by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. Choices to be made as the calendar fills up, Soweto Gospel Choir (pictured) reschedules Tuesday Musical concert
. Denyce Graves Foundation announces Shared Voices Partnership
. Almanac lists an array of first performances and anniversaries from September 30 through October 2.
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND:
Tonight at Severance, Franz Welser-Möst leads a stageful of musicians in Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (stop by to admire the composer’s autograph manuscript, recently gifted to the Orchestra), and in Warner Concert Hall, Tim Weiss leads the Oberlin Sinfonietta in more recent fare.
On Saturday, the Firelands Symphony plays at Sawmill Creek in Huron.
On Sunday come the choices.
There’s Gabrielle Haigh’s CD release concert at Fairmount Presbyterian, the Suburban Symphony at First Baptist, pianist Peter Takács playing Beethoven in Hudson, the Canton Symphony with cellist Joshua Roman, and South Africa’s Soweto Gospel Choir (having now resolved their scheduling problems) at EJ. Thomas Hall in Akron.
NEWS:
The Oberlin Conservatory has joined a consortium of organizations organized by the Denyce Graves Foundation to launch a new classical music student exchange program created by Oberlin alumna Denyce Graves ’85, an Emmy and Grammy award-winning mezzo-soprano. Participating organizations include Howard University, Fisk University, Morgan State University, and Morehouse College as well as the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.
As an article by Cathy Partlow Strauss for the Oberlin Conservatory news site reports, “The mission of the Denyce Graves Foundation is to contribute to a more dynamic and diverse classical vocal arts landscape across the country. Graves’ work is focused on championing the hidden musical figures of the past, while uplifting young artists of world-class talent from all backgrounds.” For more information, contact Leslie K. Gill (314)745-9243 mobile or leslie@ogrouppr.com
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Among the many works that were performed for the first time on September 30 or the first two days in October are Mozart’s The Magic Flute (1791), Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1936), Sofia Gubaidulina’s St. John Passion (2000), and the lovely combination of Frederic Delius’ On hearing the first cuckoo in spring, George Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad, and Edward Elgar’s Faalstaff (at the Leeds Festival.)
13-year-old Clara Wieck made her debut as a pianist in Leipzig in 1832 with Moscheles’ Piano Concerto in G, the Curtis Institute opened its doors in Philadelphia in 1924, and musicians who appeared for the first time on the world stage included Charles Villiers Stanford (Dublin, 1852), Paul Dukas (1865, Paris), Vladimir Horowitz (1903 or 1904, Kiev), Donald Swann (1923), and Cleveland composer Andrew Rindfleisch (1963).
Among those taking their final bows: composer and critic Virgil Thompson (New York, 1989), composers Ernst Toch and Roy Harris (1964 and 1979, Santa Monica), and composer Nathaniel Dett — while on tour in Battle Creek, Michigan (1943).
This might be a good weekend to take a preliminary listen to Dett’s magnum opus, The Ordering of Moses, an oratorio that will be performed on October 13 at 7:30pm by the Oberlin Orchestra, Oberlin College Choir, and Musical Union, conducted by Raphael Jiménez, with Mathilda Edge, soprano, Krysty Swann, mezzo-soprano, Limmie Pulliam ’98, tenor, and Timothy LeFebvre, baritone.
There are several recordings, but one made by the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony in Carnegie Hall led by James Conlon stands out. Click here.