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CD Review
Les Délices: Age of Indulgence

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by Daniel Hathaway

Les-Delices-Indulgence-CDWhen an ensemble’s programs are as carefully curated as those of Cleveland’s Les Délices, it makes perfect sense to preserve them nearly intact in the form of a recording. Age of Indulgence is a case in point. Presented twice in November of 2015, the program delivered everything the ensemble is known for: expert, accessible performances of French Baroque repertoire using a small number of players in inventive combinations, always chosen to make an artistic point without pretense or pedantry, and performed without intermission in the course of an hour and a quarter. [Read more…]

Akron Baroque: “Vintage Vivaldi” at Faith Lutheran Church (June 4)

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by Robert Rollin

Akron Baroque VivaldiOn Sunday afternoon, June 4, Fairlawn’s Faith Lutheran Church hosted Akron Baroque’s energetic “Vintage Vivaldi” program directed by violinist Alan Bodman, who began each piece with clear gestures, leading the ensemble of twelve talented string players from his concertmaster’s chair. Three of the five works featured solo performers, making for a lively and enjoyable afternoon. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: West Side Story (the movie) at Severance Hall (June 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

WSSAfter the deaths of Riff and Bernardo during the rumble in West Side Story, Ice tells the simmering Jets to “keep cool, boy.” Associate conductor Brett Mitchell minded that advice early on Sunday afternoon at Severance Hall when his video monitor gave up the ghost right after intermission. Calmly watching two technicians grapple with that show-stopping problem, he quipped to the audience, “We could just tell you how it ends.” After some tugging on wires, the monitor came to life and the 1961 film version of the show went on to its inevitable, tragic climax amid the symphonic splendor of live music from The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

No Exit at Bop Stop: “Homage to Eric Dolphy” (May 27)

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by Joshua Rosner

eric-dolpy3Recently declared “the hippest haunt on the Cuyahoga” by New York Magazine, the Bop Stop was abuzz for No Exit’s “Homage to Eric Dolphy.” No Exit is no stranger to inventive, new programs. But especially intriguing on Saturday night, May 27 was that this outstanding new music ensemble added to its ranks a trio of talented local jazz musicians: Bobby Selvaggio (alto saxophone), Scott McKee (trumpet/flugelhorn), and Dustin May (drum set). [Read more…]

Good Company: “I Dream a World” at Lakewood Presbyterian (May 21)

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by Daniel Hathaway

good-companyGood Company: A Vocal Ensemble gave an immensely varied concert at Lakewood Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon, May 21 under its new conductor, Michael Carney, who replaces the avocational chorus’s founder, the late Karen Weaver. The entertaining program followed an unusual format: Amethyst Strings played a prelude (a movement from J.S. Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto), an intermission piece (Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah), and a postlude (a movement from Mozart’s Divertimento No. 1). [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: Haydn symphonies, Cheung premiere & Ligeti with Aimard (May 18)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TCO-051817-FWM-AimardThursday evening’s Cleveland Orchestra program at Severance Hall cozied two ear-stretching modern works by Anthony Cheung and György Ligeti between a pair of Haydn Symphonies — No. 39 from the composer’s “Storm and Stress” period, and No. 96 from his late, mature period. [Read more…]

CD Review
Spencer Myer: William Bolcom Piano Rags

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by Mike Telin

MyerBolcomRagsCDThe popularity of ragtime peaked during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, influencing composers like Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, and Igor Stravinsky. The genre experienced a resurgence during the early 1970s with the publishing of Joshua Rifkin’s and Gunther Schuller’s compilations of music by noted ragtime composer Scott Joplin. But it was the 1973 movie The Sting, and its soundtrack featuring Joplin tunes, that thrust the genre back into popular culture. It was during that same time that American composer William Bolcom published his first set of rags.   [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: Spring at Rocky River Methodist (May 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

ScottMacPhersonClevelandChamberChoirEveryone’s favorite season of the year has had tough going in Cleveland this time around, with temperatures lurching back and forth between the high 40s and the mid 80s. But Scott MacPherson and Cleveland Chamber Choir certainly nudged nature along at Rocky River Methodist Church on Saturday evening, May 13 with their attractive program, “No Time Like Spring.” The concert was to be repeated on Sunday afternoon at First Baptist in Shaker Heights. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: Mendelssohn & Henze with Julia Fischer (May 11)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TiranFWMWhen the 17-year-old Felix Mendelssohn saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream with his sister, he ran right home to write a piano duet on the subject that turned into an overture and later a whole suite of incidental music. Did he have any idea that his music would be inextricably bound to Shakespeare’s play — or its march appropriated for countless wedding recessionals? [Read more…]

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