by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Pierre Boulez, who died on this date in 2016, is considered one of the most — if not the most — important figures in classical music from the latter half of the 20th century. That reputation derives from all aspects of his work: composer, conductor, writer, and administrator.

Contained under that large umbrella is a decades-long relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra: his American professional debut at Severance Hall in 1965 led to more than 220 concerts with the Orchestra. He became its first principal guest conductor in 1969, served as musical advisor for two seasons after the death of George Szell in 1970, and made many recordings with the Orchestra, including five that received Grammy Awards.

Longtime principal keyboardist Joela Jones memorably described his personality in an interview in 2015 with Mike Telin, as the Orchestra prepared to celebrate Boulez’s 90th birthday: “…to me it’s amazing that somebody who is so great, so brilliant, and so gifted, could also be so humble and modest. He just makes you feel so comfortable, like you are his equal, which of course you’re not. And, if you have enough intelligence you know that.” [Read more…]

The daily Diary is on holiday and will resume on Monday, January 5.

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

7:00 pm – Apollo’s Fire: Michael Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers at Trinity Cathedral & Burning River Brass: Christmas Around the World at The Bath Church, Akron.

7:30 pm – The Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concert in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

By some calendars, the first Saturnalia festival was held on this date in Rome in 497 BCE, just one of the ancient Winter Solstice-centered events that might have influenced modern Christmas celebrations way down the line, including such traditions as the Christmas card, the first example having been commissioned on this date in 1843 by Henry Cole, founder of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

INTERESTING READS:

The New York Times reports from Naples, Italy that “Ennio Morricone is getting a posthumous opera premiere, correcting a decades-old snub that dismissed him as a mere ‘film composer.’” Read the article by Elisabetta Povoledo here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Jarrett Hoffman

On this date in 1938, violinist Joseph Szigeti, conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, and The Cleveland Orchestra gave the first performance of Ernest Bloch’s Violin Concerto.

Bloch had been appointed the first Musical Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music upon its opening in 1920, at its original location of 3146 Euclid Avenue. (The school’s mission as proclaimed by Bloch: “Musical education, in addition to the thorough study of technique, ought above all else, to develop qualities of appreciation, judgment and taste, and to stimulate understanding and love of music.”) [Read more…]

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

by Daniel Hathaway

On Friday at 6 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art presents Chamber Music in the Atrium: A Musical Prelude for the Holidays featuring M.U.S.i.C. — Stars in the Classics in a selection of vocal works, piano duets, and other musical delights celebrating the season, including excerpts from The Nutcracker performed by Ohio Contemporary Ballet. 

And on Friday at 7 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Akron, Jeannette Sorrell leads Apollo’s Fire in Michael Praetorius’ elaborate Christmas Vespers, featuring antiphonal choirs, trumpets, sackbuts, cornettos, lutes, harp, strings and recorders. Singers include sopranos Rebecca Myers, Andréa Walker and Molly Netter, countertenor Doug Dodson, tenors Michael Jones & Matthew Newhouse, baritone Matthew Dexter, and Apollo’s Singers and Apollo’s Musettes (Treble Youth Choir). This late Renaissance extravaganza will be repeated four times next week.

The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus plus guest choirs will present thirteen Holiday Concerts with guest conductor Sarah Hicks in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center during the month of December, beginning on Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30, and continuing on Sunday at 2:30 and 7:30 (note correction of start date).

And if you’re interested in singing Handel’s Messiah rather than just listening to that famous oratorio, the Oberlin Conservatory invites you to join conductor Peter Slowik in a Messiah Sing-along featuring soloists and orchestra from the Conservatory and Credo Music in Finney Chapel on Sunday at 7:30. Rent a score for $5,

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Neighborhood Connections has approved $273,778 in grants to support 81 projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland. [Read more…]

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 in Warner Concert Hall, faculty soprano Martha Guth (pictured) will be featured with the Oberlin Sinfonietta, Tim Weiss, conducting, in Soomin Kim’s Four Love Songs, the premiere of Chloe Arnold’s Shattered, and the nonet version of Johannes Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in D, Op. 11.

Also at 7:30, the 11-member vocal ensemble Voctave will perform seasonal favorites from the Disney screen to the Broadway stage in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On December 11, 1918, Russian conductor Nikolai Sokoloff led the debut concert of The Cleveland Orchestra in Grays Armory. The program, a benefit for St. Ann’s Church, included Liszt’s Les Préludes, Victor Herbert’s American Fantasy, Bizet’s Carmen Suite, excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, and Liadov’s Enchanted Lake. [Read more…]

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, Vinay Parameswaran leads The Cleveland Orchestra in James Horner’s underscore to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, performed live-to-picture at Severance Music Center.

And at 7:30 in Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall, violinist Jennifer Koh (pictured) will be featured with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Tim Weiss, conducting, in Courtney Bryan’s Syzygy and Vijay Iyer’s Trouble.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

French composer Olivier Messiaen was born on December 10, 1908 in Avignon. [Read more…]

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Oberlin Conservatory has announced that Amy Lee, Cleveland Orchestra associate concertmaster, will join the faculty full-time, having been a visiting professor for the last year. Read the article on the Violin Channel here.

HAPPENING TODAY:

At Noon,  Kachofugetsu Japanese Handbells, Kaori Hongo, director, perform at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.

Tonight at 7, The Singers’ Club of Cleveland, Christopher Clark, director, celebrates the holiday season at Trinity Cathedral.

At 7:30, Vinay Parameswaran leads The Cleveland Orchestra in James Horner’s underscore to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, performed live-to-picture at obSeverance Music Center.

Also at 7:30, the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, Raphael Jiménez, conducting, performs Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, Jessie Montgomery’s Coincident Dances, and Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs with faculty baritone Timothy Lefebvre in Finney Chapel.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was born on this date in 1915 and passed away in her sleep at age 90 in 2006. [Read more…]

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Daniel Hathaway

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born on December 8, 1865, an event The Cleveland Orchestra staff marked in an amusing little 2019 video. “Things got a little crazy as you can see.”

The composer’s symphonies have been played frequently by the ensemble over the years. Here’s a rare performance of the four-movement version of the Fifth from December, 1941 led by Artur Rodzinski (taken from 78 rpm discs with side breaks left intact).

There’s also a recording of a live performance of the Second led by George Szell in May, 1970 in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan Hall. More recently, here’s a rehearsal snippet for a performance of the Second led by Dalia Stasevska in March, 2024.

Finland — which didn’t yet exist as a country when Sibelius was born — celebrates the composer’s legacy each year on December 8 with “A Day of Finnish Music.” Although, rather like Rossini, he stopped composing in mid-life, he has inspired a widespread national educational initiative which has produced a distinguished list of musicians, classical, folk, and popular. [Read more…]