by Nicholas Stevens
The story of Jesus of Nazareth’s final hours is necessarily an unpleasant one, concluding hints of optimism aside. But the Passion can be beautiful in its own way, as Trinity Cathedral’s Good Friday Concert demonstrated. Suffering and salvation, grit and grace, horror broken by a spark of hope: under director Todd Wilson on March 30, Trinity’s Choir and Chamber Orchestra incorporated all of these into a program built around Arvo Pärt’s monumental Passio. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
On the night of Good Friday, as the Brentano Quartet filled Oberlin’s Finney Chapel with shimmering sound, a question came to mind: what is the essence of a madrigal? Put simply, a madrigal is an Italian Renaissance form for voices full of musical effects that paint clear tonal pictures of the words being sung. More complexly, a madrigal is so shaped by its text that it constantly molds itself into new forms like Descartes’ philosophical ball of wax.
by David Kulma
What happens when a flutist, clarinetist, violinist, and cellist come together to play music? They commission composers, because preexisting works for this quartet of instruments are a rarity. And, gratifyingly, based on Monday night’s concert at Drinko Recital Hall — presented as part of Cleveland State University’s Cleveland Contemporary Players Artist in Residency Series — Hub New Music is building a fascinating repertoire and playing it beautifully.
by Jarrett Hoffman
New York, March 27.
Apollo’s Fire brought the house down and the heart rates up at their Carnegie Hall debut last Thursday, March 22 at the venue’s cozy Zankel Hall in New York City. The highlight of this “Evening at Bach’s Coffeehouse” was the closer: a thrilling, caffeinating performance of Vivaldi’s “La Follia” Sonata for Two Violins and Continuo, arranged by artistic director, conductor, and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell for this Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra.
by Tom Wachunas
I can only guess at why there were so many empty seats in the audience for the March 25 concert from the Canton Symphony Orchestra. If familiar classical music breeds ticket sales, perhaps this program was perceived (undeservedly) as too light-weight, or the selections too obscure. Or perhaps it was local Lenten fasting from orchestral music. In any case, it’s not my place to berate those otherwise faithful concertgoers who were missing in action on this occasion, except to say that they missed a real stunner.
by Daniel Hathaway
Sometimes the most interesting programs bring together pieces that wouldn’t have met under normal circumstances. Sunday afternoon’s Cleveland Orchestra concert on March 25 at Severance Hall under the direction of guest conductor Stéphane Denève was a case in point. Denève paired Poulenc’s bizarrely charming Concert champêtre for harpsichord and large orchestra with Rachmaninoff’s gorgeously overwrought Second Symphony. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Hearing the Akron Symphony’s “Planet Earth” program on Friday evening, March 23 in E.J. Thomas Hall was like playing around with Google Earth — the fascinating app that lets you zoom around between completely unrelated global destinations from the comfort of your laptop. Music Director Christopher Wilkins crafted an itinerary that visited both poles — Antarctica and the Finnish Arctic — tucking in trips to Rome and the Scottish Hebrides as well. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
A stylish concert of Baroque music called “Suppressed Voices: Music of the Banished” took place in the intimate Chapel at Lakewood Congregational Church on Friday night, March 23. Burning River Baroque’s program featured music by three banished composers little performed today — and the ubiquitous Handel, represented by his cantata about a Roman political exile.
by Nicholas Stevens
A white picket fence, a suburban home interior, a blue sky dotted with puffy clouds — and six opera singers, each decked out in a distinct color ranging from deep purple to highlighter orange: such were the sights onstage on the opening night of Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s production of Domenico Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto last week. The show’s bright imagery — Pixar meets Japanese anime, inside a dollhouse — complemented the vibrant acting and spirited singing of the student performers.
by Nicholas Stevens
“There are more things in heaven and earth,” Shakespeare wrote in the voice of the iconic character Hamlet, “Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” The line has supernatural overtones in context, but the essential message — that the staggering variety and abundance of the world defies comprehension — applies just as well to human cultural production. As Wu Man and the Huayin Shadow Puppet Band demonstrated last week at the Cleveland Museum of Art, even the traditional music of a single country can yield practices and sounds that seem universes, rather than mere miles or years, apart.