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Rising Stars steal the show at ChamberFest’s Folklorica (June 23)

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by Rory O’Donoghue

There are rare, perfect moments in chamber music where minds meld and hearts coalesce in beautiful synergy. Violinist Nathan Meltzer and pianist Evren Ozel, both young phenoms, did just that with their pre-concert performance of Franck’s Violin Sonata during ChamberFest Cleveland’s Folklorica on Sunday, June 23 in CWRU’s Harkness Chapel. On an afternoon packed with stellar musicianship, the two distilled Franck down to its exquisite essence. I doubt I will ever hear a better rendition.  [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Hungary for Music” (June 25)

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by Daniel Hathaway

For its eighth program on June 25, ChamberFest gathered four wildly different pieces under the banner of “Hungary for Music.” Works by Franz Liszt, Peter Eötvös, Johannes Brahms, and Ernst von Dohnányi received definitive performances on Friday evening in CIM’s Mixon Hall. [Read more…]

ChamberFest 2019: a conversation with Diana Cohen and Juho Pohjonen

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by Mike Telin

This weekend ChamberFest Cleveland will wrap up its eighth season with a pair of concerts that continue to explore this year’s theme of Under the Influence. On Friday, June 28 at 7:30 pm in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, “Precocious Virtuosity” will feature music by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Moritz Moszkowski. And on Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 pm in CIM’s Mixon Hall, “French Connection” will include music of Poulenc, Stravinsky, Gérard Pesson, Françaix, and Fauré. Tickets are available online.

I recently sat down with violinist and ChamberFest’s co-artistic director Diana Cohen and pianist Juho Pohjonen at the epicenter of the Festival — the Cohen house.

When I arrived, a rehearsal of the Mendelssohn Octet was taking place in the living room while Frank Cohen was sitting on a sofa beaming with joy as he took in the beautiful sounds. In the kitchen and dining room, caterers were busy setting up for a reception that would include a performance by violinist Itamar Zorman and pianist Roman Rabinovich. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Sei Solo” at Mixon (June 22)

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by Timothy Robson

There was a full house at CIM’s Mixon Hall on Saturday evening June 22, despite numerous travails of parking due to construction and the Art Museum’s Summer Solstice event. But the hassle was worth it for Sei Solo (You Are Alone), a program of music by composers under the influence of loss. The selection of familiar and unfamiliar works is a hallmark of Chamberfest Cleveland and Saturday’s performance included works by J.S. Bach, John Cage, Mendelssohn and Brahms. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “In Full Swing” (June 14)

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by David Kulma

CIM’s Kulas Hall on Friday, June 14 was the setting for the enjoyable and amazingly performed second concert in ChamberFest Cleveland’s eighth season. Titled “In Full Swing,” the evening featured three works tangentially related to dancing by Leonard Bernstein, John Adams, and Antonín Dvořák. But before the fantastic music-making by professionals, the pre-concert performance by the Deng sisters was easily a highlight. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland stuns with season opener (June 13)

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by Rory O’Donoghue

ChamberFest Cleveland descended from the heavens with “Under the Influence,” the inaugural concert of its eighth season on June 13 in CIM’s Mixon Hall. Exquisite interpretation, unparalleled finesse, and delightful music-making tied the evening’s selections together in performances of simply the highest caliber. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Mozart the Giant” (June 20)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Mozart the influencer was documented in music for winds by Beethoven and Poulenc for ChamberFest Cleveland’s fifth program on Thursday, June 20 in CIM’s Mixon Hall, while the notion of “Mozart the Giant” was affirmed by the composer’s own String Quintet in D. The first part of the evening was distinguished by elegant wind playing every bit as refined as what you would expect from a world-class string quartet, yet fully capable of incisive punctuation when the music called for emphatic gestures.

[Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland 2019: behind the scenes with Franklin Cohen

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by Rory O’Donoghue

“This year’s ChamberFest — the way everything’s turned out — is really quite satisfying. It makes me smile.” I could almost hear Franklin Cohen grinning through the phone.

Prior to the beginning of this year’s festival, I had the opportunity to talk with Cohen, principal clarinet emeritus of The Cleveland Orchestra and co-artistic director of ChamberFest, about the current season and the evolution of the Festival. Above all, he’s immensely appreciative of how far he’s come: “It’s just so wonderful to be able to do this, to have this life of music. I fell in love with music as a child, lying under the piano when my mother would practice. I couldn’t escape the spell, and still can’t.”

ChamberFest emerged in 2012 with its first season, Big Bang!, and has been on the rise ever since. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Turning/Tipping Points” at Mixon (June 15)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Pivotal moments in the lives of composers linked works by Louise Farrenc, Paul Hindemith, and Johannes Brahms for ChamberFest Cleveland’s third concert on Saturday, June 15 in CIM’s Mixon Hall. But that program was prefaced by Adam Golka’s new arrangement of Debussy’s La mer for two pianos, an hors d’oeuvre that could easily have been served up as a main course. [Read more…]

Weather forecast: thunder ahead at ChamberFest

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by Mike Telin

As principal timpanist of the Calgary Philharmonic, Alexander Cohen is accustomed to playing music that has specified pitches. That changed when his sister Diana suggested that he perform Péter Eötvös’ Thunder for solo timpani at this year’s ChamberFest. “This is a very different piece than I am used to playing,” Cohen said during a telephone conversation. “When I first saw it I didn’t even think it was a piece for timpani. At first I balked at the suggestion, but learning it has been a lot of fun.”

On Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 in CIM’s Mixon Hall, you can hear Cohen perform Eötvös’ intriguing work. The program will also include Liszt’s Orpheus arranged for piano trio by Saint-Saéns, selections from Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, and Erno Dohnányi’s Piano Sextet. Tickets are available online.

Thunder is a single movement from the composer’s larger work Triangel for percussion and ensemble. [Read more…]

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