March 29. Click here for tickets and connection details.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Today we celebrate the birth of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1844 in Tikhvin. Who doesn’t remember the first time they heard Scheherazade?

Other noteworthy births include ragtime composer Frank Losey in 1822 in Rochester, New York, and composer Clara Edwards in 1887 in Blue Earth County, Minnesota.

There was a time when the American music industry focused its attention on the sale of printed music rather than on the sales of recordings. On March 18, 1911, Irving Berlin’s Alexander’s Ragtime Band was copyrighted and quickly sold over one-million copies of sheet music.

And on this day in 1927, legendary composer of musical theater John Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri.

A classically trained musician, Kander studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and later at Columbia University, where his teachers included Douglas Moore, Jack Beeson, and Otto Luening.

Early in his career he served as rehearsal pianist and then dance arranger for the original productions of Gypsy and Irma la Douce. He composed his first Broadway score, A Family Affair, with lyricists and book writers (and brothers) James and William Goldman.

Kander began his nearly four-decade-long career with lyricist Fred Ebb with the 1965 musical Flora, The Red Menace, starring the young Liza Minnelli. The song-writing duo (photo: Kander on the left) went on to write such classic musicals as Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spiderwoman, along with many other shows.

Since the passing of Fred Ebb in 2004, Kander has continued to write musicals with other lyricists. He composed an eloquent art song, The Ballad of Sullivan Ballou, for soprano Renée Fleming.

Some of this information came in an email from music critic Donald Rosenberg, who has a special interest in American musical theater and has written about Kander. “He’s really nice,” Rosenberg wrote. “I interviewed him in Oberlin a bunch of years back when the college did a production of Flora, The Red Menace.”

Summarizing his music, Rosenberg noted that Kander “exemplifies a Broadway composer steeped in classical traditions while also being fully versed in popular musical forms (jazz, Latin, folk) that have long been woven into musical theater. He can be effortlessly hip, as in the vamps that run through many of his scores (think All That Jazz) or lyrical (the waltzing “You” from The Visit is particularly haunting).”

During his prolific career, Kander has amassed numerous awards including three Tonys, two Emmys, and two Grammys. In 1991 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1991 and along with his long-time collaborator Fred Ebb, was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors award for Lifetime Achievement.

Click here to watch a video interview with Kander produced by the Dramatists Guild Foundation as part of the organization’s Legacy Project.

Happy 94th, Mr. Kander!