by Peter Feher
The Cleveland Orchestra kept the music-making all in the family last week. Franz Welser-Möst conducted, a favorite composer stopped by, and first associate concertmaster Peter Otto played soloist, taking on a piece with its own history at Severance.
William Walton’s Violin Concerto might belong first and foremost to its original star, Jascha Heifetz, but Cleveland can also claim it. The Orchestra accompanied the famed violinist for the world premiere in December 1939, and if those are big shoes to fill in 2022, Otto and his fellow musicians were more than up for the task.
Ever since the pandemic upended concert schedules, the Akron Symphony has used the opportunity to expand its community offerings. The orchestra played a summer series in 2021, “Outside Voices,” the name alluding both to the changed setting — parks across the city — and to new programming — music outside the standard repertoire.
The Harlem Quartet might consider changing its name to include an honorary fifth member. The string ensemble took the stage as part of Akron’s Tuesday Musical series on March 1, joined by pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán, whose close connection to the group brought out the best in each player.
Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is already a production in itself. The music alone, not to mention the circumstances of its composition, is a lot to untangle.
When it comes to Handel’s oratorios, another repeat isn’t always a welcome thing. But Apollo’s Fire knows how to make an evening exciting, and the group’s reprise performances of the composer’s 
The Cleveland Orchestra transformed into the Los Angeles Philharmonic over the weekend. Even if a snowstorm outside suggested otherwise, the program on February 4 at Severance Music Center had the California spirit of experimentation at all costs. The Orchestra had postponed the performance by a day, and lingering bad weather plus the new date meant Friday’s sparse crowd was the committed, brave-it-out type.
On paper, last week’s Cleveland Orchestra concerts might have lacked a little color: two numbered symphonies and a piece of new music with an abstract title. But Thursday’s performance at Severance Music Center under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst came to vibrant life, thanks in part to the sparkling world premiere at the program’s center.
The path to finding an artistic voice might start in music school, but it doesn’t end when you graduate — or even if you become the professor. That process of self-discovery is what connects the five otherwise contrasting pieces on 
“Carols Around the World” doesn’t quite capture the breadth of the Cleveland Chamber Choir’s holiday program. The group sang more than just Christmas music on December 11 at Old Stone Church.
Even the best pianists only share a keyboard in performance with someone they trust. Fortunately for Cleveland audiences, the bond between two players doesn’t get much deeper than the duo of Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Emanuela Friscioni.