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Nicholas McGegan returns to Severance Hall for a “terrific concert for families”

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by Mike Telin

Whether it’s the sounds of birds, whales, or summer storms, for centuries humans have turned to the natural world for musical inspiration. While there is a seemingly endless list of nature-inspired works, one that stands out as a perennial favorite is Antonio Vivaldi’s set of violin concertos — Le quattro stagioni (“The Four Seasons”).

This weekend at Severance Hall, you can hear the sounds of chirping birds, rippling creeks, barking dogs, buzzing flies, and storms when violinist Peter Otto, guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, and The Cleveland Orchestra reunite for three performances of Vivaldi’s groundbreaking work. The program, which also includes music by Mozart (Chaconne from Idomeneo) and Haydn (Symphony No. 94), will be presented on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

For McGegan, these concerts are extra-special for a number of reasons. “For me, working with The Cleveland Orchestra is like being given a Rolls-Royce and an infinite supply of gas,” the affable conductor said during a telephone conversation. “I think this is my tenth visit to work with them, so I hope we’re good pals by now. And this will be a terrific concert for families who are looking for something to do during the Thanksgiving weekend.”

[Read more…]

Cellist Seth Parker Woods to present “Dehiscence: A Sonic Radicalisation” on LCCC Signature Recital Series

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by Jarrett Hoffman

There’s nothing like learning a new word you can use to charming effect in conversation with your friends, co-workers, and dates. Like dehiscence — meaning ‘a splitting open,’ often of a surgical wound.

On second thought, best to leave out the wound aspect and focus on the musical side of the word, thought up by cellist Seth Parker Woods. As he told me during a recent telephone conversation, what interests him is the splitting open of divisions between periods of music. “I’m finding an opening, essentially, and fusing two worlds into one.”

Those worlds are the 17th-century Italian Baroque, and the 20th- and 21st-century avant-garde. He’ll set those genres against each other in “Dehiscence: A Sonic Radicalisation,” a free concert of solo cello music on Tuesday, November 27 at 8:00 pm at LCCC’s Cirigliano Studio Theatre, presented as part of the Signature Recital Series.

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Rocky River Chamber Music Society: An Evening of Serenades with James Feddeck

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by Mike Telin

“A lot of people say the Dvořák Wind Serenade is his best work,” conductor James Feddeck said during a telephone conversation. “I think the same is true for the Brahms Serenade No. 2. It’s one of his best works. And I think it’s wonderful that this concert is free for Northeast Ohio. When I heard that I said I want to be part of it.”

On Monday, November 19 at 7:30 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society will present a concert titled Gala Serenade Evening featuring these exquisite works by Dvořák and Brahms. James Feddeck conducts members of The Cleveland Orchestra and friends — Saeran St. Christopher and Jessica Sindel, flutes, Sally Sherwin, piccolo, Jeffrey Rathbun and Corbin Stair, oboes, Daniel McKelway and Benjamin Freimuth, clarinets, Barrick Stees and Jonathan Sherwin, bassoons, Richard King, David Brockett, and Meghan Guegold, horns, Wesley Collins, Lembi Veskimets, Eliesha Nelson and Jessica Pasternak, violas, Charles Bernard, Linda Atherton, and Julie King, cellos, and Mark Atherton and Scott Dixon, double bass. And yes, the concert is free.

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Oberlin Artist Recital Series: a conversation with Celino Romero

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by Mike Telin

“He was such a powerful romantic guy who wrote beautiful poems,” Celino Romero said, recalling his grandfather Celedonio Romero, who with his sons Celin, Pepe, and Angel founded the legendary guitar quartet The Romeros 60 years ago.

On Sunday, November 18 at 2:30 pm in Finney Chapel, “The Royal Family of the Guitar” will return to Northeast Ohio for a concert on the Oberlin Artist Recital Series. The program will include works by Albéniz, de Falla, Villa-Lobos, Granados, and both Celedonio and Pepe Romero. Tickets are available online.

“60 years, isn’t that crazy?” Celino Romero said by telephone from his home in San Diego. “It blows my mind. But what really blew my mind was when I realized that I have been in the quartet one year longer than my uncle Angel was. When I started in 1990 it was my grandfather, my uncle Pepe, my father Celin, and myself. When my grandfather got sick in ‘95, Angel’s son Lito — who was already playing a lot with his father — joined the group.”  

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Kent fall opera scenes include premiere of The Story of an Hour

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by Daniel Hathaway

Kent State music education major Scott Little’s new opera, The Story of an Hour, has inspired KSU opera director Marla Berg to take her annual fall opera scenes program to a new level this year.

