by Robert Rollin
Last Sunday afternoon, October 15, the Chagrin Concert Series presented an exceptional concert of romantic music at Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls. The highlight was a magnificent performance of Johannes Brahms’s f-minor Piano Quintet, Op. 34. The Allegro non troppo begins with a powerful unison statement. Soon pianist Sungeun Kim’s energetic playing commanded the foreground, as the strings periodically emerged to double her. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
In his program comments celebrating the 80th season of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann wrote, “Why do I love conducting this wonderful orchestra?…The CSO is that rare gem of orchestras that conductors seek to make music with. Their playing is committed, heartfelt, powerful, and above all, exciting.” For the season-opening concert on October 14, that rare gem dazzled with exceptional brilliance, beginning with Samuel Barber’s Essay For Orchestra No. 2, composed in 1942. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
At its premiere in 1739, Handel’s Biblical oratorio Israel in Egypt was almost entirely made up of choruses. Even in the composer’s revision, minus the opening lament and with Italian arias added, the work is probably more rewarding to sing than to listen to. Enter Jeannette Sorrell, who decided to restore part of the introduction that Handel lopped off, and to bring the rest of the piece down to under two hours in length. Her version made a fine impression on Friday evening, when Sorrell led Apollo’s Fire, Apollo’s Singers, and five extraordinary soloists in a leaner Israel in Egypt at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
Last Saturday’s Youngstown Symphony season opener at Powers Auditorium under the direction of Music Director Randall Craig Fleischer featured a delightful rendition of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in c with Caroline Oltmanns as soloist. She maintained an impressive focus throughout the performance, playing with delicacy and elegance. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Quire Cleveland began its tenth anniversary season with concerts in Painesville and Cleveland devoted to liturgical music by the 17th-century British composer Henry Purcell. On Friday, October 6 at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Cleveland, Quire was in fine “voyce” as its 21 singers under the direction of founder Ross W. Duffin sang repertoire Purcell composed for the choir of the Chapel Royal between his appointment in 1682 and his untimely death at the age of 35 in 1695. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is the perfect candidate for a 75-minute, straight-through concert. Bursting at the seams with musical content of astonishing variety and emotional range, it bombards the listener with almost as much sonic stimulation as a human ear and brain can process in one sitting. Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra put the work across with total conviction and arresting effect on Thursday evening, October 5 in Severance Hall, a few days before departing on a European tour. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The musical splendor of the Russian Empire filled the nave of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights last Friday when conductor David Ellis led his young Earth and Air String Orchestra in a program titled “A Purely Lyrical Process,” featuring music of and inspired by Tchaikovsky. Ellis approached each of the evening’s three works with a relaxed style, drawing expressive phrases that ebbed and flowed from his players. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
On Sunday afternoon, October 1, Karel Paukert was featured in the final concert of the Ars Organi series at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. He was joined by the St. Paul’s Choir and guest artists from Kent State University for a program that included Baroque, Romantic, and modern repertoire. The afternoon’s highlight was the reprise of Frank Wiley’s Labyrinths (2017) for clarinet, viola, percussion, three organs, five solo women’s voices, and supporting vocal ensemble, written for Paukert and premiered last January. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The inventive new music ensemble No Exit launched their ninth concert season with three identical concerts featuring world premieres by Ohio composers. I attended the September 30 performance at the acoustically pleasing SPACES Gallery. The evening was defined by works that creatively explored the use of layered rhythms, ranging from the violent to the enchanting, that were deftly performed by the seven-member ensemble. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Arts Renaissance Tremont welcomed back an old friend, violinist Jinjoo Cho, to open its 27th season at Pilgrim United Church of Christ on Sunday, October 1. Pianist Hyun Soo Kim joined her in a well-chosen and varied two-hour program of sonatas and character pieces by Beethoven, Fauré, Chausson, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saëns. [Read more…]