by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7, The Cleveland Orchestra continues its Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival with the first of four performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, and staged by Nikolaus Habjan. The production makes use of giant puppets (pictured, the Queen of the Night), and featured singers include Julian Prégardien (Tamino), Ludwig Mittelhammer (Papageno), and Christina Landshamer (Pamina)., 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. Tickets available online.

Visit our Concert Listings for details of these and other events.

NEWS  BRIEFS:

Obituary: “David Sanborn, influential saxophonist whose work spanned genres, dies at 78.” Read the L.A. Times article here.

Concertgebouw cancels Jerusalem Quartet Concerts. Due to planned demonstrations, the music hall said on Tuesday, two performances scheduled for this week by the Jerusalem Quartet, who were to have played music by Felix Mendelssohn, Claude Debussy and Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim, have been canceled. Read the story in the NL Times here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At Noon, Wit’s Folly features historical clarinetist Dominic Giardino in movements from works by Michel Yost, Ignacio Pleyel, and Wolfgang Amadé Mozart on the Tuesday Organ Plus Series at the Church of the Covenant.

And tonight at 7:30,  The Bowerbird Collective — cellist Anthony Albrecht & violinist Simone Slattery,  — present their program Where Song Began, “a cinematic concert celebrating songbirds” at Disciples Church.

Visit our Concert Listings for details of these and other events.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

On Monday, the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University announced the appointment of Annie Fullard (pictured above) as its new Chair of Chamber Music. Read the press release here.

Another feather in their cap: The Poiesis Quartet are among the winners of the 2024 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Read more here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

On Saturday at 2 at the Main Cleveland Public Library, Les Délices will perform music composed and published by Charles Ignatius Sancho, a man of letters, merchant, abolitionist, and theater lover who lived from 1729-1780, and made history as the first British man of African descent to vote in a general election.

Saturday evening at 7:30, the Akron Symphony will bring its 70th anniversary season to a close with Mozart’s “Great Mass in c minor.” Written to be performed at the composer’s wedding but never completed, its torso still makes for an impressive work that features magnificent writing for double chorus. Christopher Wilkins conducts at E.J. Thomas Hall.

And on Sunday at 2:30 in Warner Concert Hall, Oberlin Conservatory will celebrate piano professor Peter Takács’ 48 years on the faculty with a concert by alumni from his studio over the past six decades, culminating in the world premiere of Robert Spano’s Benediction for piano four hands, performed by Takács (pictured) and the composer. Click here for livestream. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12:15 Noon, in an outdoor concert that can scoff at rainy conditions, guest carillonneur David Osburn will play a concert celebrating Mother’s Day Weekend on the McGaffin Carillon in University Circle. Click here to view the complete program and watch the livestream.

Tonight’s program of short silent films at Transformer Station reflecting The Many Moods of Melodrama: Sentiment, Satire, Horror, and Noir with original scores performed by students from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music is sold out.

And at 7:30 in Finney Chapel, Raphael Jiménez conducts the Oberlin Orchestra in Shulamit Ran’s Violin Concerto with soloist Maya Irizarry Lambright, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s  Scheherazade. Click here to watch a livestream. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Oberlin Opera Theater will present two concerts of opera scenes in Oberlin’s Finney Chapel. The 4:30 performance will feature Act I from Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and the 7:30 program will include selections from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Verdi’s Don Carlo, and Copland’s The Tender Land, both available via livestream.

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that tickets are now on sale for the final dress rehearsal of director Nikolaus Habjan’s production of The Magic Flute on Monday, May 13. All tickets are general admission seats in the Mandel Concert Hall balcony and dress circle. As part of the evening, Habjan will talk about the giant puppets that appear in the opera (pictured above: the Queen of the Night). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 7 tonight at the Rocky River Public Library, Les Délices presents “Sounds of Sancho’s London,” featuring music composed and published by Charles Ignatius Sancho, a man of letters, merchant, abolitionist, and theater lover who lived from 1729-1780 & made history as the first British man of African descent to vote in a general election.

