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Conductor Elim Chan and Cleveland Orchestra thrill with impressive performances of Lutosławski and Brahms concertos (Jan. 16)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally posted on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — “Witold Lutosławski Week” has come early this year, and what a treat it is.

When the Polish composer visited Cleveland in 1988, Mayor George Voinovich designated February 29 through March 6 “Witold Lutosławski Week” in his honor. And this week, The Cleveland Orchestra is revisiting his music at Severance Music Center. On Thursday, January 16, conductor Elim Chan led the ensemble in ambitious concertos by Lutosławski and Brahms, joined by violinist Augustin Hadelich.

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Cleveland Orchestra’s Beethoven concerto cycle: a mini festival of virtuosity (Nov. 6)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s never been a better time to buy a couple of extra tickets to The Cleveland Orchestra.

Not one but four stellar soloists took the stage at Severance Music Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6 — representing about half of the star-studded lineup coming to Cleveland over the next two weeks. The big event of the Orchestra’s fall season, a complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos, is set to feature a different headliner for almost every piece.

This wasn’t the original plan, but with music director Franz Welser-Möst undergoing medical treatment and unable to conduct — and the scheduled soloist for the entire cycle, Igor Levit, withdrawing as a result — the Orchestra had to adapt. The personnel changes were announced on Monday, Nov. 4, including associate conductor Daniel Reith’s stepping in to lead all the performances, which run through Nov. 17.

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Cellist Julia Hagen to make Cleveland Orchestra debut in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto

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by Mike Telin

“When I think about playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, it still sounds like a dream,” cellist Julia Hagen said during a recent Zoom conversation. “It still feels surreal, but it’s going to be such an honor to share the stage with an orchestra that has so much history —  and I’m very excited to get to meet them and to work with them.”

On Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 pm, Hagen will make her Cleveland Orchestra debut at Severance Music Center when she joins pianist Orion Weiss and violinist Augustin Hadelich for a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Under the direction of Daniel Reith, the evening will also include Sir Stephen Hough as soloist in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program, which will be repeated on November 7 at 7:30 pm, is the first of three that feature all six of Beethoven’s concertos for the instrument. The series runs through November 17. Tickets are available online.

Hagen, the 2024 winner of the UBS Young Artist Award, said that although she has not previously worked with Hadelich, she is a huge fan of his playing. “I can’t wait to meet him and because the two string parts in the Triple Concerto have so many things to work on before we meet with the orchestra, I’m very curious to see how that process will go.”

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Cleveland Orchestra begins Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle with Triple Concerto

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by Mike Telin

Since making his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center in 2009, Augustin Hadelich has gone on to become a Cleveland audience favorite. Last November, the violinist was greeted with a standing ovation when he walked on stage to play the Tchaikovsky Concerto.

On Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 pm, Hadelich will return to Severance Music Center to join pianist Orion Weiss and cellist Julia Hagen for a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Under the direction of Daniel Reith, the evening will also include Sir Stephen Hough in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program, which will be repeated on November 7 at 7:30 pm, is the first of three that feature all six of Beethoven’s concertos for the instrument. The series runs through November 17. Tickets are available online.

During a recent Zoom call from Stockholm, Hadelich said that he’s excited to return to Cleveland and to collaborate with his colleagues. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra offers up Tchaikovsky, Dvořák as it continues holiday concert tradition

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by Daniel Hathaway
Originally published on Cleveland.com. Photo by Roger Mastroianni from an earlier Cleveland Orchestra concert

While other organizations are taking time off, The Cleveland Orchestra has continued its admirable tradition of playing concerts on the Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon of Thanksgiving weekend at Severance Music Center.

Those Fridays in particular have seen some memorable performances, and the concert on November 24 was no exception. Played to a capacity, multi-generational crowd enlivened by an enthusiastic influx of families and young listeners, led by the insightful Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen making his debut with the orchestra, and featuring a defining performance of a beloved concerto by one of the most thrilling violin soloists on the international circuit, the experience was simply overwhelming.

