by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Five weekend events to recommend

. Cleveland Orchestra praised in NY Times review by Joshua Barone

. Almanac: Eva Jessye, Tallis and Byrd, Dowland, first national radio opera broadcast, Erich Leinsdorf, Victor Borge, Henri Dutilleux, Petr Eben, Marc Blitzstein, Apple’s Macintosh computer, John Donne

THIS WEEKEND’S EVENTS:

Only five events to call out, but a diverse group to choose from.

Never mind the weather — Friday’s event is performed al fresco, but the audience can enjoy the McGaffin Carillon (pictured) outdoors while walking through University Circle, or via live stream beginning at 12:15 Noon. This week, UC Carillonneur George Leggiero will draw Baroque music from the bells.

On Saturday evening, Joan Ellison channels Judy Garland in her appearance with Cleveland Pops Orchestra, who will play original orchestrations of her famous tunes.

Sunday afternoon’s choices include the Akron Youth Orchestras at Tallmadge High School, saxophonist Perry Roth and pianist Hana Chu at the Church of the Western Reserve, and in the evening, Gerhardt Zimmermann will host pianist Sheng Cai for Saint Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5, and lead the Canton Symphony in a world premiere by Quinn Mason and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. MLK Weekend events (pictured: Dr. King in Cleveland, July 29, 1967, Cleveland Press photo by Van Dillard)

. ​​Innovators: Did Denner invent the clarinet? Köchel did create a catalog of Mozart’s works, Schenker originated the Urlinie, and Schindler concocted quite a few facts about Beethoven

. Timeline dates to recognize: birthdays of McGegan & Horne, demises of Skinner, Toscanini, and Leonhardt

THIS WEEKEND’S EVENTS:

Today at 7:00 pm organist Nicholas Schmelter (First Presbyterian Church, Caro, MI) will play music by Georgi Mushel, Marcel Dupré, Georg Böhm, J.S. Bach, Louis Vierne, John Cook, and M. Searle Wright at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, Cleveland. Freewill offering.

At 7:30 pm Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in music by Berg and Schubert. Soloists include Joélle Harvey, soprano, Daryl Freedman, mezzo-soprano Julian Prégardien and Martin Mitterrutzner, tenor, and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone. The program is repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm. Severance Music Center. Tickets available online. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Oltman obituary link

. NEA award for ENCORE Chamber Music Institute, TÁR to be screened in Canton, already critiqued by Marin Alsop

. Historic dates to remember: death of John Field (the other composer of Nocturnes), debut of Brahms’ Clarinet Sonata, birth of Duruflé, and the debuts of Copland’s Organ Symphony, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and John Adams’ El Niño.

OLTMAN OBITUARY

Baldwin Wallace Conservatory has issued a link to the obituary for Dwight Oltman.

HAPPENING TODAY:

No concerts are scheduled today.

NEWS BRIEFS:

ENCORE Chamber Music Institute has received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts for its 2023 Music & Ideas Festival, “Creatures of Emotion”! [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

LOOKING AHEAD IN JANUARY

Until administrators in Imperial Rome began fiddling with the calendar, the year very sensibly began in March with the reblooming of nature, rather than in January when “dogs are sticking to the sidewalks” and it can seem like the beginning of a new Ice Age, as in Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of our Teeth. But the Northeast Ohio concert calendar is already bustling with activity. Here’s a rundown for the next four weeks.

Apollo’s Fire and The Cleveland Orchestra are back in business early following the holidays, the former with two Baroque Bistros that promise to “Drive the Cold Winter Away (January 7 and 8), the latter with a guest appearance by conductor Alan Gilbert and the premiere by Paul Yancich of a new timpani concerto by James Oliverio and Nielsen’s somewhat obscure Sinfonia espansiva (second and last performance Jan. 7). Franz Welser-Möst returns to Severance Music Center with the Orchestra and Chorus for Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, flanked by Schubert’s 8th Symphony and Berg’s Lyric Suite (Jan. 12, 13 & 14).

Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony are back early in the month as well on Jan. 14 for Julia Perry’s Pastoral, Xavier Foley’s Double Concerto “For Justice and Peace,” featuring bassist and composer Foley with violinist Eunice Kim (Foley also solos in Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No. 2).

Peter Lawson Jones will emcee the annual Martin Luther King Birthday concert on Jan. 15 at Severance Music Center, with The Cleveland Orchestra and Celebration Chorus performing music by Black composers Florence Price and William L. Dawson, and an afternoon Music Settlement concert at the Bop Stop will celebrate King’s mission through music and the written word. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Oltmans passes at 83

. Two NYT clippings of interest

. A Rebel invokes chaos

R.I.P. DWIGHT OLTMAN

We resume the Diary today with the sad news that conductor Dwight Oltman (pictured) passed away on December 31 at the age of 83 at his home in Waynesville, North Carolina, where he retired in 2014 and later co-founded the Smoky Mountain International Conducting Institute and Competition in 2017. His more than 40-year-long career on the podium at Baldwin Wallace, especially for the BW Bach Festival, combined with his musical leadership of Cleveland Ballet and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra have earned him an honored place in the Musical Pantheon of Northeast Ohio.

We will publish an obituary on Wednesday in this Diary, and invite his many former students and colleagues to offer tributes in his honor to be archived on a special page in this website. Please email them here. [Read more…]

The Diary will return on Monday, January 2, 2023.