by Mike Telin
There are few recordings that provide as much listening pleasure as guitarist Jason Vieaux’s and the Escher Quartet’s Dance. Released by Azica Records, the album is an hour-long feast for the ears that is full of pristine beauty and energetic swagger.
by Jarrett Hoffman
In Pictures, the debut album from composer and pianist James Wilding, every piece was inspired by something outside the world of music, from the concrete (a particular sculpture) to the abstract (a vision of the end of the world).
by Jarrett Hoffman
Hearing the music of Schumann through the lens of cellist Brian Thornton and pianist Spencer Myer is to experience a level of expressivity one might forget even exists.
by Jarrett Hoffman
It was the late 1980s when oboist Jeffrey Rathbun and pianist Marc Shapiro first tackled Herbert Howells’ Sonata for Oboe and Piano, written in 1942 but not published for another 45 years.
by David Kulma
How can a composer tell a story through instrumental music? Although it’s a complex topic among music intellectuals, great performers can easily cut to the quick with carefully considered performances full of imagination. In Tuesday Musical’s annual concert dedicated to the late Margaret Baxtresser on November 21 at E.J. Thomas Hall, the pianist Fei-Fei brought both engaging musicality and delightful spoken commentary that showed how vivacious and poetic pianism can create a compelling narrative. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
It was a flute bonanza for Urban Troubadour’s concert on Sunday, November 24 at Akron’s Blu Jazz. The focus of “Big, Bad Flute” was on composer and flutist Ned McGowan, his engaging music, and his astounding playing of the pillar-sized contrabass flute.
by David Kulma
It’s a rare treat to hear two excellent orchestra members out front as soloists in a single concert. In a program titled “The Four Seasons” on November 16 at E.J. Thomas Hall, the Akron Symphony and music director Christopher Wilkins featured concertmaster Tallie Brunfelt and principal horn Meghan Guegold in well-loved concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Richard Strauss alongside works by Joseph Haydn and Gabriela Lena Frank.
by Robert Rollin
The Youngstown Symphony’s third Classical Series concert on Saturday night, November 23 in the Ford Family Recital Hall featured a delightful program for small orchestra led by Randall Craig Fleischer. The highlight was a spirited performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466, with Di Wu, laureate of the 2009 Van Cliburn competition, as soloist. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The large, Thanksgiving weekend audience in Severance Hall on Saturday, November 30 got full value for their money. The program, crafted by guest conductor Lorenzo Viotti and featuring pianist Yuja Wang, slightly overflowed the two-hour mark, and nearly surfeited the ear with extravagantly colorful music. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra played the second of two identical weekend programs on Sunday afternoon, November 24 on the free Arts Renaissance Tremont series, a performance that featured violinist Jinjoo Cho in a spirited reading of the Tchaikovsky Concerto, and rarely heard works by Robert Schumann and Thomas Adès with Daniel Meyer at the helm. [Read more…]