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Cleveland Orchestra honors Rodgers & Hammerstein in dazzling Blossom concert (Aug. 17)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – If any industry understands the magic of a marquee, it’s Broadway. And few names in the history of musical theater have lit up the Great White Way as brilliantly as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Together, the composer and lyricist have been a box-office draw for close to a century, from the smashing success of their first collaboration, “Oklahoma!” (1943) to the packed crowd they drew for The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert at Blossom Music Center on Sunday, Aug. 17.

A versatile trio of vocal soloists shared the spotlight with the ensemble under guest pops conductor Andy Einhorn, but the evening ultimately belonged to the singular duo who transformed the art of songwriting for the stage.

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Cleveland Orchestra delights with homage to Cuyahoga Valley National Park at Blossom Music Center (Aug. 16)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – The Cleveland Orchestra brought together music, nature and friendship in a program as warm and satisfying as a summer night under the trees at Blossom Music Center on Saturday.

Conducted by Daniel Reith — making his final appearance as the ensemble’s associate conductor — the concert offered the regional premiere of Gabriella Smith’s Rewilding, Max Bruch’s seldom-heard Violin Concerto No. 2 and Edward Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations.

Commissioned in honor of the 50th anniversary of Cuyahoga Valley National Park — where Blossom is situated — Rewilding is Smith’s exuberant tribute to ecological restoration.

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Elim Chan directs Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center in Maurice Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (Aug. 9)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The Cleveland Orchestra on Saturday offered a summer evening of musical storytelling that was alluring and colorful without excess.

Under the elegant and incisive direction of Elim Chan at Blossom Music Center, the program paired Maurice Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in performances redolent of perfume and sonic splendor.

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, the opener was Shéhérazade, a 1903 song cycle with words by Tristan Klingsor, the pen name of French poet, painter, and composer Léon Leclère.

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Laufey crafts a shimmering “Night at the Symphony” (Aug. 7)

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by Stephanie Manning

It was only “A Matter of Time” before Laufey had the Blossom Music Center audience hanging on to her every word. And that was practically no time at all.

The singer-songwriter’s August 7 performance with The Cleveland Orchestra packed the venue with her adoring fans — many of them wearing her trademark items like dresses and hair bows — whose cheers rose up the moment the lights dimmed.

Ahead of the August 22 release of her third album, A Matter of Time, the Icelandic-Chinese artist brought her “A Night at the Symphony” tour to Cuyahoga Falls on a temperate Thursday evening. The sparkling, emotionally vulnerable performance thrived on her star power, bolstered by The Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Ross Jamie Collins.

The orchestral palette is familiar territory for Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay), a classically trained musician who grew up between Reykjavik and Washington, D.C. Her wistful, crooning voice also draws influence from pop and jazz, the latter most identifiable in the daydreaming “Like the Movies” and the layered harmonies of the opening “Dreamer.”

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Piano Days: Natalie Tenenbaum at the Hanna (Aug. 2)

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By Peter Feher

Piano bars are popular again, declared the New York Post in 2022, and Northeast Ohio got in on the trend earlier this month courtesy of Piano Cleveland.

For the final concert of the presenter’s annual Piano Days series on Saturday, Aug. 2, New York-based performer Natalie Tenenbaum took over Playhouse Square’s intimate Hanna Theatre with a swanky soundtrack that ranged from Frédéric Chopin to Michael Jackson.

The evening, titled “The Piano // Re-Imagined,” felt like a lounge set on steroids, combining genres to crowd-pleasing effect. The only thing missing was cocktail chatter — Tenenbaum held the audience rapt, recital-style, with her tremendous technique at the keyboard.

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Piano Days: Kotaro Fukuma in the Atrium at Cleveland Museum of Art (July 29)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The motto of Piano Cleveland’s Piano Days, “Celebrate piano in all its forms,” included ticketed events as well as many free “Community” performances and happenings.

At noon on Tuesday, July 29, what was described as a sound installation brought Japanese pianist Kotaro Fukuma back to Cleveland, where he had taken first prize in the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition, to play an hour-long pop-up concert of Japanese music in the atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art. (Fukuma also performed a more formal program in CIM’a Mixon Hall later in the week).

The Ames Family Atrium is a wonderful venue for a community concert. Rafael Vinoly’s great enclosed space that connects the old and new parts of the museum invites informal gatherings as well as structured events, and whatever happens there inevitably attracts an audience of passersby as well as planned attendees. [Read more…]

Lisztomania ignites Blossom as Rustioni and Bax dazzle in Cleveland Orchestra debut (Aug. 2)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The marketing department of The Cleveland Orchestra seized on two works by the 19th-century “rock star” composer and pianist Franz Liszt on its programs at Severance and Blossom to advertise the weekend events as “Lisztomania” — with a nod to “Beatlemania,” the 20th century craze for the music of The Beatles by their adoring fans.

On Saturday night, August 2, at Blossom Music Center, Daniele Rustioni made his Cleveland Orchestra debut, conducting with clarity and joy but also with a flair reminiscent of Liszt’s charismatic presence. His physical expressivity drew a palpable response from the ensemble, an experience of shared energy between conductor, soloist and orchestra that recalled how Liszt could drive his fans into a frenzy.

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Sounds of Bartók, Dohnányi, Liszt shine at Severance Music Center (July 31)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s quite possible that a record number of soloists have taken the stage at Severance Music Center over the past few weeks.

Thursday night’s Cleveland Orchestra concert — a symphonic showcase from beginning to end that spotlighted every section of the ensemble — should certainly count toward the virtuoso tally.

The playing of dozens of individual orchestra members came brilliantly to the fore in Mandel Concert Hall. Never mind that no guest soloist was featured. Rather, the evening’s prodigiousness originated with the lineup of composers, expertly channeled by visiting conductor Christoph Koncz.

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The 5 Browns: five pianos, 440 keys, and a visit to “The Edge of The World” (July 20)

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by Stephanie Manning

Music for five pianos is rare enough — so The 5 Browns knew that if they wanted to play a concerto together, they’d need to create their own. That’s exactly what the sibling quintet achieved in 2011, when the Ravinia Festival commissioned composer Nico Muhly to write The Edge of the World.

For their visit to Cleveland, the group gave their program the same title, with the theme of exploring uncharted territory. On July 20, they treated the audience at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre to plenty of familiar tunes. But the visual and auditory spectacle of their performance, which opened Piano Cleveland’s 2025 Piano Days series, was the real draw.

Although they have kept their name the same, the group is technically now The 5 ‘B’s — four Browns and a Beus. Stephen Beus joined the Brown siblings Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, and Melody after Ryan Brown’s departure in 2023. But just by watching them play together, it’s impossible to tell Beus isn’t a Brown himself. The quintet’s synchronization never faltered during the almost two-hour program, even during Muhly’s challenging concerto.

[Read more…]

Utsav Lal at Piano Days: Indian classical music with new interpretations (July 22)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Pianist Utsav Lal’s solo concert at the Lorraine and Bill Dodero Center for the Performing Arts in Gates Mills on Tuesday evening July 22 offered “Indian classical music reimagined for the Western grand piano.” The experience was a gradual one: you became aware of a rare sensual and spiritual atmosphere — and then, if you allowed it to, a gently meditative state overtook you.

One of Indian classical music’s defining traits is the irregularity of intervals and pitches — something you might hear from a sitarist or a vocalist — yielding a broader expressive palette. To fully appreciate Lal’s work, one had to set that convention aside and receive his Western reinterpretation on its own terms.

[Read more…]

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