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The Cleveland Orchestra plays Gershwin: a conversation with pianist Aaron Diehl

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by Mike Telin

The story behind George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue begins when bandleader Paul Whiteman asked the composer to contribute a concerto for a jazz concert to be given in New York City’s Aeolian Hall in February of 1924. Gershwin initially declined the offer, saying there was not enough time to compose the piece.

But then an article about Whiteman’s planned concert ran in the New York Tribune in early January stating that “George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto,” which would be featured along with works by Irving Berlin and Victor Herbert. This was news to the composer, but after a phone call to the bandleader the next morning, Gershwin agreed to write the piece.

This weekend, pianist Aaron Diehl will return to the Blossom Music Center stage for performances of Rhapsody in Blue on Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July 6 at 8:00 pm with The Cleveland Orchestra. The concert, under the direction of Roderick Cox, will also include Bernstein’s Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird, and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Fireworks will follow both performances (weather permitting). Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Digging into Kent Blossom with Mark Kosower

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Cellist Mark Kosower and pianist Jee-Won Oh will find themselves in a familiar place on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:30 pm: in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University, where they’ll once again open the faculty concert series at this year’s Kent Blossom Music Festival. There’s a reason for that — whether at Kent or elsewhere, they always come up with a program that’s worth talking about.

And that’s exactly what Kosower and I did for about twenty minutes over the phone earlier this week. We discussed his and Oh’s choices of works by Beethoven, Fauré, Bach, Chausson, and Schubert, with conversational side trips both poignant and silly.

Jarrett Hoffman: I’m excited to talk to you about this program.

Mark Kosower: There are a number of themes running through it. There’s the French contingent and impressionism, with Chausson being a bridge composer between Romanticism and impressionism. Then you have the Germanic theme with Bach, Schubert, and of course Beethoven, who had a picture of Bach on his wall in at least 1 of his 39 Viennese apartments. He was always being evicted.

[Read more…]

ChamberFest 2019: a conversation with Diana Cohen and Juho Pohjonen

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by Mike Telin

This weekend ChamberFest Cleveland will wrap up its eighth season with a pair of concerts that continue to explore this year’s theme of Under the Influence. On Friday, June 28 at 7:30 pm in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, “Precocious Virtuosity” will feature music by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Moritz Moszkowski. And on Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 pm in CIM’s Mixon Hall, “French Connection” will include music of Poulenc, Stravinsky, Gérard Pesson, Françaix, and Fauré. Tickets are available online.

I recently sat down with violinist and ChamberFest’s co-artistic director Diana Cohen and pianist Juho Pohjonen at the epicenter of the Festival — the Cohen house.

When I arrived, a rehearsal of the Mendelssohn Octet was taking place in the living room while Frank Cohen was sitting on a sofa beaming with joy as he took in the beautiful sounds. In the kitchen and dining room, caterers were busy setting up for a reception that would include a performance by violinist Itamar Zorman and pianist Roman Rabinovich. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom celebrates 51st season

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by Rory O’Donoghue

The Kent Blossom Music Festival returns this weekend, marking the 51st season of Kent State University’s collaboration with The Cleveland Orchestra. From June 30 to August 4, the Festival boasts a five-concert Faculty Series and a ten-concert Young Artist Series, including its annual side-by-side performance between students and The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. 

“Our faculty concert series will feature fantastic artists from The Cleveland Orchestra, Kent State’s revered faculty, the Miami String Quartet, pianist Spencer Myer and other guest artists,” Festival director Ricardo Sepúlveda said in his letter introducing this year’s season. For these musicians, their tenure at Kent Blossom is more than just performance based — they’ll be working closely with the 43 visiting students accepted this year.  [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera season preview: part two

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Unless you’re an aficionado of lyric theater, chances are that the only title you’ll recognize from Ohio Light Opera’s last four productions this summer is the first: Pirates of Penzance, the English import from Gilbert & Sullivan. Not that the other three are exactly chopped liver, or in any way inferior. They’ve just been tucked away in someone’s archives waiting to be re-discovered. All three are Ohio Light Opera premieres.

We’ll get back to Pirates, but the three premieres are truly intriguing. Music in the Air opens July 11. The music is by Jerome Kern (everyone has heard of him) and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the same Hammerstein who was responsible for South Pacific, which opens the season. [Read more…]

This weekend at ENCORE: rondos and Cleveland connections

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by Jarrett Hoffman

When it comes to classical music, there’s not much better party material than a rondo. It’s easy to follow, the refrain lodges itself into your memory like any great pop-song chorus, and most importantly, the music tends to be fast and fun.

