by Jarrett Hoffman
The Cleveland Composers Guild’s annual collaboration with music students in the area couldn’t go ahead as usual this year (I’ll let you guess why). But that didn’t stop the Guild and these young players from putting together something virtual.
by Daniel Hathaway
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Aria with Thirty Variations, nicknamed (not by the composer) after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, the harpsichordist who was retained to play them on command for an insomniac patron, have been adapted by performers for many other instruments — most notably for the piano and most famously by Glenn Gould.
Joining a long list of arrangers, Parker Ramsay has now transcribed the Variations for the modern pedal harp, an instrument for which he holds a master’s degree from Juilliard, in addition to a degree in history from Cambridge University, plus a master’s in historical performance (organ and harpsichord) and an artist diploma (organ) from Oberlin. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Music From the Western Reserve, Music and Art at Trinity Cathedral, and Arts at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church all streamed concerts online in September, all without audiences present.
As organizations gingerly take steps to open up for business, it’s refreshing to have new content to listen to and write about after a solid six months of archival footage. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
Created remotely and shared virtually, Les Délices’ SalonEra has the capability of presenting musicians and thinkers who are not only far afield from Northeast Ohio, but who bring especially unique musical interests to the table, perhaps based on where they’re from.
That was the case yesterday, September 21, in the third program of the series. Through pre-recorded performances and conversation, “Recovering Roots” explored Indigenous Métis music as well as the 17th- and 18th-century cultural exchange with white settlers in what was known as New France.
by Jarrett Hoffman
Over the past few years, Brian Giebler has visited Northeast Ohio in settings both orchestral and choral, and with repertoire as diverse as Stravinsky, Bach, and the local premiere of a new work. In his impressive solo recording debut a lad’s love, released on Bridge Records, the New York City-based tenor turns his focus to British songs from the first half of the 20th century — a mix of cycles and individual works — and tops off the playlist with a touch of the modern. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
To steal a phrase from the third-century Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus, the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. The same goes for Deutsche Grammophon. It’s been a dozen years since they were recorded in Hamburg in 2009, but the German company has now issued fifteen Rachmaninoff piano pieces magnificently and poetically played by Sergei Babayan. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
The 41st Tri-C JazzFest set a high bar for any virtual concerts to come, with excellent performances by local artists and a slick presentation. I heard the Friday and Sunday showings of the three-night festival, which ran from August 21-23.
by Daniel Hathaway
Pianist Conrad Tao tweeted earlier this month that thanks to the exigencies of the pandemic, he would refer to two pre-recorded video performances he was preparing not as concerts, but as “shows” in the sense of television. “We’re production companies now,” he wrote.
After considering all its options, Cleveland’s period ensemble Les Délices decided to fully embrace the idea of creating pre-recorded “shows” in the place of live, in-person performances this season. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
It’s as if she knew him. Both in her words and in her playing, Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas conveys a special warmth and familiarity when it comes to her countryman Agustín Barrios, who was the subject of her virtual recital for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society on August 15.
by Nicholas Stevens
For those who crave coherence in a concert, consistent instrumentation can help. For those who want a sense of progression, starting with shorter or older pieces and moving toward more extended or contemporary works makes for a sound strategy. Those who value both would love the sort of program that Idaho’s Sun Valley Music Festival assembled for its recent program Strings and Mallets on Tuesday, August 4. Although produced under the Sun Valley banner, the performances were recorded remotely in several locations. [Read more…]