by Mike Telin
In This Edition:
•Today’s events: There are four orchestra concerts, three new Micro Operas and a classic silent film to choose from.
•Interesting Read: Celebrated composer and Oberlin Alum Nkeiru Okoye talks to Ms.
•In the news: Concert Artist Guild announces semi-finalists and the Meg Quigley Bassoon Competition announces 2023 repertoire.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE:
There are four orchestra concerts today. At 11:00 am Stéphane Denève leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Guillaume Connesson’s Flammenschrift and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”). At 7:00 pm guest concertmaster Todd Phillips leads the CIM Orchestra in works by Handel, and Brahms. At 7:30 pm in Bay Village, Jeannette Sorrell leads Apollo’s Fire and Apollo’s Singers in Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and at 8:00 pm Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra will present a concert in Celebration of Black History Month.
At 7:00 pm, tune in to Operas in Place: Nine newly commissioned Micro Operas, a co-production between Baldwin Wallace Voice Performance, Cleveland Opera Theater, and On Site Opera. Tonight’s stream features works by Lisa DeSpain, Griffin, and Michi Wianko, Each performance is followed by a talkback session.
The Cleveland Silent Film Festival continues at 7:00 pm at the Cinematheque with a screening of Wings, with a score by Cleveland-born silent-movie composer J.S. Zamecnik.
Details in our Concert Listings.
INTERESTING READ:
“Traditionally opera has been written by European men,” composer and Oberlin Aluma Nkeiru Okoye told Ms. “Well, it’s a new day. Black women now have a voice and a space in the room.” Read the article here.
IN THE NEWS:
Concert Artist Guild has announced the semi-finalists for the 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition. There are a number of people with local connections included in the list. Click here for details.
The repertoire for the 2023 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Bassoon Symposium has been announced. In addition to a concert by the competition’s namesake, the list includes works by Noelia Escalzo, Jeff Scott, and Jacqueline Wilson. For more information click here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
We begin today’s Almanac by celebrating the birth of Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos in Athens in 1896.
The young Dimitri exhibited musical talents at an early age and by his early teens hosted Saturday afternoon concerts at his home.
He studied at the Athens Conservatory as well as in Brussels and Berlin, where his teachers included Ferruccio Busoni. During the early to mid ‘20s he assisted Erich Kleiber at the Berlin State Opera.
The conductor made his U.S. debut with the Boston Symphony in 1936, and from 1937 to 1949 was principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Orchestra). In 1949 he became co-conductor — with Leopold Stokowski — of the New York Philharmonic, and in 1951 was named the Orchestra’s music director.
In addition to making numerous recordings for Columbia Records, Mitropoulos and the Philharmonic sought out new audiences by making appearances on television and giving performances at the Roxy Theater.
During his tenure, he expanded the Philharmonic’s repertoire by commissioning new works and championing the symphonies of Mahler. Upon his departure in 1958, he was succeeded by his protégé, Leonard Bernstein. Click here to listen to Mitropoulos conduct the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.
We also celebrate the arrival of pianist and composer André Mathieu in 1930 in Montreal. Often referred to as “the Canadian Mozart,” most of his compositions did not enjoy public recognition until after his death.
Born into a musical family — his father was a music teacher and composer, and his mother a cellist — the young Mathieu began to speak at the age of four months and began to walk at seven months.
Mathieu began composing at the age of four and performed his first composition during a public recital at six. In 1941 he was awarded first prize at the composition competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic — he was not yet twelve.
A student of Arthur Honegger in Paris for one year, after his return to Montreal his life and career quickly deteriorated due to alcoholism and emotional problems. Mathieu died on June 2, 1968 at the age of 39, like Mozart, a genius who left the world far too young. Click here to listen to pianist Alain Lefèvre play his Prelude No. 5.