From the ovation they gave when Augustin Hadelich merely appeared onstage, Friday’s audience suggested that he was a major factor that drew them to Severance Music Center. [Read more…]

Pietari Inkinen to make Cleveland Orchestra debut

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by Mike Telin

“I am thrilled to be making my debut with this wonderful orchestra,” Pietari Inkinen said. “The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the greatest in the world and for any conductor it is an honor to be invited to conduct in Cleveland.”

On Friday, November 24 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, the Finnish conductor will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Dvořák’s Othello Overture and Symphony No. 8, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Augustin Hadelich as soloist. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 and Sunday at 3:00. Tickets are available online.

Born in Kouvola, Finland, Inkinen began studying the violin and piano at the age of  four. He attended the Sibelius Academy, where he graduated with diplomas in violin in 2003 and conducting in 2005, and also studied violin at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. As a violinist, he has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Finnish Radio Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic, and as a chamber musician he has appeared with the Inkinen Trio at the Wigmore Hall and St. John’s Smith Square.

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DIARY: Tuesday, April 4, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: organist Jonathan Moyer at the Covenant, and Apollo’s Fire’s European tour sendoff concert

•Applications & honors: CIM Young Composers Program, KSU’s Roy Minoff Composition Competition, CityMusic’s Diversity Fellowship open to violinists, and wind ensemble honors for three groups

•Almanac: composer Chen Yi, violinist Augustin Hadelich, and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason

HAPPENING TODAY:

A freewill offering will get you into the Church of the Covenant at 12 pm to hear organist Jonathan Moyer on the Tuesday Noon Organ Plus series (program to be announced).

And Apollo’s Fire will give its European tour sendoff concert at 7:30 at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium. The program, titled “Exile: Music of the Jewish & African Diasporas,” celebrates the connections of Sephardic, Ashkenazy, Palestinian, and African traditions. Jeannette Sorrell (pictured) directs, and the featured soloists include Rachel Weston (mezzo-soprano), Jacob Perry and Haitham Haidar (tenors), Jeffrey Strauss (baritone), and Daphna Mor, (recorder, ney, vocals). Tickets are available here.

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Replacing van Zweden, Klaus Mäkelä joins Augustin Hadelich at Severance (Oct. 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The original Cleveland Orchestra lineup this month was to have featured former and current New York Philharmonic music directors two weeks in a row, but Jaap van Zweden had to withdraw due to a family medical issue in the Netherlands. He was replaced on the weekend of October 17 by the 23-year-old Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, who had made a sensational debut with the Orchestra last summer at Blossom, and if anything, topped that performance at Severance Hall. [Read more…]

Augustin Hadelich makes
Severance Hall debut

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by Mike Telin

Violinist Augustin Hadelich is no stranger to The Cleveland Orchestra. In July of 2014 he wowed audiences with his performance of the Sibelius Concerto at Blossom Music Center. His August 2017 interpretation of the Dvořák Concerto was a highlight of the Blossom season.

On Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 pm, Hadelich will make his Severance Hall debut with Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2. The concert, under the direction of the young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, making his Severance debut as well, will also include Messiaen’s Les Offrande oubliées and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The program will be repeated on Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Hadelich has always been enjoyable to talk to. But when his performance and travel schedule, along with time zone differences, made a telephone interview impossible, he suggested that I send a few questions by email.

Mike Telin: Please tell me your thoughts on the Prokofiev Concerto.

Augustin Hadelich: It is one of the most exciting and beloved violin works of the 20th century. Prokofiev was a storyteller, and this piece contains just about every character, from the lyrical and pastoral to the manic. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical: Orpheus with Augustin Hadelich (Mar. 28)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TMA HadelichOrpheus Chamber Orchestra, the New York-based conductorless ensemble, joined violinist Augustin Hadelich in an impressive program of string music by Irving Fine, Haydn, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky at Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall on Wednesday evening, March 28. Their assured playing on the Tuesday Musical series proved that you don’t always need a baton-wielding leader out in front to inspire an excellent sense of ensemble — though sometimes it can be a good idea from an interpretational point of view.

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