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Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: Milhaud, Roussel & Beethoven (July 15)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TCO-FWM-070917-1Dionysius and Apollo each reigned over half of the Cleveland Orchestra program at Blossom on Saturday evening, July 15 under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. Albert Roussel’s Suite No. 2 from Bacchus and Ariadne celebrates the invention of wine — for which picnickers on the Blossom lawn will be ever grateful — and Darius Milhaud’s Brazilian-infused ballet Le boeuf sur le toit takes place in a rowdy New York bar during Prohibition. Even with its premonitions of Romanticism and the composer’s signature quirkiness, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 brought a sense of Classical balance to the second half. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: “A Night at the Opera” with Erin Wall (July 9)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Erin-Wall-(Credit-Kristen-Hoebermann)The Canadian soprano Erin Wall made only one costume change on Sunday evening at Blossom — from a burgundy to a sparkling black gown — but she brought winning vocal versatility and theatrical savvy to her portrayal of five different divas, brilliantly supported by Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

Aaron Diehl and The Cleveland Orchestra wow audience at Blossom (July 2)

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by Samantha Spaccasi

TCOLing070217MastroianniWhat could be better than an evening of sitting on the lawn of Blossom Music Center — summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra, wine in hand, enjoying a picnic dinner while waiting to hear the ensemble play with pianist Aaron Diehl? Not much. On July 2, Diehl and the Orchestra, conducted by Jahja Ling, performed an array of favorites. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra releases 2017 Blossom Calendar

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FWMBlossom070916The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2017 Blossom Music Festival calendar, which features 21 concerts between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will lead three of the classical programs, including an opera night with soprano Erin Wall. Special tributes will include concerts honoring Carole King and Ella Fitzgerald, a side-by-side with the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra on the occasion of the Kent/Blossom Festival’s 50th anniversary, and a screening of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, shown in HD with the score by John Williams performed live on the last three nights of the season. [Read more…]

Raiders of the Lost Ark at Blossom with The Cleveland Orchestra (September 3)

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by Timothy Robson

RaidersBarely a square inch of space remained on the lawn, and the Blossom Music Center pavilion was packed on a clear, cool Saturday evening, September 3, for the annual movie night at Blossom. This season’s offering was Steven Spielberg’s 1981 blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford as the intrepid archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones, with Karen Allen as his sometimes girlfriend Marion, and a host of well-known character actors. [Read more…]

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra makes its Blossom debut (August 27)

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by Jane Berkner

Orpheus-Chamber-OrchestraThe dark, threatening cloud over Blossom Music Center on Saturday evening, August 27 delivered a thunderstorm right at the appointed concert hour. Fortunately for the large audience gathered to hear the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra play four of J.S. Bach’s celebrated Brandenburg Concerti, it blew over rather quickly. Waiting an extra ten minutes for the thunder to subside was not a huge concession, especially given that this was the much-anticipated debut of Orpheus at Blossom. [Read more…]

Windborne’s Led Zeppelin at Blossom Music Festival (August 20)

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by Robert Rollin

Windborne-Led-ZeppelinSaturday night, August 20, at the Blossom Music Center, the rock quintet Windborne and the Blossom Festival Orchestra, conducted by Brent Havens, presented “The Music of Led Zeppelin, A Rock Symphony.” Havens arranged Zeppelin’s songs with an eye towards authenticity, so that longtime fans of the group would recognize the tunes in a tasteful orchestral tapestry that supported and augmented their original intent. Led Zeppelin at times used orchestral forces in its pieces, and Haven’s arrangements were consistently faithful to the originals. [Read more…]

Windborne’s “Music of Led Zeppelin” to visit Blossom Festival on August 20

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by Mike Telin

Windborne-Led-ZeppelinWhen guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham formed the band Led Zeppelin in 1968, little did they know that their guitar-driven sound and music rooted in blues, psychedelia, and folk music would lead them to become one of the most successful rock groups in history.

On Saturday, August 20 at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, conductor and arranger Brent Havens will lead the Blossom Festival Orchestra in Windborne Productions’ “Music of Led Zeppelin.” The evening will feature classic Zeppelin tunes, including Good Times Bad Times, Black Dog, All My Love, Kashmir, and of course, Stairway to Heaven. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra & Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra at Blossom (July 30)

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by Alexandra A. Vago

TCO Aug 24 MastroianniWhat a spectacular concert on Saturday, July 30 at Blossom Music Center. The concert featured performances by the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, culminating in a side-by-side performance. It was a celebration of the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, the 50-year partnership between Kent State University and The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: a chat with guest conductor Nicholas McGegan

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by Mike Telin

McGegan-Nicholas-kbd“If I were to have a dinner party, whom would I invite from a list of composers?” conductor Nicholas McGegan asked himself during a recent telephone conversation. “You could pretty much count on Handel eating all your food, or on Mozart disgracing himself with the girls, but Haydn and Mendelssohn would be two of the most perfectly wonderful guests. Mendelssohn could talk to people in almost any language, and Haydn was just a charmer. And that comes through in their music.”

On Sunday, August 7 at 7:00 pm, Nicholas McGegan will return to Blossom Music Center to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a concert that will feature music by his two preferred dinner guests: Joseph Haydn (Symphony No. 99) and Felix Mendelssohn (Symphony No. 3). The evening will also include George Benjamin’s Divertimento on Themes by Gluck with the Orchestra’s assistant principal oboe, Jeffrey Rathbun, as soloist.

McGegan, who admitted to be being a little bit of a foodie — he was putting vegetable soup on to simmer when I phoned — said that he looks forward to returning to Blossom. [Read more…]

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