by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S AGENDA

Today’s Tuesday Noon online-only concert from the Church of the Covenant features violist Christopher Jenkins and organist Christa Rakich of the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in music by Adolphus Hailstork, William Grant Still, and Paul Hindemith. The video will remain available for viewing on demand.

COVID CANCELLATIONS AND CHANGES:

Citing concerns for the health of its musicians and staff, The Cleveland Orchestra has withdrawn from its late January residency in South Florida, including concerts and education activities at the Adrienne Arsht Center, Kravis Center, and Artis—Naples. Read the press release here.

The Operas in Place series co-sponsored by Baldwin Wallace, Cleveland Opera Theater, and On-Site Opera, that was to have presented nine micro-operas online over three days from January 14-16, has now been postponed to February.

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition is now receiving applications for both the senior and junior divisions of its 2022 competition, to be held in South Bend, Indiana in May. A new feature this year is the “Lift Every Voice Prize,” focusing on works by Black and/or Hispanic/Latino/a composers. Read a Violin Channel press release here.

INTERESTING READ:

Writing in yesterday’s issue of The Gramophone, Tim Ashley makes a case for re-evaluating the puzzling career and legacy of Camille Saint-Saëns a month after the centenary of the composer’s death in 1921. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

EVENTS THIS WEEKEND:

Two opportunities remain to hear The Cleveland Orchestra perform Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le silence and Igor Levit (pictured) as soloist in Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto. Franz Welser-Möst gives the downbeat in Mandel Concert Hall at the Severance Music Center on Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 8:00 pm. Photo: Roger Mastroianni. You’ll need proof of full vaccination — including a booster shot — to attend, and tickets can be ordered online.

Organist Nicole Keller will give a recital on the rarely-heard-these-days Holtkamp instrument in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday at 2:30 pm. The menu includes works by J.S. Bach, Calvin Hampton, Rayner Brown, Paul Hindemith, Mozart & Florence Price. It’s free.  (NOTE: this recital has been postponed until spring due to the COVID surge.)

NEWS BRIEFS:

Aronson Cello Festival comes to Cleveland this summer

Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton, one of the last students of Lev Aronson, who survived the atrocities of the Nazis to become principal of the Dallas Symphony and a beloved mentor to young cellists, founded a festival in Aronson’s honor. Thornton writes,

We are holding our next festival in Cleveland between June 6-12, 2022, at the Cleveland Institute of Music and at Severance Music Center. The events will span seven days and will include special programming filled with memorable performances and world class artists — in addition to innovative and interactive speakers and sessions called “LevTalks” that will inspire, inform, reflect upon, provoke, challenge and confirm the modern world of classical music around us. In this time of rapid change with the arts under siege, we must find ways to connect and embrace our community. [Read more…]

by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 pm Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le silence and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Igor Levit in the Mandel Concert Hall at Severance, 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. Performances run through Saturday. Tickets available online.

Click here to watch the pianist’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert from November 29, 2019.

IN THE NEWS: 

The Cleveland Museum of Art is home to the longest-running concert series of any museum of North America, presenting more than 5,000 concerts over the course of its first century.

In launching the Recorded Archive Editions, CMA will make available historically significant recordings of performances that were exceptional and unique to Cleveland.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S AGENDA:.

Because of the recent COVID surge, today’s noontime concert from the Church of the Covenant will be presented online only. At 12 Noon, organist Jonathan Moyer will play music for the Epiphany by Buxtehude, Lefébure-Wély, Jongen, Messiaen, and Tournemire. Click here to view a pdf of the program, and here to view the live streamed performance.

ANDREA ANELLI, 60

Jonah Schulz has written to inform us of the passing of his mother on January 1.

“Andrea Anelli (pictured), the beloved soprano and founder of Cleveland Opera Theater (originally Opera Per Tutti) and ContempOpera Cleveland, passed away at the age of 60.

“Andrea’s passion for opera kept the art form alive and thriving in Northeast Ohio. After founding Opera Per Tutti in 2006, Andrea performed many of Opera’s most classic roles making world class productions accessible to audiences in Gordon Square’s Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland’s Masonic Auditorium and as the creator of The Italian Cultural Garden’s annual “Opera in the Garden” concert.

