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McCalmont’s List 6: Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in c, Op. 110 (1960)

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by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series

ShostakovichGenre: String Quartet — piece for four string players; usually two violins, viola, and cello
Scoring: Two violins, viola, and cello
Era: Modern/Postwar
Length: c. 20 minutes
Will you recognize it? Perhaps from your nightmares
Recommended Recordings: Emerson Quartet or Fitzwilliam String Quartet

Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). Shostakovich was one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets are some of the most important in their genres. He also wrote brilliant concertos, chamber music, film scores, ballets, and operas. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: Sivan Magen talks about his life as a harpist

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by Mike Telin

Sivan MagenThe sixth in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

“This is a great piece. Poe’s story is well-known,” harpist Sivan Magen said during a recent telephone conversation from his home in New York City. “André Caplet’s music follows the text very well. The music has a lot of energy, and is not angelic like so much of the music that is written for the harp.”

Tonight, Saturday June 25 at 8:00 pm in Harkness Chapel, Sivan Magen will make his ChamberFest Cleveland debut on a program titled Fairy(tales) & Tales of the Macabre featuring André Caplet’s Conte Fantastique, after Poe’s The Mask of the Red Death for harp and strings (score pictured below). [Read more…]

Looking forward to the summer season: a conversation with Cleveland Orchestra artistic administrator Ilya Gidalevich

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by Mike Telin

Blossom-Lawn-071115Now that summer is officially upon us, it’s time to locate the picnic basket, fill it with your favorite summer foods, and head to the Cuyahoga National Park with family and friends to enjoy a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center. And, if anyone in your vehicle is under the age of 18, their seat on the lawn is free.

If you can’t make it to Blossom, the Orchestra has scheduled three early Friday evening concerts in its Summers@Severance series. Special “happy hour” drink prices will be offered one hour prior to each concert on Severance Hall’s front terrace. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy the outdoor delights of University Circle.

“As usual the summer season is a mix of musical genres and artists,” Cleveland Orchestra artistic administrator Ilya Gidalevich said during a recent telephone conversation. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: chatting with pianist Roman Rabinovich

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by Mike Telin

RabinovichThe fifth in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

“ChamberFest is very special,” pianist Roman Rabinovich said during a telephone conversation from Wales, where he was performing three solo recitals. “It’s not a generic festival at all. It has such a warm atmosphere, and such interesting programming. This will be my third Festival, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tonight, June 20 at 8:00 pm at Dobama Theatre, Roman Rabinovich will make his first 2016 ChamberFest Cleveland appearance during “Movie Night” when he teams up with pianists Marat Portan and Orion Weiss for some comical and lighter works, including Sousa marches and a piece for piano six-hands. [Read more…]

ENCORE Chamber Music: Calidore Quartet to make their Cleveland debut on June 25

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by Mike Telin

Calidore-Quartet2016 has been a good year at the office for the young Calidore String Quartet. In February they won England’s Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, becoming the first North American ensemble to receive the £20,000 award in the foundation’s history. During May, violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violist Jeremy Berry, and cellist Estelle Choi made their Carnegie Hall debut, and won the $100,000 grand prize at the inaugural M-Prize Chamber Music Competition.

On Saturday, June 25 at 8:00 pm at Our Lady Chapel on the campus of Gilmour Academy, the Calidore String Quartet will make their Cleveland area debut as part of ENCORE Chamber Music’s “Virtuoso Series.” Their program titled “Forbidden Voices: Censorship and Propaganda of WWII” will include music by Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Felix Mendelssohn. [Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 5: Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks (1895)

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by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List series

Max_Liebermann_Bildnis_Richard_StraussGenre: Symphonic Poem — an orchestral work with extra-musical meaning (typically some sort of narrative)
Scoring: Large orchestra
Era: Late Romantic
Length: c. 15 minutes
Will you recognize it? It may remind you of the Looney Tunes
Recommended Recordings: George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra or Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Composer: Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Richard Strauss has no relation to the Strauss family of Vienna (of Blue Danube fame), but he does know how to write a piece that puts a smile on your face. He was born to the principal horn player in the Munich orchestra and showed prodigious musical talent from a young age. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire, La Nef, and soprano Meredith Hall come together again for “My Island Home”

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by Daniel Hathaway

HALL-Meredith“If people liked ‘Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas,’ they’ll know how great it is when you mix La Nef in with Apollo’s Fire people,” soprano Meredith Hall said in a recent telephone conversation.

Hall, who starred in that earlier show, returns to Cleveland this week to rejoin Sylvain Bergeron of Montréal’s Ensemble La Nef; Apollo’s Fire soloists Susanna Gilmore, fiddle, Kathie Stewart, flutes, and Tina Bergmann, hammered dulcimer; and other members of the Countryside Concerts ensemble for six performances of a new summer program called “My Island Home: Songs and Stories of Newfoundland.” [Read more…]

Syndicate for The New Arts to showcase music of Jonathan Sokol on June 20

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by Mike Telin

SOKOL-Jonathan“Joshua Rosner has been very gracious and programmed a piece or two of mine on Syndicate concerts,” composer Jonathan Sokol said during a recent telephone conversation. “So I was extremely grateful when he told me that he wanted to present a concert that featured my music.”

On Monday, June 20 at 7:00 pm at Historic St. John’s in Ohio City, the Syndicate for The New Arts will present Sokol’s For the Harp (2011), Gradient : Linear (2010), (…also) (2011), and Resident Songs (2013). Performers will include harpist Caitlin Mehrtens, violinist Henry Jenkins, violist Faith Roberts, mezzo-soprano Katy Early, and pianist Jonathan Sokol, who will discuss each work and take questions from the audience. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland:
meet pianist Matan Porat

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by Mike Telin

The fourth in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

Porat-Matan“The first time I improvised to a silent film I was frightened because I didn’t know if I could,” pianist-composer Matan Porat recalled during a Skype conversation from his home in Berlin. “And I picked the hardest movie there is, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis from 1927 — which is quite long.”

On Monday, June 20 at 8:00 pm at Dobama Theater, the Israeli-born pianist will share his improvisational skills during ChamberFest Cleveland’s “Movie Night” screening of the 1928 Buster Keaton silent film Steamboat Bill, Jr. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: a chat with mezzo-soprano Marjorie Maltais

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by Mike Telin

MaltaisThe third in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

Musical inspiration can be found in many forms, from the literary —  revolving around stories including the profane and the divine — to the spinning of dreams. For the 2016 edition of ChamberFest Cleveland, running from June 15 through July 2, the twelve concerts presented under the theme Tales & Legends will take listeners on journeys that will explore the fantastical, the mystical, and the obsessive.

This year’s Festival programs will feature many programmatic firsts, one of which is the inclusion of vocal music — and there’s no better way to tell a story than through words set to music.

When mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein was forced to withdraw for health reasons, ChamberFest was fortunate to be able to secure the services of the young Canadian mezzo Marjorie Maltais. [Read more…]

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