by Timothy Robson
Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1950 cold-war era opera The Consul received a strong performance on July 21 by the Nightingale Opera Theatre at the intimate Barlow Community Center theater in Hudson. [Read more…]
Re•Views
Cooper Violin Finals at Severance Hall (July 21)
by Daniel Hathaway
On Friday evening, July 21, Severance Hall was the final destination for Christina Jihee Nam, Qing Yu Chen, and Johan Dalene, the three young violinists left standing in Oberlin’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition. Their efforts over the last week won them the signal honor of playing concertos with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]
The Cleveland Orchestra and Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra at Blossom Music Center (July 22)
by Samantha Spaccasi
It was hot and humid on the evening of July 22, but that didn’t stop concertgoers from flocking to Blossom Music Center to hear the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]
Oberlin Cooper Competition: six violinists play recitals (July 19)
by Samantha Spaccasi with Daniel Hathaway
The stakes were high on Wednesday evening in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall as the Recital Round of the Cooper International Violin Competition began. Of the ten participants in the Concerto Round, six would move on to the next phase — the Recital Round — which would determine the three who will be heading to Severance Hall on Friday, June 21 to perform with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra. The concert, emceed by Robert Conrad, was broadcast live on WCLV 104.9 and wclv.org. [Read more…]
Oberlin Cooper Competition: ten violinists play concertos (July 18)
by Samantha Spaccasi with Daniel Hathaway
23 young violinists descended upon Oberlin this week for the 2017 Cooper International Violin Competition, which began on July 15. After three days of intense competition, only 10 of the musicians advanced to the July 18 Concerto Round in Warner Concert Hall, when each violinist performing full concertos with piano accompaniment in afternoon and evening sessions. [Read more…]
CREDO Chamber Music: Jasper String Quartet (July 18)
by Daniel Hathaway
The Oberlin Conservatory is a busy place even in mid-summer. On Tuesday evening, July 18, while the second session of the concerto round of the Cooper Violin Competition was in progress in Warner Concert Hall, the Jasper String Quartet made a special appearance right across the lounge in Kulas Recital Hall as part of their residency at CREDO Chamber Music. [Read more…]
ENCORE Chamber Music at Mixon Hall (July 16)
by Samantha Spaccasi
ENCORE Chamber Music’s “Sunday Unplugged” series presented a true “Transfigured Night” on July 16 at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall. The magical evening was marked by exquisite performances from all musicians. [Read more…]
ENCORE Chamber Music at CIM’s Mixon Hall (July 14)
by Robert Rollin
Franz Schubert stole the show in ENCORE Chamber Music’s Friday evening, July 14 Mixon Hall concert. Two of the composer’s works showcased the talents of violist Dimitri Murrath (left), playing with two other talented Festival faculty.
The program’s highlight was a transcription of Schubert’s Erlkönig presented by violinist Jinjoo Cho and Murrath. The performance was stunning. Cho began the pulsating, triplet accompaniment at top speed and Murrath answered with the melody. [Read more…]
Mark Kosower at Kent/Blossom Music Festival (July 12)
by Samantha Spaccasi
Kent/Blossom Music Festi
val upheld its reputation of presenting world-class musicians in Northeast Ohio on July 12. For the third faculty concert in the series, cellist Mark Kosower and pianist Jee-Won Oh performed a wonderful evening of works by Russian composers. [Read more…]
Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: Milhaud, Roussel & Beethoven (July 15)
by Daniel Hathaway
Dionysius and Apollo each reigned over half of the Cleveland Orchestra program at Blossom on Saturday evening, July 15 under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. Albert Roussel’s Suite No. 2 from Bacchus and Ariadne celebrates the invention of wine — for which picnickers on the Blossom lawn will be ever grateful — and Darius Milhaud’s Brazilian-infused ballet Le boeuf sur le toit takes place in a rowdy New York bar during Prohibition. Even with its premonitions of Romanticism and the composer’s signature quirkiness, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 brought a sense of Classical balance to the second half. [Read more…]