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Les Délices contemplates what makes us human in “A Moment’s Oblivion” (Feb. 23)

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by Stephanie Manning

“How wretched to forget,” sings the son in A Moment’s Oblivion — a character whose father now struggles to recognize members of his own family. “For all we were forms who we are.”

But the miracle cure that restores his father’s memory turns out to be a more fraught solution than it appears. Such is the conflict at the heart of Les Délices’ recent commission, with music by Viet Cuong and libretto by Cleveland poet Dave Lucas. The early music ensemble’s latest program surrounded the world premiere of A Moment’s Oblivion with more musical opportunities to reflect on the complex, and sometimes contradictory, emotions that make us human. [Read more…]

Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera: Speed Dating Tonight! (Feb. 15)

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by Peter Feher

In 2023, Axios reported that according to a recent poll, only about 20 percent of college students said they regularly used dating apps. The survey didn’t ask if anyone had ever tried good old-fashioned speed dating — presumably, that number would have been even lower.

The undergraduate performers in Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s opera studies program can therefore claim a special distinction. More than a dozen BW singers took the stage at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium over Valentine’s Day weekend for the local premiere of Speed Dating Tonight!

This quirky one-act opera, with words and music by composer Michael Ching, has received upward of 100 small productions since its 2013 premiere, and it’s easy to see why. If Ching’s concept is somewhat outmoded, the dramatic setup he contrives is perfect for a college or community organization that has talent and ambition to spare.

[Read more…]

Yuja Wang and Víkingur Ólafsson dazzle Severance crowd with piano virtuosity (Feb. 23)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Rock stars are known to make certain demands on tour, stipulating everything they expect to find in their dressing rooms and onstage.

Pianists Yuja Wang and Víkingur Ólafsson — two of the biggest names in classical music today — have one request that’s absolutely essential. In order to team up in recital and tackle the virtuosic repertoire they want to play together, Wang and Ólafsson each need a separate piano.

And so a pair of Steinways sat carefully arranged in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23. Both instruments had their lids off, and their keyboards were lined up center stage, the players side by side but facing in opposite directions. [Read more…]

Thomas Adès leads Cleveland Orchestra in colorful concert of Sibelius, Saariaho, Ives & more (Feb. 20)

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by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thomas Adès is obsessed with sound color, as he vividly demonstrated with the assistance of the unflappable Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus (expertly prepared by Lisa Wong) in his guest appearance as curator, composer, and conductor at Severance Music Center on Thursday evening, February 20.

Works by Jan Sibelius, Kaija Saariaho, Charles Ives and Adès himself visited a vast spectrum of choral and orchestral hues that can be heard by the ear. Some of them use those colors to make poignant social commentary at the same time.

Color is represented impressionistically in the inexorable ebbing and flowing of the sea in Sibelius’ The Oceanides and Saariaho’s Otra Mar, and through musical collisions in Charles Ives’ Orchestral Set No. 2. And in the third, recently added movement of Adès’s America: the Prophecy, in ominous musical proclamations.

[Read more…]

Fabio Luisi leads Cleveland Orchestra in fascinating pairing of works by Colasanti and Bruckner (Feb. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — An odd but fascinating pairing brought the U.S. premiere of Italian composer Silvia Colasanti’s Time’s Cruel Hand and the 1888 version of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 together on the same program in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Thursday, February 13. Fabio Luisi, music director of the Dallas Symphony, led resplendent performances of both works.

In addition to the striking contrast between their musical styles, the two pieces clock in at 20 and 65 minutes respectively — a conundrum for program planners, whose tasks would be much easier if composers would just format their orchestral works in neat, 30-minute packages.

[Read more…]

From “Jaws” to “Harry Potter,” Cleveland Orchestra performs John Williams’ iconic film scores (Feb. 14)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Valentine’s Day evening, Keith Lockhart ignited the Cleveland Orchestra and wooed the packed house at Severance Music Center in a retrospective, The Music of John Williams.

Friday evening was an indulgence — a trip down movie lane and performances by an orchestra at its most vivid, thanks to Williams’ ingenious scoring and Lockhart’s energized conducting.

Lockhart’s close link to Williams through the Boston Pops Orchestra, having succeeded him there as music director 30 years ago, showed in his innate understanding of the music and sure-handedness on the podium. Excerpts from “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “E.T.” and “Harry Potter,” along with lesser-known Williams scores, made for an impressive showcase. Lockhart also engaged the audience with several amusing stories he had in his back pocket about Williams’ early days as a film composer.

[Read more…]

Youth orchestra, chorus deliver stunning Stravinsky, Brahms in Cleveland (Feb. 16)

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by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Many shades of meaning are inherent in the adjective “youth,” some popular ones being “the quality or condition of being young, immature, or inexperienced.” Only the first of those labels applies to the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, who gave an impressive joint Winter Concert in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Sunday afternoon, February 16.

Although these musicians are certainly young, under the direction of music director Daniel Reith they demonstrated musical maturity beyond their years and exuded remarkable confidence and professionalism. Perhaps we should re-label these organisms as an “apprentice” orchestra and chorus, because they polished their ensemble skills with Cleveland Orchestra mentors and conductors after having learned them from distinguished teachers in the community.

Sunday’s performance further advanced the collective gains that COYO showed in its November concert, most notably in the final work, a thrilling account of Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite. Reith guided the piece with a steady hand while still allowing its many wonderfully played solos to shine.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a multifaceted “Spanish Journey” (Feb. 11)

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by Stephanie Manning

Ever since Punxsutawney Phil popped his head out to predict six more weeks of winter, Clevelanders have seen no respite from the cold and snowy weather. So February 11 was as good a winter day as any to escape to sunny Spain, via the latest concert from the Cleveland Chamber Music Society.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center visited Disciples Church in Cleveland Heights for “Spanish Journey,” a program in collaboration with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. While a celebration of Spanish music would not be complete without its characteristic dance styles, the evening’s focus on sensitive, romantic selections created a nicely balanced sampling of what that culture has to offer. [Read more…]

St. Olaf Choir shines at Severance (Feb. 10)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Guided by tradition, a palpable joy of singing, and their venerable conductor, Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir showed on Monday, February 10 at Severance what a choral concert can accomplish.

Concerts by this young choir from Northfield, Minnesota — approaching the end of this year’s fifteen-stop tour — have a cumulative and moving effect. It is the nostalgia of collegiate choral singing in general, but also the awareness of St. Olaf’s storied tradition, the procession of purple robes, swaying bodies, and held hands. It is also the sound: the blend and technique of their voices — bright, expressive, coordinated — and their obvious and present joy in what they are doing.

Anton Armstrong, who may be approaching choral hall of fame status, is in his thirty-fifth year as choral conductor at St. Olaf, and only the fourth director of its Choir in a venerable line going back to 1912. He spoke infrequently but well: just when we were wondering if he would do so at all, he found a microphone and drew our attention to the themes of the program — chosen just after the last election — as commentary on “the times” we are in, the need to come together as a nation, to be kind to one another, and to find common ground.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: cheerful collaboration and “Virtuoso Brilliance” (Feb. 9)

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by Stephanie Manning

On Super Bowl Sunday — a day that brings out plenty of competitive spirit — spending the afternoon with Apollo’s Fire felt like the perfect balance. In the few hours before “The Big Game” on February 9, those of us listening to the music in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights were all rooting for the same team.

The Baroque chamber orchestra performs in a way that values collaboration over competition, especially in a conductorless outing like this one. “Virtuoso Brilliance,” a program heard in Akron, Rocky River, and Cleveland Heights, united both musicians and audience in concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philipp Telemann. [Read more…]

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