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Classical Guitarist Sharon Isbin to make her Cleveland debut

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by Mike Telin

IsbinIn an appearance on the Tavis Smiley show, celebrated classical guitarist Sharon Isbin said that she came to the instrument by accident. “Our family was living in Italy when I was nine years old, and when an older brother said he wanted guitar lessons — and my parents learned there was a famous teacher who commuted to our village from Milan who was touring all over Italy and had studied with Segovia — they brought my brother for the interview. He said, ‘What? Classical? No, no, I want to be Elvis Presley.’ He bowed out before the first lesson, and out of family duty I volunteered to take his place.” The rest is history.

The winner of two Grammy Awards and Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Classical Guitarist,” Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 170 orchestras and has given sold-out performances in the world’s finest halls. Her documentary Troubadour has been viewed by millions of people on over 200 television stations.

On Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will present Sharon Isbin in her Cleveland debut as part of its International Series. [Read more…]

Pianist Emanuel Ax returns to Severance Hall this weekend

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by Mike Telin

emanuel_ax“It’s an incredible thrill to be able to play with Vladimir Ashkenazy. When I was a young student, he was one of the two or three greatest pianists in the world. I went to hear him all the time and was awed by everything that he did,” pianist Emanuel Ax said during a recent telephone conversation. “I continue to be awed, but he is such a nice man that you feel like you can talk to him normally, and that is very nice. He has always been one of my idols, so it is going to be very special to be onstage with him. He also has a long relationship with the Orchestra, which makes this very exciting.”

On Friday, November 3 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Emanuel Ax will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy. The program, which also includes Elgar’s Serenade and the Enigma Variations, will be repeated on Saturday the 4th at 8:00 pm and Sunday the 5th at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera Theater to present
The Marriage of Figaro

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by Mike Telin

figaro_imageA mainstay of the opera repertoire, The Marriage of Figaro is the first of Mozart’s collaborations with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. The plot is filled with mistaken identity, surprise paternity, and intrigue, as the servants Figaro and Susanna triumph in marriage while comically thwarting the attempts of the philandering Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna.

Raphael Jiménez will lead the Oberlin Orchestra and cast at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, November 1, 3, and 4, and at 2:00 pm on Sunday, November 5 in Hall Auditorium. The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. Click here for ticket information.

Figaro is a social commentary about the lower versus the upper class — servants outsmarting the aristocracy. “The plot of this opera is as current as #metoo,” Oberlin Opera Theater director Jonathon Field said during a recent conversation. “It is about men who are in positions of power and assume that gives them the authority to sleep with whomever, whenever they want to.” [Read more…]

Oberlin Cantata Project puts Bach’s church cantatas in perspective

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by Daniel Hathaway

Oberlin-Cantata-ProjectBeginning this Saturday, Oberlin student Matt Bickett will be putting Johann Sebastian Bach’s church cantatas into context with his Oberlin Cantata Project. Bickett will lead an ensemble of mainly student singers and instrumentalists in three performances of Bach’s cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80, that will surround the work with Dietrich Buxtehude’s Alles was ihr tut and Johann Pachelbel’s Gott ist unser Zuversicht — other pieces that might have been heard during the same service at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.

The Cantata Project will be presented on Saturday, October 28 at 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, on Sunday, October 29 at 6:30 pm in Warner Concert Hall in Oberlin, and on Sunday, November 5 at 5:00 pm at the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland. All events are free. [Read more…]

Jim Jarmusch & Carter Logan of SQÜRL play their scores to
Man Ray silent films at CMA

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by Jarrett Hoffman

02172015+SQURL+8825Jim Jarmusch is best-known as an independent filmmaker whose stories unfold in his own slow, strange, beautiful way. He’s also a native of Cuyahoga Falls and one of two members of the post-rock band SQÜRL, who take on film from another angle at the Cleveland Museum of Art next week.

On Wednesday, November 1 at 7:30 pm at CMA’s Gartner Auditorium, Jim Jarmusch (electric guitar and keyboard) and Carter Logan (drum kit) of SQÜRL will play their own ambient, drone-heavy, semi-improvised scores to four avant-garde silent films from the 1920s by Man Ray: L’étoile de mer, Emak bakia, Le retour à la raison, and Les mystères du château du dé (see the links to watch them on YouTube). Reto Thüring, curator of contemporary art at the museum, will host a conversation with the musicians following the performance.

SQÜRL describe themselves as an enthusiastically marginal rock band from New York City who like big drums and distorted guitars, cassette recorders, loops, feedback, sad country songs, molten stoner core, chopped and screwed hip-hop, and imaginary movie scores. Their work includes four EP’s, a live album, and the scores to three Jarmusch films: The Limits of Control, Only Lovers Left Alive, and Paterson. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater and
BW Conservatory present
The Threepenny Opera

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Dreigroschenoper“There’s a very raw, visceral style to the language and the drama in Threepenny,” said Cleveland Opera Theater director Scott Skiba in a recent conversation. “Nothing is whitewashed, nothing is varnished.”

