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Mixon Masters Series: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio — an interview with pianist Joseph Kalichstein

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by Daniel Hathaway

Many a fledgling chamber ensemble has launched its career with a house concert, but few have done that at so prestigious an address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Zipcode 20500. The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, who did make their debut at the White House, will open this season’s Mixon Masters Series at the Cleveland Institute of Music on Tuesday, October 17 at 8 pm with Beethoven’s Trio in G, op. 1, no. 2, André Previn’s Trio No. 2 (commissioned by the group), and Brahms’ Trio in B, op. 8.

Pianist Joseph Kalichstein was born in Israel and came to the US in 1962 to study at Juilliard. He rose to prominence after winning the Young Concert Artists Auditions and making his debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in a televised performance of Beethoven’s fourth concerto. After winning the Levintritt Prize in 1969, he made his Cleveland debut with George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra in that same work. This season, he celebrates the 35th anniversary of the founding of the KLR Trio. We reached Joseph Kalichstein at his home in New Jersey to ask about the Mixon Hall concert and how he first got together with violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson.

Daniel Hathaway: Is it true that Jimmy Carter was the matchmaker who formally brought the KLR Trio together?

Joseph Kalichstein: Yes, absolutely. One of his better accomplishments, I think. [Read more…]

Review: Classical Guitar Weekend at the Cleveland Institute of Music

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by James Flood, Daniel Hathaway & Mike Telin

The twelfth annual Classical Guitar Weekend was distinguished by four outstanding concerts by Pavel Steidl, Gaëlle Solal, SoloDuo and Jason Vieaux with soprano Jung Eun Oh; three excellent and informative lectures by luthier Bernhard Kresse, guitarist Jonathan Fitzgerald and record producer Alan Bise; and record audiences showed up for performances, talks and master classes over a three-day span from June 1-3 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. For the first time, Classical Guitar Weekend took on the air of a real festival chock full of delights for guitar enthusiasts as well as for music lovers in general, for which artistic director Armin Kelly deserves an up-front round of applause.

Recital by Pavel Steidl

Pavel SteidlPavel Steidl chose his Friday evening program with a particular instrument in mind: a reproduction of a nineteenth century Stauffer instrument made by Bernhard Kresse. In an interview, Kresse contrasted it to the modern guitar as “the difference between a limousine and a sports car with the same engine”. Indeed, Steidl took us on a brisk and thrilling road trip through music by Johann Kaspar Mertz, Niccolò Paganini, J.S. Bach, Fernando Sor and Zani de Ferranti, showing us how well the smaller, peppier instrument responded in the areas of color, speed, articulation and ornamentation.

Pavel Steidl is an animated performer who uses his hands, his feet and his facial expressions as well as the guitar to put the essence of the music across. The Mertz pieces featured colorful harmonies, toccata-like gestures, lyrical stretches and cheerful, humorous moments that Steidl played brilliantly and footnoted with his body motions. [Read more…]

A Conversation with Composer Margaret Brouwer

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by Daniel Hathaway

Margaret Brouwer’s Path at Sunrise, Masses of Flowers, was premiered by the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra under Robert L. Cronquist on Sunday, April 11 during its 75th anniversary concert at Severance Hall. The piece was made possible by a Commissioning Music USA award from Meet the Composer. Margaret Brouwer retired in 2008 from her position as professor of composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. We spoke with her by phone at her home in Cleveland.

Daniel Hathaway: I assume you’ve had a bit more time to compose since you retired from teaching.

Margaret Brouwer:  I have! It’s been wonderful and it’s lucky because I’ve had several big commissions and it’s been terrific to be able to just concentrate on that without trying to fit it in amongst many other things”.

DH: You just had a premiere in Dallas in January.

MB: I did — with the Dallas Symphony. It went beautifully. It really did. It was just a terrific experience. Got terrific reviews, and you know, there was actually a lot of press before the concert  and some radio coverage. And you know there’s a new music group there called Voices of Change — they’ve been around for a long time, probably 20, 35 years — they piggybacked on the Dallas Symphony bringing me down there and so the Dallas Symphony played the concert premiere on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then they scheduled a concert on Sunday where they did several of my chamber pieces.

DH: Fabulous. They should have given you the key to the city for the weekend.

MB: I know! It was terrific and they were wonderful. A lot of people in that group are members of the Dallas Symphony, so it’s a very high-level group, and they gave two wonderful performances of several chamber pieces in addition to the new concerto for viola and orchestra. It was hard to get back and just get to work again.
[Read more…]

‘Rumba Sinfónica’ comes to Severance for a CIM Benefit on Saturday: a chat with composer Ricardo Lorenz and Tiempo Libre’s music director Jorge Gomez

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Carl Topilow will conduct the CIM Orchestra and Miami timba band Tiempo Libre in Ricardo Lorenz’s ‘Rumba Sinfónica’ on Saturday, October 24 at 8:30 in Severance Hall as part of the CIM Women’s Committee’s annual benefit. Tiempo Libre plays a set of their own after intermission. We reached composer Ricardo Lorenz and pianist and Tiempo Libre music director Jorge Gomez by conference call to talk about the genesis of a work for symphony orchestra and Cuban band.

Daniel Hathaway: I wanted to talk a little bit about the performance next Saturday at Severance Hall. How did this project get started in the first place?

Ricardo GomezRicardo Lorenz (left): Well, it was a cosmic meeting in of all places, Bloomington, Indiana.

DH: At Indiana University?

Ricardo: Yes. I was teaching there for a couple of years and Jorge came to do master classes. What really caught my imagination is when I saw him doing rumba with music students. I had this idea running in my head, but it had to be put together with somebody like Jorge who brings together his classical background and his jazz and Cuban background.

[Read more…]

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