Ben Schoeman Archives - Cleveland Classical

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round Two, Session Three (August 4)

August 4, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway & Mike Telin

To open Sunday morning’s session, Oleksandr Poliykov chose a single work, Brahms’s f minor sonata, op. 5, beginning grandly, then fading to a beautiful pianissimo. The first movement explored the whole range of emotion from the explosive to the sensitive while the rest of the sonata featured moments of stunning, lyrical beauty even in brooding and introspective passages. Poliykov can play with enormous power that never gets blurry and his sense of the spacious and expansive gesture suited Brahms well.

Beatrice Berrut began her second round set with a completely delightful journey through Haydn’s F Major Sonata (Hob. XVI:23) that was clean, touchingly lyrical and shapely. Her tone, full of color and dynamic contrasts, was readily apparent in her all-around brilliant performance of Chopin’s b-flat minor Sonata, op. 35. The third movement Marche also showed her great sense of line. These were two very well-conceived and executed performances; Berrut followed up with a winning smile at the end. [Read more…]

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round One, Session Three (August 1)

August 1, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway

Annika Treutler (23, Germany) opened the third session of the first round on Thursday afternoon with a well-conceived performance of J.S. Bach’s f minor prelude and fugue (WTC I), marking arrivals at important harmonic moments, pointing up each entrance of the fugue subject and giving the fugue an expressive profile through subtle crescendos and decrescendos. The balance between hands in Chopin’s F Major Etude (op. 10/8) was admirable, her right hand filigree strong-fingered and lucid. Treutler ended her set with Beethoven’s op. 109 sonata, creating a light, airy texture at the outset and shining little lights on details. Aside from a few boomy moments, her playing was well-balanced and quasi-playful in the right spots.

Ukrainian pianist Oleksandr Polivkov, 25, is a big guy but can play with a soft touch, as he demonstrated from the outset in his elegant voicing of J.S. Bach’s c# minor prelude and fugue and later in graceful passagework in Haydn’s A-flat sonata (Hob. XVI:46). [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

Kirill Gerstein is captivating on piano as Cleveland Orchestra recital series continues (Dec. 4)

by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s no dearth of first-class piano performances to enjoy in Northeast Ohio, but Kirill Gerstein’s contribution to the collective wealth Wednesday night was extraordinary both in concept and execution.

Playing as part of the Cleveland Orchestra’s ongoing recital series at Severance Music Center, Gerstein wove an overarching narrative from the 21 little masked ball portraits in Robert Schumann’s “Carnaval.” Then he helped composer Francisco Coll blow up the idea of the waltz in two striking, brand new pieces written for Gerstein and joined Maurice Ravel in redefining that most civilized of dances in a cataclysmic performance of “La valse.”

[Read on…]

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