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Re•Views

No Exit at SPACES (Sept. 6)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Any concert program that begins with music of mutual hostility and ends with a lament may seem too reminiscent of the news cycle in 2019. Add to that a composition about species diversity, and the picture darkens further. However, No Exit’s season opener at SPACES felt more like a refuge from the fights and frights of everyday life, or at least a guide to bearing them with grace and vulnerability. In a program of diverse music, Cleveland’s contemporary-classical powerhouse proved itself capable of anything, and unafraid to take risks. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater moves to Playhouse Square with La Bohème (Sept. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Puccini’s La Bohème was produced 598 times worldwide during the 2017-2018 season, making it the fourth most-performed title in the repertoire (trailing La traviata, Carmen, and The Magic Flute). It’s also the show that Cleveland Opera Theater chose for its move from venues like the Masonic Auditorium and the Maltz Performing Arts Center to the Ohio Theater, a more traditionally-outfitted house. On Friday, September 13, Scott Skiba’s clever production surrounded a fine cast with memorable scenic design by Matthew D. McCarren and projections by Brittany Merenda that brought a Parisian garret, the Café Momus, and a toll gate outside the city vividly to life in Playhouse Square.

[Read more…]

CIPC Concert Series culminates in Wosner-Weiss piano duo (Sept. 14)

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by Daniel Hathaway

In the last event in its concert series before it turns its attention to the 2020 contest, the Cleveland International Piano Competition presented duo-pianists Shai Wosner and Orion Weiss in a viscerally thrilling and intellectually stimulating recital on Saturday evening, September 14 in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra plays Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Aug. 30)

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by Timothy Robson

There were all manner and ages of intergalactic creatures at the Blossom Music Festival for Friday evening’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back live music performance by The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Sarah Hicks, who entered the stage brandishing a red light saber. I left my own saber at home and didn’t wear my Star Wars jammies, but lots of folks in attendance visibly showed their appreciation for this movie classic through fan attire. [Read more…]

Quiana Lynell at the Bop Stop (Aug. 23)

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by Mike Telin 

If you don’t know the outstanding vocalist Quiana Lynell, you need to.

I was first introduced to the exquisite artistry of this rising star back in November of 2018 when she was part of the premiere performance of Terence Blanchard’s OUR VOICES: DEMOCRACY RE:visited, commissioned by Tri-C JazzFest and Cuyahoga Community College. Since then I’d been most curious to hear her again.

[Read more…]

South Pacific at Blossom with The Cleveland Orchestra & BW (Aug. 24)

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by Timothy Robson

South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s legendary 1949 musical about American military personnel and their interaction with Polynesian natives during World War II, proved to be a hit at the Blossom Music Festival on Saturday evening, August 24. The lawn was packed and the pavilion was mostly sold out. The semi-staged production was a collaboration between The Cleveland Orchestra and Baldwin Wallace University’s Music Theatre Program. BW’s Victoria Bussert directed the staging, in which the singing actors performed in front of The Cleveland Orchestra (in slightly reduced size, although generous for a Broadway pit band). [Read more…]

Katelyn Emerson inaugurates new Fritts organ at First Lutheran Lorain (Aug. 25)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Boats are traditionally launched with a bottle of champagne broken across the bow, organs with an inaugural recital. The new Fritts organ in First Lutheran Church Lorain was officially welcomed on Sunday afternoon, August 25, with a far-ranging program impressively played by Katelyn Emerson. Absent any liquid bubbly, there was plenty of musical effervescence to delight a crowd that overflowed into the adjacent space and required more programs to be distributed during intermission. [Read more…]

Summers@Severance: Osmo Vänskä leads The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 16)

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by David Kulma

As classical concerts have become more reverential in the past century or so, the seasoned concertgoer has been trained to applaud only at the end of a multi-movement work, usually accompanied by a hearty standing ovation and hollers of “Bravo!” Based on the applause that followed each movement of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony on the Cleveland Orchestra’s intermissionless program with guest conductor Osmo Vänskä on Friday, August 16, the Summers@Severance series is definitely bringing new listeners in to hear The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom with Jung-Min Amy Lee (Aug. 10)

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by David Kulma

The Cleveland Orchestra is joined by dozens of international soloists each year, but it’s always a wonderful experience to hear a member of the Orchestra step forward into the spotlight. On Saturday, August 10 at Blossom Music Center with guest conductor Asher Fisch, associate concertmaster Jung-Min Amy Lee showed off her amazing skill and musicality in Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto in a program that also included works by Liszt and Brahms. [Read more…]

Summers@Severance: Mozart’s C-Minor Mass with Matthew Halls (Aug. 2)

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by David Kulma

There is a certain je ne sais quoi about minor-key Mozart. The dark, brooding colors that rarely appear in his more plentiful major-key works give his wonderfully inevitable music a grand power and solemnity few other composers have ever matched. His Symphony No. 40 in g and Requiem in d are only the two most famous examples. Their major-key sections take on a new, heavenly meaning in contrast with the overall somberness. The Cleveland Orchestra’s Summers@Severance concert on Friday, August 2 was a great opportunity to hear another of Mozart’s minor-key marvels: the Great Mass in c, K. 427, with four excellent vocal soloists and the Blossom Festival Chorus, all conducted with flair by Matthew Halls. [Read more…]

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