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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…]

Cleveland Orchestra explores humanity’s evolution in Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (Feb. 7)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Richard Strauss must have suspected that he would always be mistaken for another composer. How else do you explain Also Sprach Zarathustra— the piece that contains his most famous minute-and-a-half of music, plus an extended homage to Johann Strauss Jr.?

The Cleveland Orchestra is playing up the Strauss connection this weekend with an extravagant concert program that borrows a bit from the style of the Waltz King. Although nothing by Johann Strauss Jr. is officially on the bill, his presence and flair are felt in Also Sprach Zarathustra and in the intoxicating sweep of Maurice Ravel’s La Valse.

The Orchestra’s performance on Friday, February 7, at Severance Music Center started strong and ended with real panache. Guest conductor Thomas Guggeis, the 31-year-old general music director of Oper Frankfurt — here making his U.S. orchestral debut — led sharp, highly stylized interpretations that would be equally at home on the continent or in Cleveland.

[Read more…]

Piano Cleveland Live: piano, violin, and an Ohio City pub (Feb. 5)

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by Stephanie Manning

“How do we bring in people who are interested in piano music, but might be intimidated by their first experience being in a concert hall?”

That’s the question Marissa Moore said she and the Piano Cleveland team were considering when they started a series of free performances held in local bars.

As the host of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Piano Cleveland puts on plenty of events in Severance Music Center — “which is the most beautiful but probably the most intimidating space you can imagine,” said Moore, the organization’s executive director. “We thought it was really important to pair that with places that have more accessibility.”

Since 2022, these small, relaxed concerts in neighborhood pubs have been going strong, and are now part of the series “Piano Cleveland Live.” Last week’s event on Wednesday, February 5 brought folks to Forest City Brewery to sip drinks, eat food, and listen to the music-making of pianist Arseniy Gusev and violinist Shannon Lee. [Read more…]

Anthony McGill & Emanuel Ax on Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series (Feb. 5)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

The crackle in the air on February 4 was perhaps more or less routine for clarinetist Anthony McGill and for Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series, which always seems to bring out the best in performers. But still, his kind of artistry doesn’t come along every day. Add to it pianist Emanuel Ax’s exquisite contributions, and you had a real night to remember in Finney Chapel.

Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke Op. 73 (Fantasy Pieces) are heard with equal pleasure performed on clarinet (Schumann’s original) or cello. But McGill showed the advantages of his instrument with his branded suppleness, his crayon box full of sound colors, and a chameleon’s ability to be heard or veiled at will.

The duo emphasized the picturesque over the dramatic in these three miniatures — Schumann originally entitled them “Soirée Pieces.” [Read more…]

Cardinal Chamber Orchestra takes Oberlin Winter Term to new heights (Feb. 2)

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by Kate MacKenzie

In black, white, blue, and brilliant red, the Cardinal Chamber Orchestra took the stage of Warner Concert Hall on Sunday, February 2. Notably absent from the group of musicians was anyone with a baton.

The string ensemble was the vision of violist Christopher Broyles, who was inspired by his experience attending the concerts of the conductorless orchestra A Far Cry. “They’re some of the most gripping performances in Boston,” he reported. “Because everyone is completely engaged and active in the result, it’s more exciting on the whole. It’s not one person’s dictatorship, but a melting pot of ideas.” Broyles spent the past year developing that vision into a three-week string orchestra intensive taking place during Oberlin’s Winter Term.

To learn from the best, Broyles brought Jason Fisher and Hannah Collins of A Far Cry to Oberlin for a week-long residency. Under the guidance of the “Criers,” students refined the sensitivity and leadership necessary to rehearse and perform unconducted. [Read more…]

Cleveland Pops and LEGACY: Broadway on the Severance stage (Feb. 1)

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by Stephanie Manning

Cleveland is no stranger to welcoming Broadway talent, with Playhouse Square regularly hosting national tours of award-winning musicals. But on February 1, it felt like Broadway came to Severance Music Center instead.

The vocal quartet LEGACY teamed up with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra to present “Music of Motown,” a high-energy evening that was memorable in the best way. “Tonight is about having a really good time,” LEGACY founder Justin Reynolds promised the packed crowd — and the two groups certainly delivered. [Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano Series: Roman Rabinovich (Jan. 26)

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by Peter Feher

The resplendent sound of a symphonic brass section filled the Tri-C Metro Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 26. Never mind that there was only a single piano onstage.

Listening to Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in its original solo piano version from 1874, you can’t help but hear the orchestration that Maurice Ravel would supply for the work some 50 years later. Ravel wasn’t the first musician to arrange the suite, but the way he approached the various movements — from the stately opening Promenade to the crashing finale of “The Great Gate of Kiev” — has forever reshaped the piece.

It was fitting, then, that pianist Roman Rabinovich devoted some time to the French composer before performing Mussorgsky’s score on Sunday. On the first half of his recital for the Tri-C Classical Piano Series, Rabinovich played Ravel’s Sonatine, along with three other works that creatively connected with Pictures at an Exhibition. The result was a deeper artistic experience of Mussorgsky on the second half.

[Read more…]

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