David Malek Archives - Cleveland Classical

Preview: El Sistema students to play at Severance Hall on January 20

January 14, 2014 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

The young string players of El Sistema @ Rainey and El Sistema University Circle will be featured during the Martin Luther King Day open house at Severance Hall on Monday, January 20 in a one-hour performance beginning at 3:00 pm.

Two of Cleveland’s El Sistema programs were launched by Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein, who established her first program at the Rainey Institute in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood three years ago after studying El Sistema principles in Boston and Venezuela during a sabbatical from the orchestra. She established the University Circle program last fall.

Trautwein invited ClevelandClassical to follow El Sistema University Circle. We observed six sessions including rehearsals and private lessons on Friday afternoons between October and mid-November, with a follow-up visit on January 9.

What is this phenomenon called El Sistema? It seems to have taken musical education around the globe by storm and has led to the creation of organizations like The National Alliance of El Sistema-Inspired Programs in the United States— many of which have connections to music schools and symphony orchestras. [Read more…]

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

By Stephanie Manning | Cleveland Classical

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…]

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 thanks to the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater’s scaled-down L’Étoile, which came wrapped in a bundle of laughs and 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…]

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