by Daniel Hathaway.

THIS WEEKEND:

On Saturday, the U. of Akron highlights faculty saxophonist Todd Gaffke, Standing Rock sponsors a video by sitarist Hasu Patel, a Julia Child sendup and an Offenbach comedy continue their run at Kent Opera, and The Cleveland Orchestra winds up its trio of concerts led by Herbert Blomstedt.

Sunday sees the final Kent Opera performances, pianist Jeffrey Siegel holds forth on Beethoven, Suburban Symphony hosts four teenage concerto competition winners, and Stars in the Classics plays an early Valentine’s Day show (tickets were still available last we checked).  Details in the Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society announced on Friday that Cuarteto Casals has cut their U.S. tour short due to a medical emergency. Pianist Richard Goode will step in on February 22 at Disciples Christian Church with a program of works by Schumann, Schubert, Bartók, and Beethoven. Details here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S EVENTS:

Friday’s postponed CIM Orchestra Concert led by JoAnn Faletta reappears on Saturday at 7, and on both days, The Cleveland Orchestra features conductor John Adams (pictured) and pianist Jeremy Denk (Saturday at 8, Sunday at 3), and New Music Guild performances in Youngstown with duo pianists Roman Rudnytsky and Ben Malkevitch, violinist Gwyneth Rollin, and composer and pianist Robert Rollin are scheduled for 4 pm on Saturday and 3 pm on Sunday.

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Cleveland Museum of Art has released dates and details of its performing arts events for the spring. Events include the Philadelphia-based chamber choir The Crossing with guest organist Scott Dettra, Indian classical music by tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, contemporary African music by Fatoumata Diawara, a concert by Chinese sheng virtuoso Wu Wei and a recital on the organ in Gartner Auditorium by Nicole Keller. There’s also a performance in the Atrium of an elaborate work by Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov inspired by the museum’s 15th century Icon of the Mother of God and Infant Christ (Virgin Eleousa). Read the press release here.

Cleveland Chamber Choir, Scott MacPherson, artistic director, has sent details about its February concerts, Cecilia and Her World: Music of Cecilia McDowall, which will bring the British composer to town for two free performances on February 26 (Amasa Stone Chapel at CWRU) & 27 (Waetjen Auditorium at CSU). Download the press release here.

The Cleveland Institute of Music has announced that violinist Jennifer Koh will receive an honorary doctorate and speak at its 94th Commencement Ceremony on May 14. Read more here.

On Friday, The Catalyst Quartet and pianist Michelle Cann released the second CD in its UNCOVERED series on the Azica label, featuring four premiere recordings of the half-dozen known chamber works by Florence B. Price. Read the press release here.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

We’ll choose two anniversaries to call out this weekend: the debut of Giuseppi Verdi’s Otello at La Scala in Milan on February 5, 1887, and the passing of German-American musicologist, radio host, and pianist Karl Haas in Royal Oak, Michigan on February 6, 2005. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S EVENTS:

Before the megastorm arrived, eleven events were scheduled for Friday.

Most of them have now either been cancelled or postponed, with the exception of The Cleveland Orchestra’s performance with guest conductor John Adams and pianist Jeremy Denk (pictured)— already rescheduled from Thursday to today.

There may be more changes! Keep an eye on this space and on our Concert Listings for further updates.

ONLINE TODAY:

The second season of The Cleveland Orchestra’s In Focus series begins on the ensemble’s Adella streaming platform tonight at 7. Aftersilence features conductor Franz Welser-Möst, and pianist Igor Levit in the premiere recording of Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le Silence, along with Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat. The episode includes interviews with Welser-Möst, principal horn Nathaniel Silberschlag and tracks Abrahamsen from his composing base in Denmark through the first performance in Cleveland.

ALMANAC FOR FEBRUARY 4:

One anniversary today comes with interesting archival recordings.

On this date in 1912, conductor Erich Leinsdorf was born in Vienna. The vicissitudes of history took him to New York’s Metropolitan Opera in November, 1937, a few months before Hitler’s Anschluss made a return to Austria impossible. Freshman U.S. Representative Lyndon B Johnson took Leinsdorf under his wing and he eventually became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in 1942. (Read the oral history transcript of an interview where Leinsdorf recalls his experiences with Johnson and the federal government.)

He became the third conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1943 by vote of the board of directors (who chose him over another candidate, Georg Szell). But Leinsdorf received and decided not to challenge a draft notice in October of that year, and joined the U.S. Army for barely a year. By the time he was discharged  in September, 1944, sentiments in Cleveland had changed, and Szell had made an impressive debut with the Orchestra. Leinsdorf, still under contract, submitted his resignation. After Szell died, Leinsdorf began appearing frequently as guest conductor in the 1980s. He died

Here are three live Cleveland Orchestra performances led by Erich Leinsdorf: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, Schumann’s Third Symphony, and the conductor’s own suite from Debussy’s opera, Pelleas et Melisande. 

I can’t resist telling a Leinsdorf story. When I was in college in the 60s, the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society frequently sang with the Boston Symphony under his direction. One memorable performance was Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s ‘Faust’ in 1966 with the New England Conservatory Chorus and a starry cast of soloists: Hermann Prey, Beverly Sills, Charles Bressler, Thomas Paul, Veronica Tyler, Tatiana Troyanos, Florence Kopleff, and Batyah Godfrey. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

There’s very little brewing on the concert scene today, but February 2 is Candlemas for those who observe the Christian calendar, and Groundhog Day for those who like to poke hibernating celebrity rodents awake to see how long winter is likely to last (n.b.: it only seems to annoy them, and studies have shown no correlation between what the animal sees and the long-term weather forecast.)

Celebrate Candlemas with J.S. Bach’s solo cantata Ich habe genug, BWV 82, for the Feast of the Purification, aka Candlemas, in which the vocal soloist takes the role of the aged Simeon, who is moved by the sight of Jesus in the Temple to invent the familiar Nunc dimittis hymn.

Two recordings: click here for a historic performance featuring oboist Marc Lifschey, who played principal in Cleveland under George Szell from 1950 to 1965, when a tiff with the maestro took him off to San Francisco. (Above, a photo of Lifschey (right) with his successor, John Mack). Visit the Cleveland Orchestra archives to learn more about the ensemble’s celebrated oboists in Sophie Benn’s article, A Tale of Three Oboists.

And go here to watch a more modern, historically informed performance of BWV 82 by the Netherlands Bach Society.

And — this just in — click here for the latest meteorological pronouncement from the famous Punxsutawney Phil, courtesy of NBC News. As one commentator wrote, “What a silly, outrageous and endearing tradition.” And another, “This is such a stupid tradition but I like it.”

CHANGES AND CANCELLATIONS:

The Cleveland Orchestra has issued this update:

“Due to the hazardous weather conditions forecast throughout Northeast Ohio, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Thursday, February 3 performance of Jeremy Denk Plays Adams will be rescheduled to Friday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m.

“All tickets and parking passes for Thursday will be valid for the Friday performance. Guests may also exchange their tickets into the Saturday or Sunday performances without charge. Please contact the Ticket Office at 216-231-1111 or email boxoffice@clevelandorchestra.com with questions or to make an exchange.”

Cuyahoga Community College has announced the cancellation of its February 3 concert, Tri-C Gallery All-Stars, due to COVID concerns.

PianoCleveland and the Maltz Performing Arts Center have announced the rescheduling of pianist Arseniy Gusev’s February 3 recital to Thursday, March 17.