“Although I didn’t hear the portion of Scott’s piece that was workshopped during Cleveland Opera Theatre’s {NOW} Festival, Tim Culver thought it was really good. Then I heard a reading of some of the work at Kent. But what really spurred me on is that Scott wrote a short piece for the Kent orchestra and choral concert last spring, and I really liked it. He came in to talk with me about what it would be like to produce an opera and I thought, you know what? It’s a 40-minute piece. Wouldn’t it be an extraordinary experience for everybody involved if we did it.”

Berg’s decision to mount the premiere ramped up the usually modest fall opera scenes program considerably. “I normally do a montage of eight to ten small scenes, and I thought, I’ll just match Scott’s piece up with two bigger scenes,” Berg said. Although she’s always promising to make things easier on herself the next time around, the director ended up choosing Act III of The Marriage of Figaro and scenes from Berlioz’ Beatrice and Benedict with spoken dialogue from Shakespeare, all of which share the theme of marriage. [Read more…]

Conductor Jakub Hrůša returns to Severance Hall

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by Mike Telin

When Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša makes his annual visit to Cleveland, audiences have come to expect that the concert will include a gem that is rarely, if ever, performed at Severance Hall. His past programs have included Martinů’s Parables, Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel, Janáček’s Jealousy, and Suk’s Asrael Symphony.

On Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 pm, Hrůša will keep that tradition alive when he leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Miloslav Kabeláč’s Mystery of Time. “I think he is the most important symphonist of 20th-century Czech music after Martinů,” the conductor said during a telephone interview. The concert will also include Stravinsky’s Capriccio (for piano and orchestra) featuring Emanuel Ax, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. The program will be repeated on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 pm, and Sunday November 18 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Hrůša noted that the lineage of Czech symphonic composers begins with Dvořák, whom he called the “founder” of that repertoire. “Then you have Smetana, who was not interested in the symphony but wrote symphonic poems. After that is [Zdeněk] Fibich, then Janáček — who never wrote a symphony, then Martinů with his six symphonies. There is always the question of who is next.”

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Contemporary Youth Orchestra to premiere MESH: concerto for drumline and orchestra

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by Mike Telin

For the past 23 years, the Contemporary Youth Orchestra has treated audiences to many firsts. These include premieres of new works as well as first-time collaborations between rock musicians and an orchestra. When CYO kicks off their 24th season on Saturday, November 17 at 7:00 pm at Tri-C’s Metro Auditorium, the program will include the premiere of Michael McIntosh’s MESH: concerto for drumline and orchestra, the first work of its kind.

Under the direction of CYO founder and artistic director Liza Grossman, the concert will also include works by Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, and Charles Griffes. Tickets are available online.

“I’m so excited about this premiere,” Liza Grossman said by telephone. “This is something that has never been done before. In the drumline world both Mike McIntosh and the Cavaliers are top-tier. I’ve told the orchestra that bringing in the Cavaliers is similar to bringing in Yo-Yo Ma.” [Read more…]

Akron Symphony: “Verdi and Valkyries”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

“Verdi and Wagner together represent the pinnacle of the high Romantic age in music, and both were masters of drama,” Akron Symphony music director Christopher Wilkins says in a video on the ASO’s YouTube channel.

Those two composers will find themselves paired in a program titled “Verdi and Valkyries,” to be performed by the Akron Symphony and Chorus on Friday, November 16 at 8:00 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall.

Another pairing: Wilkins and chorus director Marie Bucoy-Calavan, who will trade off conducting duties throughout the evening. Bucoy-Calavan will handle much of the first half, comprising Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino, the Overture and “Va, pensiero” from Nabucco, the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore, and the Ballet and Triumphal March from Aïda.

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COYO: a conversation with concerto competition co-winner Célina Béthoux

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by Jarrett Hoffman

There are certain people in the world who amaze you with how deeply they feel about what they do. After my recent telephone conversation with fourteen-year-old violinist Célina Béthoux, I can say that she’s one of them.

A member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Béthoux is also a co-winner of its 2018 concerto competition. That’s earned her a solo appearance in the Samuel Barber Concerto during the ensemble’s 8:00 pm concert this Friday, November 16 at Severance Hall, led by music director Vinay Parameswaran.

And it might be what Béthoux says, or maybe it’s something that comes across in her voice, but it’s clear that her interest in classical music isn’t at all obligatory, self-important, or resumé-stuffing. It’s just love.

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Opera at Severance Hall: Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos

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by Hannah Schoepe

What could be better than an evening of opera with a world-class orchestra and stars of the opera world? There’s an easy answer: two operas, one performed within the other. (A free piece of opera cake to crown the evening would add to the final flourish — but let’s not push our luck.)

Music director Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a created-for-Severance Hall production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos directed by Frederic Wake-Walker on January 13 at 4:00 pm, January 17 at 7:30 pm, and January 19 at 8:00 pm. The performances mark the first time Ariadne has been programmed by the Orchestra. [Read more…]

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