by Timothy Robson
For many decades the legendary St. Olaf Choir, based at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, has been a gold standard by which other American collegiate choirs are often measured. In more than a century since its founding, the choir has had only four directors, beginning with F. Melius Christiansen in 1912, through its current director Anton Armstrong, who this year celebrates his 25th anniversary with the choir. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Though The Cleveland Orchestra marketed last weekend’s concerts as “Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony,” Finnish guest conductor Hannu Lintu, Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman and the ensemble pulled off a hat trick. All three works on Thursday evening’s program were equally infused with personality and burned themselves indelibly into memory. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hautzinger
Opera in a dance club? Why not? Opera can be intimidating and ridiculous, with its gilded houses, extravagant length, fantastic plots, and the bewildering phantasmagoria that generally appears onstage. There’s a reason why it’s parodied so frequently. So it was refreshing to see digestible, one-act operas about everyday people presented by Oberlin Opera Theater in the basement Dionysus Disco, better known to the sweaty college revelers who are its normal customers as the ‘Sco. [Read more…]
by Jane Berkner
Jazz concerts can often be formulaic. We expect to hear selections from the Great American Songbook, most often played or sung in a predictable form. But the jazz concert on Friday, January 30 at the Bop Stop featured Amanda Powell, and she’s anything but predictable.
by Carlyn Kessler
Every week, Cleveland Orchestra audiences look forward to hearing the cello section’s lush sounds emerging from the surrounding group. On Friday night at CWRU’s Harkness Chapel, listeners had the unique opportunity to hear the section showcased outside of its orchestral setting in a remarkably delightful concert. iCellisti is an annual event organized by the Cleveland Cello Society and headed up by Ida Mercer, but this is the first year that the entire Cleveland Orchestra cello section was able to take part — except for one player who had a conflict. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
January has been all about chamber music at Oberlin. On Friday, January 23 in Stull Recital Hall, the school gave a taste of the media side of the field with the help of three Cleveland-based music critics, also Oberlin faculty members: Mike Telin and Daniel Hathaway serve as editors of ClevelandClassical.com, while Donald Rosenberg is editor of Early Music America magazine and former chief music critic at The Plain Dealer. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
Exiting Umstattd Hall after the January 24 “East Meets West” MasterWorks concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO), I briefly noticed wide-eyed wonder on the face of a woman just ahead of me as she looked at her companion. I heard her gush, “Oh, those strings, those glorious strings! I had no idea!” And I thought to myself ah ha… another convert. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
Twenty-some audience members mostly lined the bar. Soup and pretzel bites were eaten, and little kitchen clangs were heard. It might have been the most laid-back setting of any concert. And — not but — the music was excellent, as the Verditas Quartet thrilled Cleveland’s BOP STOP Sunday night with quartets by Haydn, Beethoven, and Dvořák — and their own personality. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
It may seem odd to those in other professions, but what’s a more natural way to celebrate a major milestone in the life of a musician than inviting him to perform at his own party? On Sunday, January 25, organist Karel Paukert returned to the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he served as curator of musical arts from 1974 to 2004, to mark his 80th birthday with a masterful performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur (1935). [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The Oberlin Trio, Oberlin Conservatory’s excellent faculty piano trio, brought three busy weeks of chamber music coachings and performances to a rousing conclusion on Saturday evening in Warner Concert Hall. [Read more…]