by Timothy Robson
Oberlin graduate Katelyn Emerson showed impressive technical facility and musicianship in her first Cleveland recital since winning First Prize in the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition. The November 15 concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist was co-sponsored by the Cathedral and the Cleveland Chapter of the AGO. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem is probably one of the best-beloved and most-performed choral works of the 20th century, but for reasons of economy, it’s most frequently heard in the composer’s reduction for organ, strings, and optional trumpets, harp and timpani — or even in the version for voices and organ alone. On Thursday evening, November 17 at Severance Hall, a stage full of Cleveland Orchestra musicians joined the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus under the baton of Matthew Halls to bring the full tonal spectrum of Duruflé’s Gregorian-fueled masterpiece to life. [Read more…]
by Jane Berkner
Attending the Singers Companye concert on Sunday afternoon, November 13 at Faith Lutheran Church in Akron turned out to be a healing balm at the end of a bruising week. Contained within the program of choral works was a logical arc connecting its poetry to our current experience. [Read more…]
by Joshua Rosner
Special to ClevelandClassical.com
Between the looming election and Cleveland’s depressing defeat in the World Series, it can become increasingly appealing to remain home away from the noise of the city. But on Sunday night, November 6, a performance by Ensemble Pa mplemousse and MocRep at the Bop Stop provided a well-needed refuge with a very different noisiness. [Read more…]
by Jeremy Reynolds
The most striking thing about the album What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand to Record, devoted to the music of Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco, is not the music itself, though the interpretations by tenor Salvatore Champagne and pianist Howard Lubin are quite lovely. Rather, it’s the presentation: the monumental research, painstakingly curated essays, and obvious care that went into producing the 64-page CD booklet. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
Opera Western Reserve’s tradition of giving only one annual performance has always insured a substantial turnout. This year’s crowd was as large and enthusiastic as ever for Georges Bizet’s Carmen on Friday, November 11 at Youngstown’s Stambaugh Auditorium. [Read more…]
by Nicholas Jones
Cleveland-based Baroque violinist Julie Andrijeski, well-known to area audiences for her performances with Les Délices and Apollo’s Fire, premiered a new project on Saturday, November 12 in a lively concert at the Tregoning & Company gallery on West 78th Street. [Read more…]
by Nicholas Jones
I walked into the St. Lawrence String Quartet concert at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel on Friday, November 11 hoping for a respite from the tensions and anxieties of the week’s events, and I was not disappointed. With total conviction and attentiveness, the St. Lawrence played music that soothed the nerves and stimulated the heart. I was expecting beauty, focus, and artistry. But I was not prepared for a further impact: the powerful message of how the St. Lawrence plays. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
After singing its “Americana” program at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights on October 22, the 30-voice Cleveland Chamber Choir moved to John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted for a second performance on Friday, October 28. Conductor Scott MacPherson curated his program of American choral music with the election season in mind. Not as a rah-rah patriotic exercise, but rather to explore the rich heritage of vocal traditions that have been practiced within these shores over the past two-and-a-half centuries. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
A sizeable crowd turned out to hear VOCES8 at Mary Queen of Peace Church in Old Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon, October 30. The splendid British double quartet rewarded them with a program that could hardly have been more wide-ranging: Purcell and Byrd at one end, and Nat King Cole, Simon & Garfunkel, and Harold Arlen at the other, with Mendelssohn, Palestrina, and folksong arrangements in between — all sung from memory. [Read more…]