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Recording review: Margaret Brouwer Rhapsodies (Naxos)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Rhapsodies, Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer’s latest recording on the Naxos American Classics label, is a retrospective of works written over the last 21 years by one of the classiest orchestral colorists in the field.

Sensitive performances of Brouwer’s well-constructed works by Marin Alsop and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony offer examples of contemporary music that can be both sophisticated and accessible. Here’s proof that a composer’s emotional reactions to sights and sounds can be translated into music and shared with others in fresh and evocative ways. [Read more…]

Cheers, gasps, and laughter fill Blossom as “Cirque Goes Broadway” (Aug. 31)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — “Cirque Goes Broadway” takes its song titles literally.

Acrobats soar high above the stage during “Defying Gravity.” A vocalist belts “I must not fall” while a contortionist carefully balances on one hand. And the opening orchestral number, “That’s Entertainment!” lets the audience know what it’s in for.

On August 31, conductor Lucas Waldin led the Akron Symphony Orchestra at Blossom Music Center in an evening of Broadway hits combined with acrobatics from the Big Top.

[Read more…]

Isabelle and Raphaël Olivier evoke French sensibility at Reithoffer’s (Aug. 23)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Harpist Isabelle Olivier and her son, guitarist Raphaël Olivier, combined for an eclectic program of smart, original compositions and unexpected covers on Friday evening, August 23. The charming nightclub setting of Reithoffer’s (called Hoff’s by regulars), 10 miles east of Chagrin Falls, is an especially agreeable place to hear music.

Raphaël, age 27, who did most of the talking, charmed us right off with the duo’s origin story: “We’re from a small town outside Paris, but have now lived in Chicago twelve years. I’ve been a US citizen for a month and have less of a French accent, but Isabelle has more.”

This also applied to their musical accents. [Read more…]

Tony DeSare and the Blossom Festival (Big) Band light up the summer night with Sinatra tribute (Aug. 25)

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by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The deities that throw the dice to determine what the weather is going to be like were kind to vocalist & pianist Tony DeSare on Sunday. A dark and stormy morning morphed into a beautiful late summer evening that according to a tram usher doubled the crowd, originally expected to number 4,000.

Those fans enjoyed a generous two-set concert mostly of songs associated with super-crooner Frank Sinatra. Although this wasn’t a tribute show, DeSare’s 20 selections reflected the singer/pianist’s deep regard for Sinatra’s taste and musicianship. And while DeSare brought his own fair share of charisma to the stage, he avoided becoming a caricature of Ol’ Blue Eyes.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra weathers the storm with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth at Blossom (Aug. 17)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The Cleveland Orchestra hasn’t had much luck with the weather lately.

Last week’s performance with John Legend started late, got put on pause, and was eventually canceled after strong storms moved over Blossom Music Center. August 17 presented another uncertain forecast, but the Orchestra was determined to forge ahead if possible. And this time, they weathered the storm.

The turbulent weather — which delayed the concert by 30 minutes — made the marquee work feel especially fitting for the occasion. Written during a tempestuous period in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s life, his Symphony No. 5 explores the composer’s inner turmoil and his struggles against the forces of Fate.

[Read more…]

CIPC Finals zero in on top four pianists at Severance (Aug. 9-10)

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by  Daniel Hathaway

By the time that Evren Ozel, Maxim Lando, Zijian Wei, and Giuseppe Guarrera played concertos with conductor Ruth Reinhardt and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center last weekend, their places in the winners’ circle of the Cleveland International Piano Competition were already determined.

It only remained to be revealed which of the generous cash prizes (ranging from $75,000 to $10,000) they would take home.

Given the quality of the competitors’ playing to this point, the jury had some tough choices to make. [Read more…]

CIPC Semi-Finalists show more of their musical personalities

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by Daniel Hathaway

In altering the repertory requirements for the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, the organizers made the rounds much more interesting for the attendees, but probably more complicated for the jury, who now had to compare wildly different apples to oranges.

Another change moved the chamber music round from the final to the semi-final round and reduced the players from a piano quintet to a piano trio (the instrumentalists here were violinist Maria Yudenich and cellist Gabriel Martins).

Here are our impressions of works we heard performed by the eight semi-finalists from August 1 through 4 (chamber music comments at the end).

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra provides a grand musical backdrop for an epic screening of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (August 2) 

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by Peter Feher
This article was originally published on cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio  — The Cleveland Orchestra has assembled an army of musicians for this weekend’s performances at Blossom Music Center, which is only fitting for an epic finale.

Hundreds of singers and instrumentalists are joining forces for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” live in concert, the eagerly awaited conclusion to a trilogy that began for Northeast Ohio audiences in 2022.

Over three summers, the Cleveland Orchestra will have presented each film in director Peter Jackson’s monumental fantasy series — the ensemble playing Howard Shore’s sweeping symphonic scores as the story of Frodo and Sam, the One Ring, and the fate of Middle-earth unfolds on screens around the Blossom Pavilion.

[Read more…]

CIPC Quarter-Finalists show their musical personalities

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

Relieved of some of the customary competition repertory requirements, the sixteen pianists who played in the five CIPC Quarter-Final Rounds this week were pretty much given carte blanche to share their musical personalities with the jury and audience through their own choice of repertory.

This change made for the most interesting programming to be heard to date at the Cleveland competition. Over the five sessions, no piece was played twice.

Those of us who have been following CIPC for years probably rejoiced at not hearing multiple performances of the Chopin “Winter Wind” etude, or sitting through three performances of the same lengthy Schumann work in a single evening. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: Summers at Severance with Petr Popelka & James Ehnes (July 25)

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by Peter Feher

Movie music has been cropping up on more and more Cleveland Orchestra programs in recent seasons — even when it’s not advertised.

This was all to the good at Severance Music Center on Thursday, July 25. The Orchestra sounded very much its polished self in the second concert of this year’s Summers at Severance series, the set of strictly classical offerings that the ensemble has brought back to balance out this summer’s lighter programming at Blossom Music Center.

All the same, summer was in full swing on Euclid Avenue. The front terrace outside Severance was strung with lights and set up with white tents serving refreshments. [Read more…]

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