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Blossom: Cristian Măcelaru on conducting, posterity, and socially conscious music

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Macelaru

At seventeen, Cristian Măcelaru wanted to conduct. First he had to wait.

‘Keep studying violin, then we’ll talk’ was the message from conductor Larry Rachleff, who had inspired Măcelaru’s new interest at Interlochen Arts Camp.

The young violinist took the advice to heart. Now, two decades later, he’s Music Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music; has served as Conductor-in-Residence, Associate, and Assistant Conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and has led subscription concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

And on Saturday, August 26 at 8:00 pm, he’ll make his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center with a program of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and Holst’s The Planets. “I’m extremely humbled to conduct this orchestra that I’ve admired for my entire life,” he said in a recent conversation.

[Read more…]

TCO at Blossom: 30 minutes with conductor Fabien Gabel and pianist Juho Pohjonen

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Pohjonen-GabelThis weekend’s schedule at Blossom sports a fresh pair of Cleveland Orchestra debuts. On Saturday, August 19 at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Fabien Gabel, music director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, will lead TCO in Ravel’s Boléro, Debussy’s Ibéria, Florent Schmitt’s La Palais Hanté, and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring Juho Pohjonen. We spoke to the French conductor and the Finnish pianist in separate conversations — Gabel was spending time in New York City with his family, while Pohjonen was in Bridgehampton, NY, for his tenth festival of the summer.

As they get to know Northeast Ohio, the two stars of the program will also be getting to know each other. They’ve never performed together, though Gabel said he had the pleasure to hear Pohjonen play a recital in Paris. “He’s played chamber music with some friends of mine, so I know him through them,” said the conductor. “He’s a fantastic musician, so I’m really looking forward to making music with him.”

[Read more…]

Cavani String Quartet to perform at Happy Days in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Part One)

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by Mike Telin

Cavani-June-2017When two longtime members of a string quartet decide to leave the ensemble, the remaining musicians have to ask themselves what to do next.

The Tokyo Quartet elected to disband, but after violist Kirsten Docter and cellist Merry Peckham moved on from the Cavani String Quartet to pursue new professional opportunities, violinists Annie Fullard and Mari Sato decided that the Cavani should live on. “We did ask ourselves that question,” Sato said, “but the quartet repertoire is so rich and we love working with students, so we quickly decided that, yes, we need to move forward.”

On Tuesday, August 22 at 7:00 pm at the Happy Days Lodge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cavani Quartet will present their first local performance with new members violist Eric Wong and cellist Si-Yan Li.

“Excitement doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling that I have,” Fullard said, “there are so many emotions that go through you when you make transitions. [Read more…]

Robert Trevino and Behzod Abduraimov to make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts

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by Mike Telin

Trevino-AbduraimovWhen it comes to the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, conductor Robert Trevino believes the composer’s Fifth is perhaps the most perfect in its construction and musical development. “In a way it’s almost the touchstone for his symphonic canon,” Trevino said during a recent interview. On Saturday, August 5 at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, the Fort Worth, Texas native will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut in a concert featuring Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Behzod Abduraimov as soloist, and the Symphony No. 5.

Trevino, who was named Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra in 2016, said that he sees the symphony as part of a continuum that exists in the composer’s last four symphonies. “I think the Fourth, Fifth, the Manfred, and the Sixth are all dealing with fundamentally the same problem, and finding a different way of solving it,” he said, explaining that beginning with the Fourth Symphony the composer enters into a period of ever-present doom.

“I can’t help but feel that comes from his profound isolation, because he lived in a time when homosexuality was not just frowned upon, it was simply not allowed and I imagine that was very difficult for him. [Read more…]

Conductor Vasily Petrenko to make his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center

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by Mike Telin

Petrenko-Vasily-Mark-McNulty-IMG-Artists“It’s my first time in Wyoming and there’s some spectacular nature — I’m looking at the Teton Mountain from my window now,” the very friendly Vasily Petrenko said as we began our telephone conversation last Friday afternoon. The conductor said he was relaxing before leading the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in a concert later in the evening that would feature works by Brahms and Bartók.  

