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The Cleveland Orchestra serves up another treasure in fan-favorite Rhapsody in Blue (Nov. 29)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s an all-American extravaganza this holiday weekend at Severance Music Center. With Thanksgiving now in the books and December approaching fast, The Cleveland Orchestra has wasted no time gearing up its next few programs, many of them headlined by fan-favorites, to finish the calendar year on a high note.

On Friday, the marquee piece was George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, an orchestral staple — especially in 2024, which marks the work’s 100th anniversary. This isn’t the first time The Cleveland Orchestra has played it this year, as Béla Fleck performed his banjo-and-orchestra transcription at Blossom Music Center in July.

[Read more…]

David Robertson to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program of Americana

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by Mike Telin

While many performing organizations take time off during the Thanksgiving weekend, The Cleveland Orchestra will continue its tradition of playing concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon at Severance Music Center. “I think this is a wonderful program to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday,” guest conductor David Robertson said during a Zoom call.

On Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm, Robertson will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in an All-American program that includes Aaron Copland’s Suites from Appalachian Spring and The Tender Land. Pianist Marc-André Hamelin will be the featured soloist in George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Duke Ellington’s New World A-Comin’. A free concert preview with James O’Leary, Associate Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College and Conservatory, takes place in Reinberger Chamber Hall one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

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After the Cooper Competition: thoughts from Pyotr Akulov (age 16)

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by Mike Telin

History was made on August 4, when for the first time in the history of the Cooper Competition for Piano, the top prize was awarded to two participants. Pyotr Akulov and Sophia Shuya Liu were named co-champions following their concerto performances with David Robertson and The Cleveland Orchestra that Friday evening.

I reached Pyotr Akulov by Zoom outside of Düsseldorf, Germany.

Mike Telin: Good afternoon and thank you for taking the time to talk.

Pyotr Akulov: Thank you for your invitation.

MT: You’re in Germany right now — are you performing?

PA: No, I am just recovering from the competition, resting, and preparing to fly home to Moscow.MT: I’m glad you’re resting. You deserve it, which brings me to say congratulations, you played wonderfully.

PA: Thank you very much for your kind words.

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Cooper Piano Competition: Final Round with The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The winners with the Coopers and Oberlin Conservatory Dean William Quillen

Thanks to our not-so-friendly coronavirus, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition has been on hiatus for five years. It returned, fresh and energized, last week in Oberlin and Cleveland, fielding what many considered the most impressive group of young pianists in the history of the contest — which was inaugurated in 2010.

The week began with nineteen competitors who had made it to the semifinals in Oberlin. Three remained after the piano-with-piano concerto round on Wednesday and would go on to play concertos with David Robertson and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center on Friday evening.

Although the Friday event was a competition round, it could have stood alone as a memorable concert experience. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra partners with pianist Conrad Tao for a sublime, noteworthy performance of John Adams’ ‘Century Rolls’ (Aug 5)

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This article was originally published on Cleveland.com  

by Daniel Hathaway

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — If Conrad Tao and The Cleveland Orchestra were being paid by the note for their mind-boggling performance of John Adams’ “Century Rolls” at Blossom Music Center on Saturday evening, the Musical Arts Association might well have flirted with bankruptcy.

The centerpiece of a program that included Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Something for the Dark” and Jan Sibelius’s “First Symphony,” Adams’ 1997 work was inspired by the 20th-century technology that fueled player pianos and other musical devices, from street organs to mechanically bowed violins.

Slots punched onto long rolls of heavy paper fed through a playing mechanism, pneumatically activating levers that produced notes. While pianists have only ten digits at their disposal, you can punch as many slots into a paper roll as you have notes to play them, and superhuman feats become possible.

Not only possible but astonishing in such a live performance by human musicians as this one — perfectly coordinated by the cool-headed conductor David Robertson. [Read more…]

Cooper International Competition Invites 19 Pianists to Oberlin

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by Mike Telin

Next week the Cooper International Competition turns its attention to the piano for the first time since 2018. “It’s been five years, so it’s good to be back,” Oberlin Conservatory professor and Competition director Robert Shannon said during a recent telephone conversation.

This year, 19 pianists between the ages of 13 and 18 who have advanced through the preliminaries of submitted videos will participate in live rounds in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall from July 31 to August 2. Click here to view their biographies and repertoire lists.

The 19, who represent 7 countries and 4 U.S. states, are vying for the opportunity to play full concertos in a final round with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of David Robertson at Severance Music Center on Friday, August 4 at 7:30 pm — and the $20,000 first prize. Tickets are available online.

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CD Review: American Grace — Orli Shaham, piano

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by Daniel Hautzinger

american-graceOf all instrumentalists, pianists seem to commission and perform new works the least often. The repertoire for the piano is already so vast and worthy that many performers see no need to add to it. Why even play pieces from the past half-century, when there is so much great, neglected, earlier music?

Luckily, not all pianists think this way. Take Orli Shaham, whose album American Grace, released in February on Canary Classics, features attractive works written since 1975 by John Adams and Steven Mackey, as well as two world premiere recordings. One of those pieces, Steven Mackey’s concerto Stumble to Grace, was commissioned for Shaham by a consortium of orchestras as a result of her own initiative.

Stumble to Grace (2011), performed here with the responsive Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Shaham’s husband, David Robertson, is Mackey’s first major work for piano. [Read more…]

Link to Review: Piccolo Concerto Takes Soloist To Fetching Heights (May 1)

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Fink-&-RobertsonDaniel Hathaway’s review of Thursday’s Cleveland Orchestra concert is now posted on Classical Voice North America (the national website of the Music Critics Association). The concert will be repeated tonight (Saturday, May 3 at 8) and broadcast live on WCLV 104.9 FM (streamed at wclv.com). >>read the article

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