On Friday, October 27 at 7:30 pm at Maltz Performing Arts Center, Cleveland Opera Theater opens its season with The Threepenny Opera, co-produced by Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. Presented in English, the work brings together Kurt Weill’s genre-fusing music and Elisabeth Hauptmann’s and Bertolt Brecht’s famously provocative text, adapted from John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera. A second performance will be given on Sunday, October 29 at 3:00 pm.

“It’s a relevant, exciting piece that hasn’t been done here for a long time, and this is going to be a special version,” said Skiba, who also serves as director of opera studies at BW. “Sometimes the word ‘opera’ scares people, but this will feel more like musical theater. It’s outrageous and vibrant.” [Read more…]

Q&A with French organist
Michel Bouvard before his
Trinity Cathedral Recital October 24

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by Daniel Hathaway

Bouvard-MichelTrinity Cathedral will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Dutch pipe organ with a recital by French organist Michel Bouvard on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:30 pm. The mechanical action instrument, made by Flentrop Orgelbouw in Zaandam, the Netherlands, was dedicated in December of 1977 and inspired Trinity’s lunchtime series, the Brownbag Concerts, launched in January of 1978.

Bouvard is currently on a U.S. tour that began at Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, continued with recitals and masterclasses at the University of Kansas, and after Cleveland, will end with a recital at the Maison Symphonique in Montréal. Due to language issues, in lieu of an interview, we sent M. Bouvard some questions by email to which he has graciously responded. [Read more…]

CityMusic celebrates John Corigliano’s 80th: a conversation with Avner Dorman, Tessa Lark, and the composer himself

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by Daniel Hathaway, Jarrett Hoffman, and Mike Telin

Corigliano-J-Henry-Fair“I knew this was John Corigliano’s 80th birthday season and I really wanted to do something special to celebrate that,” CityMusic Cleveland Artistic Director Avner Dorman said during a telephone conversation. “We thought about showing the film The Red Violin and playing the score. Then we realized that performing the concerto would be more artistically satisfying.”

CityMusic opens its 14th season when Avner Dorman leads a program that celebrates the 80th birthday of composer John Corigliano. The program will include his “The Red Violin” Concerto, featuring Tessa Lark, as well as Robert Schumann’s Overture to Genoveva and Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish.” The first of five area performances will take place on Wednesday, October 18 at 7:30 pm at St. Jerome Church in Cleveland. Click here for additional time, days, and locations.

“I’m excited about this program, and the fact that we managed to put it all together is extraordinary,” Dorman said. “I’m sure this is going to be a huge hit with our audiences. [Read more…]

Les Délices’ opening concerts to be “Inspired by Italy”

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by Hannah Schoepe

Les-Delices-galleryOpening a window into the past, Les Délices will explore the polarized yet relational bond between 17th- and 18th-century French and Italian music during its season-opening concerts. “Inspired by Italy” will take place Saturday, October 21 at 8:00 pm at Pilgrim Church in Tremont, and Sunday, October 22 at 4:00 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. For ticket information click here.

Les Délices, a Baroque ensemble founded in 2009 by Baroque oboist Debra Nagy, initially specialized in French music. This weekend’s concerts will feature Nagy, Baroque violinist Julie Andrijeski, viola da gambist Emily Walhout, and harpsichordist Mark Edwards. When asked about the French name via email, Nagy wrote, “It means ‘the delights.’ Délices also shares the same root as the words ‘delicious’ or ‘delicacy.’ French Baroque music is sometimes considered a fine delicacy. It is rich and diverse, but not often a central part of a listener’s diet. We wanted the opportunity to introduce this music to a wider audience.” [Read more…]

The Texas Tenors at Stambaugh Auditorium: a conversation with John Hagen

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by Mike Telin

Texas-Tenors“It’s fun to see people stretch their musical tastes in opposite directions,” tenor John Hagen, who is one third of the popular classical crossover trio, The Texas Tenors, said during a telephone conversation. “You take the fan who’s at one end of the spectrum, either classical or country, and hear how they have come to appreciate other genres of music that they haven’t listened to very often, if at all.”

On Sunday, October 22 at 7:30 pm at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, The Texas Tenors — opera singer John Hagen, country music singer JC Fisher, and pop singer Marcus Collins — will present a concert of country, classical, Broadway and pop selections. Tickets are available online.

Since their debut eight years ago on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, the Trio has amassed a list of awards including three Emmys for the PBS special You Should Dream. [Read more…]

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