by Daniel Hathaway
TODAY’S NEWS BRIEFS:
The Music Critics Association of North America has named Jeanine Tesori’s and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue as Best New Opera of 2019. Premiered last summer at the Glimmerglass Festival, the opera “centers on the hopes and fears of a young black couple as they raise a son in 21st-century America.” Read Vivien Schweitzer’s story about the award on Classical Voice North America here, and watch a Glimmerglass preview video here.
American Public Media has announced the cancellation of Chris Thile’s Live from Here, the successor to A Prairie Home Companion. Read the Billboard article here.
OBSERVING JUNETEENTH TOMORROW:
Friday’s diary will be full of links to black composers and musicians, and discussions about the persistence of racism in classical music. As a prelude to that subject, watch Hidden No More: Classical Music by Artists of African Descent, “an introduction to an epic story of Classical Music by Black Composers and Musicians — a story of genius, racial injustice, and the start of a cultural awakening.” The brief video, narrated by William J. Zick, was produced by africalassical.com, which features profiles of 52 composers, conductors, and instrumentalists of African descent, including several with connections to Northeast Ohio.
ON THE WEB AND AIRWAVES TODAY:
The latest edition of Oberlin Stage Left features cellist and gambist Catharina Meints, who is retiring from the conservatory faculty after 45 years (35 of which she spent playing in The Cleveland Orchestra). Musical excerpts include Bach gamba sonatas with harpsichordist Mark Edwards, and a concert of Henry Purcell’s viol fantasias (we previewed that September 2019 event here).
Other broadcasts and streams bring you The Cleveland Orchestra at lunchtime on WCLV 104.9 Ideastream, selections from Damn Yankees from Ohio Light Opera, and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino from the MET Opera archives, starring Leontyne Price. Details in our Concert Listings.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
On this date in 1843, Austrian cellist and composer David Popper was born in Prague. Author of a large quantity of cello music, Popper was among the last of the great cellists to perform without using an endpin. Click here to watch a performance of his Requiem for three cellos and piano performed by CityMusic Cleveland music director Amit Peled and two of his students from the Peabody Institute.
On June 18, 1942, Paul McCartney (Sir Paul since 1965 when The Beatles were inducted into the Order of the British Empire) was born in Liverpool, England. In addition to his career with the groundbreaking Liverpudlian band (who memorably played Cleveland in 1964 and 1966), he made a foray into classical music with his Liverpool Oratorio, featuring Kiri Te Kanawa. Watch a recording here of its dress rehearsal and premiere in Liverpool Cathedral in 1991.
