by Daniel Hathaway

Welcome to the federal holiday established in 1968 by Congress that wrapped Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays into Presidents Day.

Today’s events:

Two broadcasts (Erik Charnofsky’s Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, and Les Délices’ SalonEra Circa 1500) visit Presidents Day, Andrés Segovia, and the music world at the beginning of the 16th century. And a University of Akron percussion concert can be heard in-person or on the web. Go to our Concert Listings page for details.

Interesting Read:

The scene in Beethoven’s opera Fidelio when political prisoners are briefly let out of their dungeon into the sunlight and fresh air is one of the most moving moments in opera. New York’s Heartbeat Opera has updated the story. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

In this entry:

Weekend events:

Catch these final performances: Mahler & Ravel at Severance with Stéphane Denève, soprano Fatma Said and The Cleveland Orchestra, The Wedding March and Sunrise  from the Cleveland Silent Film Festival with the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Handel’s Israel in Egypt from Apollo’s Fire, Six Micro Operas over two nights from BW and Cleveland Opera Theater, the re-emergence of Arts Renaissance Tremont with the Cavani Quartet and pianist Michelle Cann featuring music by Florence Price, plus Mexico City’s Cuarteto Latinoamericano (pictured) in Youngstown, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra with trumpeter Dasara Beta, Heights Chamber Orchestra, and jazz at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby. Details in our Concert Listings.

Interesting Reads:

Critic Mark Swed considers the career of timpanist, percussionist and composer William Kraft, who died last week at the age of 98.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

• Today’s events: the YSU flute studio, Duo Anime, Marginalized Composers at Oberlin, Classical Revolution Cleveland returns to the Happy Dog, CSU Composition Students, Buster Keaton Silent Film Classic Steamboat Bill, Jr. with Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and the world premiere of Matthew Recio’s new opera The Puppy Episode

• More about the Cooper Competition, and the premiere of a Holocaust opera eighty years later

• A new book about the life of a professional percussionist and businessman with sage career advice for young musicians

• The Almanac: more information about John Corigliano and Healey Willan. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: Happy Valentine’s Day, that feast day in the early Christian calendar that originally celebrated two martyrs, but through mysterious processes like the medieval tradition of courtly love, has transmogrified into a festival celebrating human love and passion — and has become a boon for the greeting card, chocolate, and flower industry. Eric Charnofsky promises some Valentine’s Day surprises on today’s Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music. Click here to listen to the WRUW internet feed.

Sweetest Day, a related celebration that casts a wider net and has probably become a boon for dentists, was established in 1922 in Cleveland. That’s when a dozen candy companies conspired “to make the day a little sweeter for some of the city’s most vulnerable people” by distributing some 20,000 boxes of candy “to newsboys, orphans, old folks, and the poor.” [Read more…]

by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

Bells at Noon: The McGaffin Carillon Concert & Live Stream features guest carillonneur Sheryl Modlin (pictured) in spirituals, hymns, and music by Black composers to mark Black History Month. Tonight’s agenda includes Opera at Kent (a Julia Child sendup and an Offenbach comedy), Symphonies at Severance (Herbert Blomstedt leads Beethoven’s Fifth and Nielsen’s Fourth), and a CD release party (McDaniel & Kirkwood’s new single, Patterns on Dufy) at the Bop Stops. Details in the Concert Listings.

IN THE NEWS: 

For Black History Month, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra will highlight some of the jazz artists who created music as a way to protest. Their latest newsletter tells you more about the artists and their songs. Access it on CJO’s Facebook page or view the newsletter here. [Read more…]

by Jarrett Hoffman

TODAY’S SCHEDULE:

At 7:30 pm at Severance, Herbert Blomstedt begins a three-day run leading The Cleveland Orchestra in a pair of symphonies: Carl Nielsen’s Fourth and Beethoven’s Fifth. Tickets are available here.

IN THE NEWS:

Brothers Lounge has announced that it will reopen on March 20, just over two years after the Detroit Avenue venue closed in mid-March of 2020. Read the story by Anne Nickoloff for Cleveland.com here.

CityMusic Cleveland has announced a Diversity Fellowship for the 2022-23 season. Violinists, violists, and cellists of African American, Latin American, and/or Native American descent are invited to apply by April 30. More information here.

The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus is looking for singers to attend its mid-season auditions on February 12. Find out more here.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S EVENTS:

The noon hour on Wednesday will feature Shaker Heights High School Chamber Orchestra on the Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Series (both in person and online), and Youngstown State faculty pianist Cicilia Yudha at the Butler Institute of Art. This evening, Cleveland Orchestra double bassist Scott Dixon joins pianist Alicja Basinska for a CIM Faculty Recital of music by J.S. Bach and Serge Koussevitzky (himself a bass player), including orchestral excerpts by Mozart, Beethoven, and Britten, and back to Youngstown, the Dana Ensemble will play fourteen selections from the mythical Great American Songbook arranged by Dave Morgan and featuring guest vocalist Evelyn Wright and trumpeter James Suggs. [Read more…]

by Jarrett Hoffman

HAPPENING TODAY:

At noon, head to the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland or go online to hear a free program by organist Christa Rakich, who will play selections from J.S. Bach’s Art of Fugue (program details here, streaming link here).

The hour of 7:30 pm brings two in-person options. One is in Elyria, where Duo Anime — percussionists Andrew Pongracz and Mell Csicsila, pictured — will be featured on the LCCC Signature Series at Cirigliano Studio Theatre in the Stocker Center for the Arts. It’s free, and you can survey the program here.

The other is in Akron, where violinist Joshua Bell and soprano Larisa Martinez will be joined by pianist Peter Dugan in “Voice and the Violin” on the Tuesday Musical series. Check out the program, read Mike Telin’s preview article, then shop for tickets.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY MOVES TO A DIFFERENT COLUMN:

Since we initiated the Diary near the beginning of the pandemic, this daily feature has become increasingly important as a repository for breaking news, concert updates, links to interesting articles on other classical music sites, anniversaries, and musings on topics of their choice by our writers, who alternate in curating its contents. Today, the Diary moves to the top of the main column of the Front Page, where it will be more immediately visible, and act as a headliner for the day. Click here if you’re interested in sponsoring a day’s worth — or a week’s worth of Diary posts. (Photo: George Crumb) [Read more…]