“Her talent and work ethic was honored at Cleveland’s City Hall when she was presented with the Italian-American Heritage Award by Mayor Frank Jackson.

“After leaving Cleveland Opera Theater, Andrea founded ContempOpera Cleveland where she performed and produced the works of modern composers and brought opera into classrooms around Cleveland.”

Click here to read a statement from Cleveland Opera Theater, and here to view Anelli’s greeting to the audience before an Opera Per Tutti al fresco performance.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Apollo’s Fire has announced a job opening for full-time general manager of Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra. Read about the position and download a detailed job description here.

Video applications are now being received through February 15 for the 2022 James Stroud National Classical Guitar Youth Competition, open to students ages 14-18. Semi-final and final rounds will be held in person at the Cleveland Institute of Music from June 2 through 5. The competition will award prize money totalling US$ 25,000. Click here for details.

Looking ahead, the Vienna Philharmonic has announced that frequent guest conductor Franz Welser-Möst will lead its New Year’s Concert for the third time on January 1, 2023.

And looking back to its December “Carols for Quire XI” programs, Quire Cleveland has made ten “videos” created from photos and a live audio recording of its December 4, 2021 concert at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church available here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

One important development to celebrate today in classical music history. In 1950, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) announced that it would produce LPs — 33 1/3 rpm long playing records — following the lead established by Columbia Records in 1948.

These records would replace 78 rpm discs — made of an abrasive shellac compound and limited to about five minutes of recording time per side — with vinyl, and formerly wide grooves with “microgrooves,” extending playing time to 22 minutes per side.

The history of this development gets a bit complicated (RCA had attempted to bring out an earlier version in 1931 that failed), but suffice to say that the change from shellac to vinyl — with all the attendant technical details — was a boon for classical music.

RCA has produced two films about “The History of Vinyl.” Click here to watch a 1946 film narrated by longtime Metropolitan Opera commentator Milton Cross that includes a tour of RCA’s Camden, New Jersey plant, and here to watch Part II, which followed ten years later. Part III, which followed in 1958, introduced stereo recording.

by Jarrett Hoffman

LOCAL NEWS:

Online applications are open until January 31 for the 66th annual Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition, which provides support for university and college students pursuing careers as music performers and music educators. Categories include music education, brass, classical guitar, organ, piano, marimba/classical steel drum, strings, voice, and woodwinds. The adjudicated competition will be held in person on March 19 at the University of Akron, and the Final Round/Winners Concert will take place on May 15. More information is available here.

Out of an abundance of caution due to the Omicron variant, two early 2022 concerts from the Akron Symphony have been postponed until spring. “Baroque Virtuosos” has been rescheduled from January 15 to May 14 at 8:00 pm, and “Gospel Meets Symphony” will move from February 12 to June 18 at 7:30 pm (on the weekend of Juneteenth). Both events will take place at E.J. Thomas Hall. If you already had tickets, they will be honored on the new dates, or as an alternative, vouchers for other concerts are available through the Box Office.

On a related topic, The Cleveland Orchestra has updated its vaccine policy. Upon arrival at Severance Music Center, guests are now required to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination — including a booster — along with a photo ID. Those who are unable to be vaccinated or have not received their booster dose will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID test, along with a photo ID. Masks are required at Severance at all times. Read the full Health & Safety policy here.

HAPPENING TODAY:

Eric Charnofsky’s radio show “Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music” will be hosted remotely and without commentary throughout January, but that doesn’t mean the playlist can’t be intriguing.

Today’s program from 2 to 4 includes Daniel Goode’s Clarinet Quintet, Camille Saint-Saëns’s “Mon Coeur S’ouvre À Ta Voix” from Samson et Delilah in an arrangement for mandolin ensemble, Samuel-Coleridge Taylor’s Four Characteristic Waltzes for piano, Aaron Jay Kernis’s Symphony No. 4, Amy Beach’s A Hermit Thrust at Morn and Clara Schumann’s Romance, both for harp, Hannah Lash’s Start for unsnared drum, Ernest Chausson’s Viviane for orchestra, Michael Matthews’s Sky Rings for clarinet and electronics, and a cappella voice arrangements of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Debussy’s Girl with the Flaxen Hair. Listen on WRUW or here online.

