by Timothy Robson
Boston-based organist Christian Lane played a fascinating program on Tuesday evening at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights in a concert co-sponsored by ArtsPlymouth and the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. There were hardly any “war horses” on the program: music from our own time was interspersed with lesser-played works by earlier composers. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
While no title was given to the CIM New Music Ensemble’s concert on Sunday, April 3, the program could have been called “Music For a Sunny Afternoon.” As the sun shone brightly through the Mixon Hall windows, guest composer Robert Paterson exclaimed, “I love this place,” before introducing his three works that take listeners on a fanciful ride though the galaxy, an intensive care unit, and a kitchen from hell. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Thursday, April 7 at the Bop Stop, the Renaissance band Ayreheart presented a concert titled “Will You Walk the Woods so Wild.” The captivating program — performed by Ronn McFarlane, lute, Brian Kay, vocals and lute, Will Morris, colascione, and Mattias Rucht, percussion — explored the intersection between folk music and art music in 16th- and 17th- century England, Scotland, and Wales. It also highlighted the intersections of Renaissance folk music and classic rock. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
On Saturday evening, April 9, the Youngstown Symphony presented Hebraic Rhapsody, the last of its three Powers Auditorium classical concerts of the season, conducted by music director Randall Craig Fleischer. The highlights were two works the Orchestra performed with Israeli cellist Inbal Segev: Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo and Leonard Bernstein’s “Three Meditations” from Mass. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
Last Friday night, April 8, the Earth and Air String Orchestra presented Losing Innocence: English Music at the Turn of the 20th Century in Tucker Hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. It was the perfect setting for the interesting, well-organized, and beautiful program, and the 18-member string ensemble performed with exceptional skill. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Apollo’s Fire brought baroque dance in both its noble and theatrical styles to its engaging program, “A Harlequin Romance” at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in University Circle on Saturday evening, April 9. Dancers Julie Andrijeski and Steven Player were the headliners, but concertmaster Olivier Brault also got into the act, as did several orchestra members in an encore. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, Roomful of Teeth consistently proves that the human voice is among the most versatile instruments in music. The ensemble’s concert in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace on Sunday evening, April 3, demonstrated the astonishing variety of non-traditional sounds that eight sets of vocal cords can produce. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
If planning an orchestral season is like assembling a vast jigsaw puzzle, The Cleveland Orchestra’s program on Saturday, April 2 felt as though it might have been put together from the leftover pieces after everything else had fallen neatly into place. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film Jeanne d’Arc’s Lidelse og Død, (“Joan of Arc’s Suffering and Death,” also more commonly known as The Passion of Joan of Arc or La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc) is considered by film historians to be one of the most significant movies of all time for its advanced editing techniques and the indelible performance of Renée Maria Falconetti in the title role. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The Cleveland Orchestra’s newest collaboration with Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet brought a pair of dark, suspenseful stage works by Béla Bartók to Severance Hall on April 7 (with repeat performances through April 10). Nine Joffrey dancers and two fine singers shared the crowded stage with music director Franz Welser-Möst and the orchestra for performances of the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin and the one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle that were riveting and chilling and made imaginative use of minimal stage gear and props. Read the review at Classical Voice North America