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The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with Vasily Petrenko   

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  by Mike Telin

“I’ve been looking forward to this visit to Cleveland for quite a while,” an enthusiastic Vasily Petrenko said during a recent conversation. “I had a visit planned but it couldn’t happen because of COVID. So I am excited to see the Orchestra — it’s one of my favorites in the world.”

Tonight, Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Petrenko will return to the Cleveland Orchestra podium to lead Elgar’s Cockaigne (“In London Town”), Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Behzod Abduraimov as soloist, and Walton’s Symphony No. 1. The program will be repeated on Friday at 11:00 am and on Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Petrenko, who made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom in 2017 and returned the following summer, currently serves as music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and associate conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.

I caught up with him via Zoom at his home in London — he had just returned from leading  concerts in Germany with Radio Symphony Berlin and the SWR (The Southwest German Radio Orchestra). I began by reminding him that the last time we spoke he was in Wyoming at the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: Rachmaninoff & Adams (Aug. 13)

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by Peter Feher

The August 13 program at Blossom Music Center was a grand finale in all but name. The Cleveland Orchestra played the last classical concert of its summer season there (the group would save a couple of preview performances for Severance later in the month, ahead of setting out on its 2022 European tour), and the repertoire was exceptional and expansive to match the occasion.

Now, both pieces on Saturday might be called one thing, but they really sound like another. “Symphony” is a title that would fit Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as John Adams’ modern masterpiece for orchestra, Harmonielehre. [Read more…]

Giancarlo Guerrero’s return to Cleveland is “like coming home”

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by Mike Telin

“For me, coming back to Cleveland is like coming home,” conductor Giancarlo Guerrero said during a Zoom conversation from Nashville where he has served as music director of the Nashville Symphony since 2009. “The Cleveland Orchestra was my family for almost ten years and this concert is the project this year that I am looking forward to the most because of my history with this orchestra — I am beyond excited to see everyone.”

On Saturday August 13 at 7:00 pm Guerrero will return to Blossom Music Center to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program that features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Daniil Trifonov, and John Adams’ Harmonielehre. (Note update: Lukáš Vondráček will make his Orchestra debut, stepping in for Daniil Trifonov after an acute arm injury.) Purchase tickets here. [Read more…]

Conductor Ruth Reinhardt to make Blossom debut 

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by Mike Telin

What led Ruth Reinhardt to conducting? “It was by accident,” Reinhardt said during a recent telephone conversation from Switzerland.  “The conductor of my youth orchestra asked if one of us wanted to conduct. I was packing up and I just raised my hand — I don’t know why — I thought it might come in handy at some point.”

Indeed, conducting has come in handy for her. On Saturday, July 30 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Reinhardt will return to the Cleveland Orchestra podium to lead a program featuring Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with soloist Alexi Kenney replacing Sergey Khachatryan, who has withdrawn due to visa complications, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 5. Click here for tickets and more information. [Read more…]

Pianist Aaron Diehl returns to Blossom for the genre-crossing Zodiac Suite

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by Stephanie Manning

Take a look at pianist Aaron Diehl’s upcoming concerts and you’ll see a little bit of everything. There’s “Jazz in July” at New York’s 92nd Street Y, “Bach to Bebop” with his Trio in Irvine, CA, and Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — all in the span of a few months. Much of Diehl’s work lies at the intersection of jazz and classical, and so does Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite, which he’ll be performing this weekend with The Cleveland Orchestra.

It was on the Blossom Music Center stage where the Columbus, Ohio native made his debut with the Orchestra back in 2017. “I remember how sensitive they were to the music and how the sections within the orchestra were so together, and so expressive and nuanced,” he reflected in a 2019 interview with ClevelandClassical.com. “It was like playing with a chamber music group.”

For his third appearance at Blossom, Diehl will be joined by bassist David Wong, drummer Aaron Kimmel, and soprano Mikaela Bennett on Saturday, July 16 at 7:00 pm. Led by conductor Jader Bignamini, the Orchestra will also perform two works by Ottorino Resphigi: Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome. Tickets are available here.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra — “Breaking Convention: Program I” & “Honoring Black Composers” (May 27)

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by Peter Feher

The Cleveland Orchestra worked overtime last weekend, making every note count. The season at Severance Music Center came to a close with final performances of Verdi’s Otello, plus two additional programs that showed just how much repertoire the players can master. These special, one-off concerts, presented under the banner “Breaking Convention,” fit the experimental model the ensemble has established in recent years, trying out tricky music in unconventional formats around the schedule of an opera.

The singers had the night off, but the full orchestra was onstage May 27, at ease with compositions calculated to unsettle. Music director Franz Welser-Möst led a trio of contemporary symphonic works where challenges abound for performers and listeners alike. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: Verdi’s Otello (May 21)

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by Peter Feher

Franz Welser-Möst led the final bows on Saturday night at Severance, like the star of any show should. The Cleveland Orchestra’s music director is in his element presiding over the ensemble’s annual opera production, which this season packs the drama. Verdi’s Otello — in a concert staging that opened May 21 and runs for two more performances (May 26 and 29) — demands big voices, instrumental forces to match, and a conductor who can give it all shape and direction. [Read more…]

Michael Tilson Thomas and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance (Apr. 28)

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by Peter Feher

Many conductors are happy to travel from orchestra to orchestra with the same set of pieces. Not Michael Tilson Thomas, who brought a unique but instantly recognizable program to Severance Music Center over the weekend.

A visit from the San Francisco Symphony’s music director laureate usually means interesting repertoire, stylish interpretations, and the prospect that he’ll return next season.

If that workload and those artistic commitments would be exceptional from anyone else on the podium, this year they have to count as remarkable for Tilson Thomas, too. The conductor announced his semi-retirement two months ago, going public with the details of a brain-cancer diagnosis but promising to keep making music all the same. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra:
Ax plays Chopin (Apr. 7) 

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by Peter Feher 

The Cleveland Orchestra could have partnered with the Cleveland Museum of Art for last weekend’s concerts. The give-and-take between composers and visual artists — and the historical movements that emerged in the process — inspired the program on Thursday, April 7 at Severance Music Center.

Actually, some of the Orchestra’s players — along with the week’s soloist, pianist Emanuel Ax — did end up at the museum the following evening, for a benefit concert in support of Ukraine. But before their night off, the performers put the relationship between music and art on dazzling display for the audience at Severance. Alan Gilbert conducted four works that ranged from the 19th century to the 21st and that showed what’s changed in the culture since. [Read more…]

Conductor Kahchun Wong makes Cleveland Orchestra debut this week

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by Mike Telin

When visa issues prevented conductor François-Xavier Roth from leading this week’s Cleveland Orchestra concerts, the door opened for Kahchun Wong.

On Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 pm, the Singaporean conductor will make his Severance Music Center debut with a concert featuring Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff, and Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. The program will be repeated on Friday at 11:00 am and Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

What were his first thoughts when he got the call telling him that he was needed in Cleveland? “Honestly, I didn’t have time to be nervous. All I could think about were all of the logistical matters,” the 35-year-old said during a recent telephone conversation.

With one residence in Japan — he is the principal guest conductor of the Japan Philharmonic — and another residence in Germany — he is the chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra — his first task was to locate his scores. “It wasn’t until I was on the flight that I thought, oh my, I’m going to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra.” [Read more…]

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