INTERESTING READS:

Among the concerts over the past several weeks that have gone on as planned, one stands out for the extreme lengths the organizers went to in order to make it happen. That was the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance of excerpts from Handel’s Messiah on December 22, in which the conductor and four soloists were replaced in a span of about 24 hours. Read David Patrick Stearn’s review in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Pittsburgh Symphony has announced an expansion of its pre-professional fellowship for Black and African American musicians, as Jeremy Reynolds reports in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The program will support four new fellows each season by the year 2025, making it one of the larger fellowship opportunities in the country.”

And in The New York Times, Joshua Barone profiles Helsinki Philharmonic chief conductor and Los Angeles Philharmonic principal guest conductor Susanna Mälkki, who is considered to be “on leading wish lists” for major American orchestras with upcoming openings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

One of the most unique characters to appear in our Almanac has to be Victor Borge, the Danish-American comedian and pianist who was born on this date in 1909 in Copenhagen.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S EVENTS:

Organist Jonathan Moyer devotes his Tuesday Noon Advent Series recital at the Church of the Covenant to music by J.S. Bach: the Six “Schubler” Chorales — all arrangements by the composer of his own cantata movements, plus the little Duetto II that found its way along with three other two-part pieces into the Clavierübung III, and the C-Major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 545. It’s free. (Lunchtime Holiday Carillon concerts resume on Wednesday at 12:15.)

Burning River Brass takes its Holiday program to the Federated Church in Chagrin Falls tonight at 7. Tickets are available online.

Details in our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Earlier this month, the finals of the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition were held at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Among the eight semifinalists was Cleveland native Samuel Rosenthal (pictured), who eventually took home second prize in the prestigious contest established in 1979 and named for viola virtuoso William Primrose. He currently studies with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang at the Juilliard School.

The San Francisco Conservatory has announced a new collaborative project with the National Brass Ensemble, whose artistic director is Cleveland Orchestra principal trumpet Michael Sachs. The ensemble, which draws brass and percussion players from major American orchestras, last came together in 2014. Part of the NBE’s Summer Academy for students, scheduled for June 13-20, events will include a live concert on June 20 in Davies Symphony Hall.

Sachs said, “We’ll be performing and recording new works written especially for us by Aaron Jay Kernis, Jonathan Bingham, and Arturo Sandoval, and a new Richard Wagner Ring compilation arrangement.

“In addition to these performed works, this time we will be interacting with a group of brass, percussion, and timpani students especially chosen through auditions to participate in a comprehensive menu of educational events including panel discussions, lectures, intimate masterclass settings, instrument specific subject matter classes, as well as interactive readings of chamber music, music of Giovanni Gabrieli, and standard orchestral repertoire.” Read a press release here.

LIVE AT CMA:

Trinity Cathedral associate organist and Baldwin Wallace faculty member Nicole Keller will bring live concerts back to Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday, January 9 at 2:00 pm with a free recital of music by J.S. Bach, Calvin Hampton, Rayner Brown, Hindemith, Mozart, and Florence Price.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

The Winter Solstice is scheduled for today at 10:58 am in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite a recent run of blazingly sunny days, this moment marks the point when we northerners are tilted as far away from the sun as possible, producing a Tuesday with the shortest daylight and longest night of the year. Just the thing to warm our hearts as the latest episode of the COVID-19 saga unfolds.

Given no alternative, we might as well enjoy our mutual planetary experience today, and as usual, music comes to the rescue.

Click here to listen to the carol commissioned for the 1998 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. Gile Swayne set his own English text in his Winter Solstice Carol (it alternates with familiar Latin phrases from the Christmas Day antiphon to the Magnificat): [Read more…]