By Kevin McLaughlin | Cleveland Classical
This article was originally published on Cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Conductor David Afkham made everything look easy in his Severance Music Center debut with The Cleveland Orchestra on Friday evening, April 26. He committed to lead works by Unsuk Chin, Rachmaninoff, and Bartók in March when Lahav Shani asked to be away for the birth of his first child.
That program would be a heavy lift for any conductor, but the Orchestra responded to Afkham’s remarkable assurance and clarity and delivered some of the most exhilarating performances of the season to date.
Director Emanuela Friscioni has chosen to take a new tack with this season’s Tri-C Classical Piano series at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Three Sunday afternoon recitals will showcase young pianists who are beginning to come to international prominence, commencing with 21-year-old Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, who won the silver medal at the fourteenth Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth in 2013. 