by Daniel Hathaway
Just back from its triumphant European tour, The Cleveland Orchestra joined two old friends — guest conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and pianist Emanuel Ax — for resplendent performances of Elgar and Beethoven at Severance Hall on Sunday afternoon, November 5. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
“It’s an incredible thrill to be able to play with Vladimir Ashkenazy. When I was a young student, he was one of the two or three greatest pianists in the world. I went to hear him all the time and was awed by everything that he did,” pianist Emanuel Ax said during a recent telephone conversation. “I continue to be awed, but he is such a nice man that you feel like you can talk to him normally, and that is very nice. He has always been one of my idols, so it is going to be very special to be onstage with him. He also has a long relationship with the Orchestra, which makes this very exciting.”
On Friday, November 3 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Emanuel Ax will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy. The program, which also includes Elgar’s Serenade and the Enigma Variations, will be repeated on Saturday the 4th at 8:00 pm and Sunday the 5th at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]
Cleveland, October 25 — The Cleveland Orchestra announced today that Mikko Franck will step in for music director and conductor laureate Christoph von Dohnányi for its concerts on December 7, 8, and 9. Dohnányi has been advised by his physician not to travel. The programs remain as previously announced: Julian Anderson’s Incantesimi, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 (”Paradis”) with Richard Goode, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1
by Daniel Hathaway
Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is the perfect candidate for a 75-minute, straight-through concert. Bursting at the seams with musical content of astonishing variety and emotional range, it bombards the listener with almost as much sonic stimulation as a human ear and brain can process in one sitting. Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra put the work across with total conviction and arresting effect on Thursday evening, October 5 in Severance Hall, a few days before departing on a European tour. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced details of its Centennial Season tour schedule, marking the ensemble’s 17th and 18th international tours to be led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. Twenty concerts spanning seven weeks will include an October trip to Europe, two concerts at Carnegie Hall in January, and season-capping appearances in Vienna and Tokyo during May and June. Complete details of the tour can be found below.
“Touring is important for The Cleveland Orchestra,” said Welser-Möst in a press release. “It requires an enormous amount of flexibility to find ‘our sound’ playing in different acoustics. We refine this sound every day in our home, Severance Hall, and bring this to audiences outside of Cleveland.”
The music director praised the strong will that exists in the community. “With the history of Cleveland, ups and downs economically, there has been an enormous determination in this community to maintain and enhance a world-class orchestra. Going around and showing that to the world is gratifying. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
What a week at Severance Hall! On Tuesday, September 26, The Cleveland Orchestra’s revival of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen received its third and final performance, and two days later, Franz Welser-Möst returned to the podium to lead the Orchestra in a spellbinding performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. [Read more…]
by Levi Hammer
Special to ClevelandClassical.com
“Why, oh why, oh why, oh — why did I ever leave Ohio?” So goes Bernstein’s Broadway hit. In moments of discouragement in Berlin over the last year, my thoughts drifted to that tune. This summer brought me back to Ohio for my third season at Cincinnati Opera, where I worked on the Barrie Kosky production of The Magic Flute on loan from the Komische Oper Berlin. Spending a summer in my beloved Ohio has given me cause to reflect on my time there.
I first traveled to Ohio assisting Benjamin Zander when he was conducting Mahler’s Ninth Symphony with the Akron Symphony. I had never heard of this orchestra, let alone of the city of Akron, and I was unaware of the musical riches of Northeast Ohio, extending back to industrialization, and the two world-class orchestras in the region (The Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony). [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The Cleveland Orchestra begins its landmark 100th season this week with a revival of Yuval Sharon’s critically acclaimed, made-for-Cleveland production of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Franz Welser-Möst leads the Orchestra and a cast that will include Martina Janková (Vixen), Alan Held (Forrester), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Fox), Andrew Foster-Williams (Harašta), Daryl Freedman (Lapák the Dog), Dashon Burton (Parson/Badger), and David Cangelosi (Schoolmaster/Mosquito).
Performances will take place on Saturday, September 23 at 8:00 pm, Sunday the 24th at 3:00 pm, and Tuesday the 26th at 7:30 pm. Tickets available online. Writing for Classical Voice North America, Daniel Hathaway said that the digitally enhanced production was “beguiling in concept and brilliant in execution.” [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Members of The Cleveland Orchestra will join Credo Music, as well as students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory for “Help After Harvey: an American Red Cross Benefit Concert” on Friday, September 8 at 7:00 pm in Severance Hall. Former Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Conductor and Oberlin graduate James Feddeck will conduct.
All seats are $20 ($10 for students), and all proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross for disaster relief services related to Hurricane Harvey. Reserve seats online or call the Severance Hall Box Office at 216.231.1111.
Executive Director Henry Peyrebrune said that the idea of a benefit concert originated in a Credo staff meeting a week ago. “We thought we should do something for the people of Houston. What if we organized a concert?” [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Anyone who’s still roasting that old canard about the elitism of classical music should have witnessed the scene at Blossom on Saturday evening, August 26. The immense crowd that gathered on the lawn and in the pavilion had turned out to hear The Cleveland Orchestra doing what it does best — playing great works in the orchestral repertoire with depth and brilliance, on this occasion under the Romanian-born guest conductor Cristian Măcelaru and with the German-Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich. [Read more…]