by Daniel Hathaway
BREAKING NEWS:
The Musical Arts Association and musicians’ union of The Cleveland Orchestra agree to new three-year contract
CLEVELAND — The Musical Arts Association and the union representing the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra have agreed to a new three-year contract, ending a three-day strike and clearing the way for concerts to resume. Read the announcement released on Sunday at 5:26 pm.
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WEEKEND CLASSICAL MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
SEPTEMBER 27 – SUNDAY
2:00 pm – Oberlin Dan Wall Memorial Tribute, Warner Concert Hall | 3:30 pm – Suburban Symphony Orchestra at Beachwood High School | 4:00 pm – CIM Insiders, Keith Fitch, composer. Mixon Hall | Kevin Jones, organ, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights | 5:00 pm – Music from the Western Reserve, Irwin Shung, piano & harpsichord, Christ Church Episcopal, Hudson | 7:00 pm – CityMusic Chamber Concert, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Cleveland.
For Details of these and other classical music events, please visit the ClevelandClassical.com concert listings.
WEEKEND ALMANAC:
On September 25, 1927, English conductor Colin Davis was born in Weybridge, Surrey. Sir Colin returned to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in April, 2009, after a hiatus of 25 years. As reported in a Plain Dealer preview, his reappearance came at the urging of pianist Mitsuko Uchida. “She told me, ‘You’ve got to get back,’” recalled Davis, 82, by phone from his home in London, where Uchida also resides. “And I thought, ‘If she told me to do it, I’d better do it.’”
That concert in 2009 included the Second Symphony of Jean Sibelius, a composer whose music was a Davis specialty. In this video, he conducts the finale with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester at the 2008 BBC Proms.
And on this date in 1932, Canadian pianist Glenn Gould was born in Toronto. One of the great keyboard personalities of the 20th century, Gould was also among the most eccentric, demanding special conditions for his recitals and recordings and eventually giving up live performances entirely in favor of studio recordings over which he could exercise precise control.
For glimpses of Gould’s life and career, watch the documentary Genius Within — The Inner Life of Glenn Gould.
Gould soloed with George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra, leading to a famous outburst on the part of the conductor. As related in the New York Times, the pianist “wasted more than an hour of orchestral rehearsal time turning the screws on the special chair he uses, explaining that he could not get it at just the right height. Szell finally exploded and told Gould in very explicit terms what he could do with the screws.”
Another conductorial tiff had Leonard Bernstein officially distancing himself from Gould’s tempo decisions in the First Brahms Concerto. Listen to Bernstein’s extraordinary pre-concert announcement to the audience here.