The folks over at ENCORE Chamber Music decided that rondos would be just the thing to keep the festivities going with this season’s focus on Bohemian music and the Romani people. “There is such a danceable spirit to our theme, ‘La Bohème,’ and we felt that rondo movements celebrated that in a really lovely way,” artistic director Jinjoo Cho said during a recent interview.

A concert titled “Round Round Rondo” — the refrains, of course, come round and round — takes place this Friday, June 28 at 7:00 pm in the Tudor House at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills. The program includes two pieces that conclude with that musical form — Mozart’s Viola Quintet in g and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in g — as well as Kodály’s Serenade, Op. 12.

[Read more…]

Oberlin BPI’s Dido and Aeneas: ten minutes with Lucas Harris

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by Daniel Hathaway

The 48th year of Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute sports a remarkably inclusive theme: “Music of the Enemies of Louis XIV.” BPI’s promotional materials note that in addition to engaging in four large-scale conflicts, the French Sun King managed to ruffle the feathers of nearly every major power in Europe during his 72-year reign.

Last week’s faculty concert featured music by Joan Cabanilles, Johann Joseph Fux, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Heinrich Biber, Johannes Schenck, Tomaso Albinoni, Henry Purcell, and Arcangelo Corelli in a performance that filled Kulas Recital Hall to capacity just with BPI participants.

This Friday evening, June 28 at 7:30 pm, the big faculty/guest concert moves into the much larger space of Warner Concert Hall for Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in D, Op. 6, No. 4 in D, Petronio Franceschini’s Sonata for Two Trumpets, and Johann Joseph Fux’s Ouverture in d. The evening will close with a semi-staged production of Henry Purcell’s tragedy Dido and Aeneas, based on Book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra summer season launches on June 29

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by Daniel Hathaway

When the gates open for this summer’s Blossom Music Festival on June 29, patrons will enjoy some new guest amenities.

A new bar space, The Tasting Room, will make its debut near the Lot A entrance and will be open before and after each performance. Post- concert dessert service will offer guests an opportunity to linger and avoid the rush to the parking lots.

Remember the Image Magnification technology that projected onstage activity onto huge LED screens in the Pavilion last summer? That was a test run for this summer’s IMAG feed that will enhance all performances, many produced in partnership with ideastream, the public service organization that operates WVIZ/PBS, WCPN 90.3, and WCLV 104.9.

Gourmet picnic packages can be pre-ordered and picked up in the Special Events Center for all events and save concertgoers the trouble of self-catering. Speaking of edibles, subscribers and donors will have access to special refreshments and light bites in Kulas Plaza before certain concerts. [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra heads into its twenty-fifth year

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by Mike Telin and Rory O’Donoghue

“There was no question that I was going to form this orchestra. My goal was simply to provide something new,” Contemporary Youth Orchestra founder Liza Grossman said during a recent interview. Grossman recalled that as a high school student at the Interlochen Arts Academy she was told she had two options for a career in music: play in an orchestra or teach in the schools. “I have a high respect for both of those professions, but I knew that I didn’t want to do either of them.”

Once she realized that her calling was to be a youth orchestra conductor, she knew she needed to figure out a way to let students know that there are far more options in music. It’s worked out well for Grossman, who said, “Leading CYO has grown into a life that has been so rewarding, and all of the work is a pleasure. I think it was Mark Twain who said ‘The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.’” [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland 2019: behind the scenes with Franklin Cohen

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by Rory O’Donoghue

“This year’s ChamberFest — the way everything’s turned out — is really quite satisfying. It makes me smile.” I could almost hear Franklin Cohen grinning through the phone.

Prior to the beginning of this year’s festival, I had the opportunity to talk with Cohen, principal clarinet emeritus of The Cleveland Orchestra and co-artistic director of ChamberFest, about the current season and the evolution of the Festival. Above all, he’s immensely appreciative of how far he’s come: “It’s just so wonderful to be able to do this, to have this life of music. I fell in love with music as a child, lying under the piano when my mother would practice. I couldn’t escape the spell, and still can’t.”

ChamberFest emerged in 2012 with its first season, Big Bang!, and has been on the rise ever since. [Read more…]

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