by Daniel Hathaway
Wolfgang Amadè Mozart’s last symphony and Richard Strauss’s last tone poem — though he called it a symphony — were splendid choices for the opening concert of The Cleveland Orchestra’s new season last Thursday evening, September 24 at Severance Hall. In these works, both composers were operating at the height of their powers, investing confident brilliance in the “Jupiter” and “Alpine” Symphonies. [Read more…]
by Nicholas Jones
On Thursday the distinguished Cleveland-based group Les Délices, which specializes in French music of the 18th century, gave the first concert in this year’s Signature Series at Lorain County Community College’s Cirigliano Theater. With this performance, the series, which is curated by LCCC Distinguished Professor and composer Jeffrey Mumford and mostly presents new music, took a plunge into early music. Lully is a far cry from Ligeti, but maybe baroque is the new avant-garde?
by Daniel Hathaway
Pianist Philip Thomson joined music director Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony Orchestra in a spirited concert on Saturday, September 19 at E.J. Thomas Hall. The “American Journey” began in Mexico with Aaron Copland’s El Salón México, stopped in Texarkana, Texas for Clint Needham’s Southern Air, and traveled to somewhere in the Wild West for Copland’s Rodeo before meeting up with George Gershwin in New York. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The phenomenal French-Canadian organist Isabelle Demers, who currently teaches at Baylor University, crafted an imaginative program for her recital on the Stambaugh Auditorium organ series in Youngstown on Sunday afternoon, September 20, and delivered it with precision and flair. After flawless, memorized performances of music by Vierne, Prokofiev, Bridge, Reger, J.S. Bach, and Laurin, she saved her best trick for last, ending her concert with a breathtaking performance of a “look, Ma: no hands” extravaganza mostly for pedals alone. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Philippe Lefebvre, one of three tenured organists (titulaires) at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, made his impressive Oberlin debut on Wednesday, September 16 in a 70-minute, straight-through recital in Finney Chapel at Oberlin College. His program paid homage to the great bloodline of French organist-composers established by the Belgian-born master César Franck, as well as to the long and distinguished tradition of improvisation that continues to live and prosper in the organ galleries of France. [Read more…]
by Kelly Ferjutz, special to ClevelandClassical.com
Playwright Ken Ludwig may not have invented The Three Tenors, but they surely do owe him a debt of gratitude. His brilliant farce Lend Me a Tenor ran for ten months at the Globe Theatre in London’s West End after opening in March, 1986. Two years later it came to Broadway, and has quite possibly never been out of production since then. Not surprising, as Mr. Ludwig really ‘gets’ tenors, who are definitely not your ordinary run-of-the-mill performers, singers or artistes, whichever title you prefer. And never forget ‘temperamental!’ [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra occupies a unique place in the current musical scene in Cleveland: an orchestra committed to imaginative programming, including unusual works by famous composers as well as new works by emerging composers. Saturday evening’s program, featuring Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux and conducted by artistic director Carlton R. Woods, was no exception in its exploration of music of Hispanic heritage. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Jack Gallagher’s second symphony, now recorded by JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra in Blackheath Hall and released on the Naxos label, is a signal achievement. The composer, who is professor of music at The College of Wooster, has crafted a resplendent, hour-long work that scarcely flags in energy, never wants for inventive themes, and uses all the resources of the modern symphony orchestra with skill and ingenuity. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Launched five years ago, the Music for Miles series presented its 30th performance at Waterloo Arts in Collinwood on Sunday, September 13, a concert by the Cleveland Percussion Project which attracted an admirably intergenerational audience. Headed up by Andrew Pongracz, the quartet of drummers and mallet players also included Dylan Moffitt, Bruce Golden, and Luke Rinderknecht, a stellar assembly of local professionals who held the audience of small children and adults in thrall for nearly two hours. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Last Friday morning, Canadian composer Tawnie Olson of the Hartt School of Music faculty in West Hartford, Connecticut — along with her four colleagues in the 2015 Iron Composer Competition at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory — accepted the challenge of writing an “instant” composition for recorders, celesta, and an overturned grand piano, to include this year’s “secret ingredient” of a board game. After five hours of creation and a brief rehearsal, Olson’s piece, called Subbeteo after the 1947 tabletop soccer game invented by Peter Adolph and published by Borras Plana SA, was declared the first prize winner during an evening concert in Gamble Auditorium. [Read more…]