Chamber Music Society Archives - Cleveland Classical

Preview: Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a conversation with Kirill Gerstein before his recital with Steven Isserlis

January 22, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

By Mike Telin

As the saying goes, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” or perhaps more apropos to the world of artistic collaborations, “if you’ve got a good thing going, don’t change.” Cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Kirill Gerstein will continue a long partnership on Tuesday, January 29 at 7:30 pm in Plymouth Church, when the Cleveland Chamber Music Society presents them in recital. The program brings together music by 19^th and 20^th century composers including Liszt’s Romance oubliée and Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, Busoni’s Kultaselle, variations on aFinnish folksong, Brahms’s Sonata No. 1 in E minor and Bartók’s Rhapsody, as well as Brahms’s Sonata No. 2 in F-major. [Read more…]

Review: Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Juilliard String Quartet at Plymouth Church (December 4)

December 11, 2012 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway

“Every time a string quartet replaces a player, it becomes a new quartet,” said Cleveland Institute of Music President Joel Smirnoff, when asked to give a few remarks before the Cleveland Chamber Music Society’s concert by the Juilliard String Quartet at Plymouth Church on December 4.

Smirnoff is in a position to know about that. Having played with the Juilliard since 1986, he moved from second to first fiddle in 1997 before withdrawing in 2008 to take up his new duties in Cleveland. Since then, there have been two more new first violinists. The latest, Joseph Lin, joined only last year and would be making his Cleveland debut on Tuesday evening. You have to imagine that Smirnoff and CIM’s chamber music festival had something to do with the large number of students who packed the house to the point where the ushers ran out of programs — a nice problem for a chamber music society to have. [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…]

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