by Daniel Hathaway
At 95 minutes, Gustav Mahler’s third symphony is his longest, as well as one of the most extended orchestral works in the repertoire. At its center are two wonderful movements featuring an alto soloist, women’s chorus, and children’s chorus that last only a few minutes each, but completely change the emotional trajectory of the symphony.
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, who has joined Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra in half a dozen projects in the past, will return to Severance Hall on Thursday and Friday, October 1 and 2 to sing Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Midnight Song” from Also sprach Zarathustra and “The Bell Chorus” from Das Knaben Wunderhorn in the middle of Mahler’s vast symphony. We reached her by telephone early Wednesday afternoon at her hotel to chat briefly about her role in this weekend’s concerts. [Read more…]
“Chopin and singing are perfect companions,” French pianist François Dumont said by telephone from his home in Lyon, “because Chopin’s music is like a singing piano. In fact, Chopin would tell his students that you have to sing if you want to play the piano. During concerts he would often include a singer performing Italian opera.” On Thursday, October 1 at 8:00 pm in Harkness Chapel, François Dumont and Irish soprano Helen Kearns will present a concert titled From Dublin to Lyon. The program will include four Chopin Ballades and arias from The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, and other romantic operas and operettas. The concert is part of the Cleveland International Piano Competition’s 
Ever since the Cleveland Museum of Art began presenting concerts in the Transformer Station, Tom Welsh, director of CMA’s Performing Arts series, has carefully curated programs that celebrate the art of improvisation and musical experimentation. This week’s series-opening concerts are no exception. Beginning on Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 pm, composer Ellen Fullman will make her Cleveland debut at Transformer Station with her “Long String Instrument.” The concert, titled “Foghorns,” is a collaboration with composer, cellist, and vocalist Theresa Wong. (The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26 at 7:30 pm.)
The Cleveland-based early music ensemble Les Délices will open the Signature Series at Lorain County Community College on Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 pm with their newest program, titled Toutes Suites. “The program is all about the genesis of the French baroque instrumental dance suite,” the ensemble’s creative and resourceful artistic director Debra Nagy told us by telephone. The concert, to be held in the Cirigliano Theater, will include music by Lully, Marais, and Couperin performed by Debra Nagy (baroque oboe), Julie Andrijeski (baroque violin), David Ellis (viola da gamba), and Simon Martyn-Ellis (theorbo).
Since May of 2008, the Cleveland-based FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) has presented concerts featuring an eclectic mix of repertoire that bridges the gap between pop and art music at out of the ordinary venues such as the Sculpture Garden and the East Cleveland Cemetery. On Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 pm,
“This is one of my favorite piano concertos, and I think it’s one of Gershwin’s greatest works,” pianist Philip Thomson said during a telephone conversation. “I haven’t had a chance to perform it for a long time, so I’m thrilled to be able to play it again.” On Saturday, September 19 at 8:00 pm, Thomson will be featured in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F when Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony open their season in E.J. Thomas Hall with a concert titled “American Journey.” The program will also include Aaron Copland’s El salón México and Rodeo Ballet, as well as Clint Needham’s Southern Air.
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will open its International Series with a “Showcase” concert at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. On Saturday, September 19 at 7:30 pm, two duos will join Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux in a wide-ranging program of pieces for voice and guitar, two guitars, and solo guitar. The performers include Stephen Aron, guitar, and JoNell Aron, soprano, as well as Duo Amaral (Jorge Amaral and Mia Pomerantz-Amaral, guitars). Where else can you find Shine on, harvest moon and a Bach lute suite on the same program? There’s no admission charge, but donations are welcome.
Once described as a “diminutive dynamo,” French-Canadian organist Isabelle Demers will bring her impressive technical skill and musicianship to bear on a wide-ranging program next Sunday afternoon, September 20 at 4:00 pm, when she performs on the beautifully-restored E.M. Skinner organ in Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
Many times in life an event sparks the beginnings of an idea. For Groupmuse founder Sam Bodkin, that event was his first hearing of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, Opus 133 in December of 2008. “I had never seriously listened to classical music before, and the piece shattered all of my preconceptions about what the genre was. It opened up an entirely new universe that had existed beside my own for so long but that I had never accessed, despite the fact that both my parents have always been classical music lovers.”