By Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. A long list of multiple & single performances
. The acoustic of Notre-Dame in Paris, an interactive experience from the New York Times
. Almanac entries: anniversaries of Honegger, Mendelssohn’s revival of Bach’s Matthew-Passion and a Leipzig summer extravaganza featuring Bobby McFerrin on his birthday, remembering Nijinski (pictured)
HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:
Multiple performances: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Mozart Requiem (Fri, Sat, Sun afternoon), Oberlin Opera’s Candide (director Jonathan Field’s last production, Fri, Sat, Sun afternoon).
Single performances on Friday: Apollo’s Fire’s Exile – Music of the Jewish & African Diasporas (in Cleveland Hts.), Youngstown Symphony: Musical Titans & electric violinist and vocal master L Shankar (Cleveland Museum of Art).
Single performances on Saturday: Harpsichordist Adam Pearl and Schubert’s Winterreise at Oberlin, Brazil Guitar Duo (Classical Guitar Society, Shaker Hts.,), Firelands Symphony with Rambling House (Huron), Stow Symphony with violinist David Mendiata (Tallmadge) & Oberlin Jazz Ensemble with Greg Banaszak.
Single performances on Sunday: Dedication of the new Fisk chamber organ at Oberlin a memorial to Garth Peacock, the Parma Symphony, Western Reserve Chorale & orchestra (at the Maltz), Josh Henderson & the Warp Trio (Tremont), soprano Alice McAllister Tillman with pianist & harpist Maurice Draughan (Holy Trinity Akron), pianist Andrew Le (Church of the Western Reserve, Cleveland), the Callisto String Quartet (Music from the Western Reserve, Hudson) & Urban Troubadour’s From Mozart to Mo’ Mojo (Akron Civic Theater).
Check our Concert Listings for details.
INTERESTING READ (WATCH? LISTEN?)
From the New York Times Magazine: “After a fire engulfed Notre Dame in 2019, the cathedral lost 20% of its glorious acoustics. A group of researchers is trying to bring this sound back to life. Put on your headphones, turn the sound on and experience how its gothic vaults make music soar.” Access the interactive presentation here and check out the comments.
WEEKEND ALMANAC
So many comings and goings to mention on these three dates in music history. We’ll choose one for each of the days between March 10 and 12.
MARCH 10 — Composer Arthur Honegger was born in France to Swiss parents on this date in 1892, and lived most of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, he is known for merging the French avant-garde style of the first half of the 20th century with elements of German Romanticism — more so than his fellow members of that group, who turned away from that tradition. One listening recommendation: his Symphony No. 3, a commentary on the horrors of World War II, and an inventive combination of tonality and harsh, expressive language. Listen here to a famous recording by the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan.
MARCH 11 — To celebrate the first performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Matthew-Passion since the composer’s death — led by 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig on this date in 1829 — as well as to mark the birthday of American conductor and vocalist Bobby McFerrin in 1950, let’s visit an extraordinary concert by McFerrin and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the Marktplatz in Leipzig on the Summer Night Music series in 2002. Click here to access the playlist of 32 videos.
McFerrin leads off with the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, English violinist Nigel Kennedy joins oboist Uwe Kleinsorge (who plays the vocal line) in “Erbarme dich” from the Matthew-Passion, and McFerrin joins Veronika Wilhelm in Vivaldi’s G-minor Concerto for Two Cellos. McFerrin takes the second solo part, demonstrating only one of his multiple vocal talents — can you tell that both of his parents were opera singers? Bach’s Thomaskirche looks fondly down on the proceedings, which include a wide variety of music. It would have been great fun to have been there.
MARCH 12 — On this date in 1890, Russian ballet master Vaslav Nijinsky, famous — or notorious — for creating the role of the Faun in Debussy’s L’Après-midi d’un Faune, was born in Kyiv. Although his performance seems to have been filmed at the time, Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev suppressed its release. But Nijinsky’s close counterpart Rudolph Nureyev contributed a tribute in 1980 in partnership with the Joffrey Ballet.