At 7:30 at Disciples Church, Cleveland Chamber Music Society welcomes pianist Garrick Ohlsson for a recital of music by Beethoven, Schubert, Thomas Misson & Chopin. Read a preview article here.

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Lang Lang International Music Foundation will donate the 50 Roland electronic pianos used last Friday for the “101 Pianists” concert at Cuyahoga Community College to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District as part of the Keys of Inspiration program to support music education within the community. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: 

SATURDAY: BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joins guitarist Jason Vieaux (pictured) in Vivaldi & Daniel Meyer leads Avner Dorman’s How to Love and Beethoven’s 7th (7:30, Church of the Covenant), Victor Liva leads the Cleveland Philharmonic in Mahler’s First & works by Chausson & Sarasate with violinist Odin Rathnam (7:30 in CSU’s Waetjen Auditorium), Oberlin Collegium sings Renaissance music under Steven Plank (7:30 in Fairchild Chapel), & pianist Lang Lang plays Saint-Saëns’ 2nd Concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra, plus Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique (8 pm at Severance, Franz Welser-Möst, conducting).

SUNDAY: North Coast Winds play Jazz (2 pm at Hudson Library), Tuesday Musical presents its final Scholarship round & winners’ concert (2:30 in Guzzetta Hall, U. of Akron), Oberlin College Choir & Musical Union led by Gregory Ristow sing Duruflé & Lorain County Bicentennial premieres of student compositions (2:30 in Finney Chapel), the Cleveland Philharmonic & Parma Symphony both perform at 3 (the former in Westlake, the latter in Parma Hts.), organist Davis Badaszewski plays early music (3 pm in Painesville), Frank Wiley leads Heights Chamber Orchestra with saxophonist Perry Roth (3:30 at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts.), the Verona & Cavani String Quartets come together for Andrew Rindfleisch’s octet Phantasmagoria (4 pm, St. Wendelin Church in Tremont), Oberlin remembers the Holocaust with a Yom HaShoah concert (4:30 in Warner Concert Hall) & the West Shore Chorale sings Haydn & Vivaldi (7:30 at Avon Lake PAC).

For details of these and other performances, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Cleveland Chamber Music Society has revealed details of its forthcoming 75th Anniversary Season in 2024-2025, which will include performances by Chanticleer, the Imani Winds with pianist Michelle Cann, Cuarteto Casals, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Jerusalem Quartet (pictured), who will play a complete Shostakovich cycle at the Cleveland Museum of Art from April 21-30. More details here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At noon, the Tri-C Classical Piano Series presents Lang Lang’s “101 Pianists” keyboard extravaganza at its Metro Campus.

This evening’s performances include the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra (7:30 in Finney Chapel), the Oberlin Collegium Musicum (7:30 in Fairchild Chapel), and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra with competition winner cellist Elena Ziegler (8 pm at Severance).

For details of these and other performances, visit our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1844, British impresario and composer Richard D’Oyly Carte was born in London. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Pianist Lang Lang joins Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra for Camille Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto, and the Orchestra adds another French classic: Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique (7:30 at Severance Music Center).

At the same hour, Timothy Weiss leads the Oberlin Sinfonietta in music by Stephen Hartke, and in world premieres of works by Wesley Horner (with faculty baritone Timothy LeFebvre), Graham Lazorchak, and Jesse Jones (Warner Concert Hall).

For details of these and other performances, visit our Concert Listings. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: At noon, organist Kingsley Price Wood plays Olivier Messiaen’s Mass for Pentecost (complete) at the Church of the Covenant. Hear it in person, or via livestream.

For details of these and other performances, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Tuesday Musical invites you to be in the audience when this year’s top scholarship winners compete again in the competition’s Final Round/Winners Concert on Sunday, May 5, 2:30 p.m. at The University of Akron’s Guzzetta Recital Hall, 157 University Ave. (across from EJ Thomas Hall).

Two additional adjudicated scholarships — one for $1,000 and one for $2,000 — will be awarded. The audience will also pick the winner of the John M. Ream Jr. DDS People’s Choice Award of $500. The May 5 concert and post-concert reception are free — no tickets or reservations needed. [Read more…]