David Lewis Archives - Cleveland Classical

Review: CMA VIVA! & Gala — Paris Combo (April 19)

April 23, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

The sounds of the streets of Paris filled Gartner Auditorium on Friday, April 19 when Paris Combo kicked off their 12-city US tour with a fun, musically intelligent and entertaining concert as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s VIVA! & Gala series.

The group’s engaging style, described as “a unique mélange of colorful cabaret, elegant jazz, multicultural world music and sassy alterna-pop,” was in evidence from the opening Ce que j’amie, c’est le debut (what I like is the beginning). From the first to the final song during the 70-minute set, vocalist Belle du Berry’s sultry tone combined with all the right facial expressions rendered the printed English translations nearly pointless. Du Berry’s colleagues, David Lewis, trumpet and piano, François Jeannin, drums and backup vocals, Potzi, guitar, and Emmanuel Chabbey, bass, expertly created colorful lines that were far more than accompaniment but truly part of each song’s musical fabric. [Read more…]

Preview: CMA Viva! & Gala: Paris Combo — a conversation with David Lewis

April 17, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

The story of Paris Combo began in the early 1990s when vocalist Belle du Berry, guitarist Potzi and percussionist François Jeannin began performing together in Paris as members of a quirky retro revue. In 1994 Australian trumpeter and pianist David Lewis joined the group and the group honed their sound while playing in cafes and on barges along the Seine.

Since the release of their debut CD in 1997, Paris Combo has released three internationally acclaimed CD’s and toured extensively in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. Following a four year break, the group reunited in a rehearsal studio to compose new songs. After bassist Emmanuel Chabbey was added to the group’s lineup in 2011, Paris Combo returned to extensive touring and performing new material that would evolve into “5” their fifth CD. In conjunction with that release, on Friday, April 19, Paris Combo kicks off their 12-city US tour on the stage of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium as part of the museum’s VIVA! & Gala series.

We spoke to David Lewis by telephone from Paris. [Read more…]

CIM Opera: all smiles in L’Étoile (Nov. 17)

by Stephanie Manning

A black box theater might not be the first-choice location for an opera — but with a clever creative team, a smaller production can still get big results. Audiences at the Westfield Studio Theater on November 17 know this firsthand, as the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater’s scaled-down L’Étoile came wrapped in a bundle of laughs, topped with a ribbon of genuine heart.

It’s true that the Playhouse Square venue — the CIM company’s temporary home while their primary hall is under construction — wasn’t ideal. Interrupted sightlines, occasional volume disparities, and the lack of a proper curtain simply had to be par for the course. But artistic director JJ Hudson’s choice of a comedic opera, especially one that relies on spoken dialogue and physical comedy as heavily as this one by Emmanuel Chabrier, was the perfect decision. [Read on…]

Cuarteto Casals pays a thrilling revisit to Cleveland Chamber Music Society (Nov. 12)

by Daniel Hathaway

In 2022, the Barcelona-based Cuarteto Casals was forced by a medical emergency to interrupt their rhythm of every-other-year performances on the Cleveland Chamber Music Society series. Happily, they returned in fine fettle on November 12 at Disciples Church with a program of Mozart, Gubaidulina, and Brahms — and with a new violist.

Cristina Cordero replaced Jonathan Brown at the beginning of the current season, seamlessly joining violinists Abel Tomàs and Vera Martinez Mehner and cellist Arnau Tomàs in the ensemble that was founded at the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid in 1997.

Blindfolded, you could almost convince yourself that you were hearing three different string quartets during this sensitively-played program, so masterfully did the Cuarteto adapt its tone and approach to suit the three works on the agenda. [Read on…]

Oberlin Opera stages a Cendrillon of professional quality (Nov. 10)

by Daniel Hathaway

Any regional opera company would be popping its buttons with pride to have produced such an impressive performance of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillion (Cinderella) as Oberlin Opera did in Hall Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, November 10.

Imaginative staging by Stephanie Havey, skillful pacing by conductor James Feddeck, beautiful set design and costuming by Laura Carlson-Tarantowski and Chris Flaharty, respectively, plus dramatic and — for the fairies — enchanting lighting by Jeremy K. Benjamin provided a supportive environment for splendid singing by the cast and brilliant playing by the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra.

Literally thousands of versions of the Cinderella tale exist in cultures around the globe, but many of the details of Massenet’s opera date back to Charles Perrault’s 1697 Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre, which adds what have now become essential elements to the tale: a young girl mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, who temporarily attracts the attention of a handsome prince at a royal ball and is eventually reunited with him to become a princess herself. [Read on…]

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