Claudio Monteverdi Archives - Cleveland Classical

DIARY: Wednesday, May 15, 2024

May 15, 2024 by Jarrett Hoffman

by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: Amethyst Quartet concludes Trinity Brownbag season, CMA presents cinematic concert “A Season on the Wind: Music for Migratory Birds” (pictured), and Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival presents keynote event

•Announcements: Center for Arts-Inspired Learning names new CEO and announces free summer music camp, and Cleveland Orchestra announces return of Summers at Severance series

•Interesting reads: a new ending for Turandot premieres at Washington National Opera

•Almanac: Monteverdi with Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire

[Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, November 29, 2023

November 29, 2023 by Jarrett Hoffman

by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols at Trinity, violinist Ilya Kaler and pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi in recital at CIM, and the premiere of a documentary about the 1988 Soviet Tour undertaken by the Cleveland Quartet (pictured)

•Announcements: Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition applications, Gabe Pollack named 2023 Cleveland Jazz Hero, Double Reed Day at CSU, and instructors needed for U of A’s pre-professional Arts Academy

•Almanac: operatic tributes to Donizetti, Monteverdi, and Puccini

HAPPENING TODAY:

A Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert at noon will showcase the sopranos and altos of the Cathedral Choir, harpist Jody Guinn, and conductor Todd Wilson in Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. A freewill offering will be taken up.

A CIM Faculty Recital at 7:30 pm in Mixon Hall will feature violinist Ilya Kaler and pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi in sonatas by Respighi, Debussy, and Fauré. It’s free, but reservations are required.

Also at 7:30, at Reinberger Chamber Hall, will be the premiere of the documentary Notes From Behind the Iron Curtain: Cleveland Quartet’s 1988 Soviet Tour. The event will also include live performances by The Weilerstein Trio (pianist Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, violinist Donald Weilerstein, and cellist Alisa Weilerstein) and a cello ensemble of Cleveland Orchestra members including Mark Kosower, Richard Weiss, Charles Bernard, and Bryan Dumm. Get tickets here, and read Mike Telin’s interview with cellist Paul Katz here.

Details in our Concert Listings.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: “Hope and Solitude” featuring countertenor Reginald Mobley (Nov. 17)

by Daniel Hathaway

Apollo’s Fire concertmaster and assistant artistic director Alan Choo curated an thoughtful, unusual, and thoroughly engaging program at Rocky River Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon, November 17.

Featuring the formidable vocal gifts of countertenor Reginald Mobley, the program managed to gather under a single banner an orchestral suite and other selections by Henry Purcell, lute music by John Dowland, a suite by John Eccles, and an aria from J.S. Bach’s “Hunting” cantata as well as his solo cantata Ich habe genug. The well-attended concert ended with Spirituals that fit remarkably well into a menu of music played on period instruments.

In his director’s notes, Alan Choo wrote that this program “epitomizes the universality of music and its ability to uplift, heal, and revitalize the human spirit,” quoting the text of 17th-century Anglo-Welsh royalist poet Katherine Phillips’ O Solitude as set by Henry Purcell. [Read on…]

Conductor Santtu-Mathias Rouvali wears his heart on his sleeve in Cleveland Orchestra debut

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Change of plans recently led to unexpected opportunities at The Cleveland Orchestra. And so, this week, guest conductor Santtu-Mathias Rouvali seized the moment. With the Mahler “Das Lied von der Erde” program moved to next season, a rare blank slate appeared. Rouvali stepped in on short notice to make his Cleveland debut presenting an impassioned program.

The three pieces performed on Thursday, Nov. 21 — which will be heard again on Nov. 22 and 23 — share a distinctive expressivity, and each represented an introduction of their own.

Carl Nielsen’s Overture to “Maskarade“ set the scene for the Danish composer’s opera, a well-known work in his home county but rarely played elsewhere. Its five minutes include a whirling ballroom waltz, which Rouvali accentuated by coaxing the brass to cut through the texture. The conductor quickly revealed his taste for flourishes, his motions imbued with a fluttery, cursive affect.

[Read on…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra impresses with Boulanger, Copland, and Rachmaninoff

By Daniel Hathaway | Cleveland Classical

This article was originally posted on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Anyone who believes that tired old canard that classical music is dead or dying needed to hear conductor Daniel Reith and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra play music by Lily Boulanger, Aaron Copland, and Sergei Rachmaninoff in their Autumn Concert at Severance Music Center on Sunday afternoon, November 24.

That challenging program tested COYO’s musicianship. Not only does it run deep, but it’s so sophisticated that the young players can make Boulanger sound French, Copland American, and Rachmaninoff Russian.

Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps was light and airy, conjuring up in its five minutes a Gallic Spring morning with lovely solos by concertmaster Aika Birch and individual winds. Surges suggested the burgeoning surprises nature still had in store.

[Read on…]

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