On Saturday, July 29, at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Petrenko will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut in a concert that includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in c with David Fray as soloist, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in e. “I’m really looking forward this concert, and please tell everyone that I want them to come,” the 41-year old St. Petersburg, Russia native said in his ever-present upbeat style.      [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire Artist Profile: violinist Susanna Perry Gilmore

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by Daniel Hathaway

suzannegilmoreThis summer, Apollo’s Fire audiences have had the opportunity to hear violinist Susanna Perry Gilmore explore two dimensions of her musical persona that aren’t part of her day job as concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra — and which Jeannette Sorrell and Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra are largely responsible for developing.

Perry Gilmore appeared as a folk fiddler in “Mediterranean Roots” during the month of June, then turned to Baroque violin as soloist in the “Summer” concerto of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The Vivaldi program was presented twice earlier this month in Northeast Ohio before going on tour to Youngstown and the Tanglewood, Gretna, and Ravinia Festivals. The show returns for two final performances at Cain Park and Laurel School’s Butler Campus on July 29 and 30.

How did the violinist originally become involved with Apollo’s Fire? “It was a serendipitous meeting,” Perry Gilmore said in a telephone conversation, explaining that Sorrell had made a guest appearance with the Omaha Symphony in the spring of 2014 in an all-Vivaldi program. [Read more…]

Johan Dalene takes first prize at Cooper International Competition

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by Mike Telin

Cooper-Dalene-072117CroppedOn Friday evening, July 21 at Severance Hall, violinist Johan Dalene, 16, from Sweden, was named first place winner in Oberlin’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition following his stellar performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra. Two American competitors — Christina Jihee Nam, 14, who also played the Tchaikovsky, and Qing Yu Chen, 17, who was featured in Prokofiev’s Second Concerto — shared second place.

Dalene, who had already captured the Audience Prize of $500 following Wednesday’s Recital Round, takes home $20,000 in cash. Nam and Chen receive $7,500 each. All three were also offered full-tuition scholarships to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, pending admission. [Read more…]

Three advance to Final Round at Oberlin Cooper Violin Competition

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CooperThree 2017Following the recital round on Wednesday, July 19, the Jury of the Oberlin Cooper International Violin Competition advanced three competitors to Friday evening’s 7:30 pm Final Round with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. Performances will be broadcast live on WCLV, 104.9 FM and wclv.com.

In order of appearance, Qing Yu Chen, 17, USA, will play Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 in g, Op. 63; and Johan Dalene, 16, Sweden, and Christina Jihee Nam, 14, USA, will each be featured in Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D, Op. 35. (L-R: Nam, Dalene, and Chen. Photo: Roger Mastroianni.)

Prizes of $1,500 each conferred on Wednesday evening included:
Sixth Prize: Kiarra Saito-Beckman, 18, USA
Fifth Prize: Maya Anjali Buchanan, 17, USA
Fourth Prize: Zachary Brandon, 18, USA

Six advance to Recital Round at Oberlin Cooper Violin Competition

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Oberlin-Cooper-BannerFollowing the concerto round on Tuesday, July 18, the Jury of the Oberlin Cooper International Violin Competition advanced six competitors to Wednesday evening’s 7:00 pm Concerto Round in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory. Each will play a 30-minute recital. Three competitors will advance to Friday evening’s final round with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. Performances will be live streamed here and broadcast live on WCLV, 104.9 FM and wclv.com.

Competitors in order of performance:
Kiarra Saito-Beckman, 18, U.S.A.  
Maya Anjali Buchanan, 17, U.S.A.
Qing Yu Chen, 17, U.S.A.
Johan Dalene, 16, SWEDEN
Christina Jihee Nam, 14, U.S.A.
Zachary Brandon, 18, U.S.A.

 

Violinist Eli Matthews to perform Paganini with The Cleveland Orchestra

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by Mike Telin

When Cleveland Orchestra first assistant principal second violin Eli Matthews performs Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 this weekend, he will be revisiting a work that has been an important part of his life since he was seven years old. “When I was a wee child my mother took me to the symphony in Memphis, where I grew up, to hear Eugene Fodor play Paganini’s First Violin Concerto,” Matthews recalled during a telephone conversation. “After hearing it, I asked her to get me a violin and she did. From the time I first picked up the instrument, playing that was a big goal of mine and I did many times when I was a teenager — I won some competitions with it, and I’ve played it with orchestras.” [Read more…]

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