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Jeannette Sorrell and CityMusic shed new light on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (May 14)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Audiences often associate Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with orchestral mass — huge string sections, blazing brass, and symphonic muscle.

On May 14 at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, conductor Jeannette Sorrell and CityMusic Chamber Orchestra offered another approach, a leaner fate-knocker that surrendered none of its dramatic power.

From the podium, Director of Development Em Laudeman Ezell acknowledged Sorrell’s connection to CityMusic during the ensemble’s founding years. With Apollo’s Fire, Sorrell had already shown that a smaller professional ensemble in Cleveland could thrive outside the major-orchestra model. Her appearance for this series felt less like a guest engagement than a return.

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CityMusic Cleveland: American Dreams (Feb. 5)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Stop the presses! Half of the originally advertised program will be different, CityMusic’s managing director Henry Peyrebrune announced prior to their February 5 concert at Fairmount Presbyterian. Works by Elliott Carter and John Coltrane were postponed for another day and replaced by gentler pieces by Alan Hovhaness and Henry Cowell.

Taken as a whole, America @ 250: American Dreams, centered on a question shared by many American composers in the mid-twentieth century: how to write music that feels rooted, timeless, and personal without leaning too heavily on European models. The answers varied widely, from Ernest Bloch’s consciously historical gestures to Copland’s open, optimistic language.

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CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra at Fairmount Presbyterian (May 15)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

In a 1902 interview, Gabriel Fauré, who spent much of his career as an organist, said his goal in writing his Requiem was to stray from the established path, “after all those years accompanying funerals.” So, rather than ending with the horror of a Dies irae, he chose In Paradisum instead.

On Thursday, May 15, at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, CityMusic Cleveland delivered both heaven and earth over the course of a diverse program. Responding to conductor Lorenzo Lopez’s assured direction, the ensemble gave sympathetic readings of William Grant Still’s Danzas de Panama and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Leyendas, then ascended to a higher place in Fauré’s Requiem, aided by superb singing from soprano Chabrelle Williams, baritone Edward Vogel, and the CityMusic Community Choir.

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CityMusic Cleveland celebrates Black Excellence (Oct. 19) 

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by Kevin McLaughlin

“Celebrating Black Excellence” was CityMusic’s organizing theme for the latest of their 2023-24 season presentations, held at the sound-absorbent East Zion Baptist Church on Thursday, October 19.

You can quibble about how “Black” the program was, with a lineup that included Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto, selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Manuel de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance.

But as for “Black excellence,” there was an abundance. Works by Jessie Montgomery, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and William Grant Still each sparkled in smart, moving, and inspiring ways. And the three vocal soloists, all current students at Oberlin Conservatory, shone.

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CityMusic Cleveland: “Festive Sounds” (Dec. 9)

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by Stephanie Manning

“Colors,” the theme for CityMusic Cleveland’s current season, seemed a particularly apt descriptor for their concert on December 9. While Lakewood Congregational Church was decorated in holiday greenery, the musicians inside forewent traditional black attire for shades of festive red. But those two colors weren’t the only ones in play. Led by principal guest conductor Stefan Willich, the Chamber Orchestra provided all kinds of vivid imagery in the second program of their 19th season.

With its policy of free admission, CityMusic is a prime example of how the price of the ticket doesn’t always correlate to the quality of the performance. The centerpiece of the program, Mozart’s Symphony No. 4 in g,  proved the group particularly apt in the style of the Classical composer. Aided by clean and precise phrasing, the group gave off the rich sound of a larger ensemble. [Read more…]

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