by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Cleveland Orchestra with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, and Oberlin Improv Fest with multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand and shakuhachi player / electronic musician Kojiro Umezaki (pictured)
•Announcements: changes coming to CIPC 2024, and Cleveland Arts Prize open for submissions
•Almanac: Smetana, Weill, and four distinct takes on “Mack the Knife” from Lotte Lenya, Sidney Bechet, Bobby Darin, and the Amsterdam Wind Quintet
HAPPENING TODAY:
The three-day Oberlin Improv Fest kicks off today with several events, including a recital at 8:30 pm featuring multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand with shakuhachi player and electronic musician Kojiro Umezaki at the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space. The program will include selections from Nealand’s The Monocle (a solo project that brings together voice, accordion, saxophones, and found objects), Umezaki’s electroacoustic composition The Ghost of Autumn Winds (秋風の霊), and a duo improvisation. It’s free and will also be livestreamed.
And at 7:30 pm, Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra will present a program that includes Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3, Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G — featuring Víkingur Ólafsson as soloist — and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestrated by Ravel). Get tickets here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Cleveland International Piano Competition will implement a number of changes for its 50th-anniversary year in 2024. Those changes include new types of rounds such as two-piano transcriptions and salon performances, increased repertoire flexibility, additional prizes as part of an Artist Development Program, and an increased commitment to equity when it comes to the juries, the group of contestants, and repertoire. Details here.
The Cleveland Arts Prize is open for submissions. Applications for the Discipline Awards ($10,000 prizes in the areas of music, visual arts, literature, theater/dance, and design) are due May 1, while nominations for the Special Prize are due June 1. More information here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Wish a happy birthday to Smetana today — no, not the type of sour cream from Central and Eastern Europe, but the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, who is often considered the father of Czech music, and who was born on this date in 1824 in Litomyšl. One of his best-known works is The Bartered Bride, which exemplifies his ambition to create a quintessentially Czech form of opera. Listen to the famous Overture here in a recording by George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra.
And German-American composer Kurt Weill, best known for his stage works and in particular his collaborations with the playwright Bertolt Brecht, was born on this date in 1900 in Dessau. You may be familiar with the famous ballad “Mack the Knife” from Weill’s & Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, but how many versions have you heard?
Here are a few starkly different ones: Lotte Lenya sings “Mack” in the original German (she also sang in the original production and was married to Weill), saxophonist Sidney Bechet transforms the tune into a virtuosic display for jazz band, Bobby Darin smooths it out all nice and cool, and in a version for wind quintet, the Amsterdam Quintet spins it into a lyrical, almost pastoral scene — not exactly a portrayal of serial killer, but something quite pleasing to the ear nonetheless.