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Anthony McGill & Emanuel Ax on Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series (Feb. 5)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

The crackle in the air on February 4 was perhaps more or less routine for clarinetist Anthony McGill and for Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series, which always seems to bring out the best in performers. But still, his kind of artistry doesn’t come along every day. Add to it pianist Emanuel Ax’s exquisite contributions, and you had a real night to remember in Finney Chapel.

Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke Op. 73 (Fantasy Pieces) are heard with equal pleasure performed on clarinet (Schumann’s original) or cello. But McGill showed the advantages of his instrument with his branded suppleness, his crayon box full of sound colors, and a chameleon’s ability to be heard or veiled at will.

The duo emphasized the picturesque over the dramatic in these three miniatures — Schumann originally entitled them “Soirée Pieces.” [Read more…]

Old Friends, New Collaboration: Anthony McGill and Emanuel Ax bring recital tour to Oberlin

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by Stephanie Manning

Reposted with the permission of Oberlin Conservatory

Throughout his decades of playing chamber music, Emanuel Ax has kept his friends close. “ It’s wonderful to have people on stage that you like,” the pianist says. “I’m pretty gregarious as a person, so I like being with someone, especially old friends.”

Now in his 70s, the esteemed musician has performed with many of the same collaborators for decades, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinists Issac Stern and Leonidas Kavakos. But his next recital tour brings him together with someone new: clarinetist Anthony McGill.

The duo’s upcoming performances feature a program of wide-ranging music, and their travels include a stop at Finney Chapel. That concert, on February 4 at 7:30 pm, will be presented as part of Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra delivers a stirring night of Shostakovich, Mozart and Chopin with Heras-Casado and Ax (Dec. 5)

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by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s fitting that conductor Pablo Heras-Casado should be leading The Cleveland Orchestra this week in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 — the work of a mid-career composer who was looking to make a major statement.

A decade ago, Heras-Casado was regularly touted as a possible candidate for a music directorship at a top U.S. orchestra. Although some of the heat has died down since — the 47-year-old Spaniard is currently between posts and sticking to guest-conducting gigs — he started to get the furnace roaring again at Severance Music Center on Thursday, Dec. 5.

[Read more…]

Power of three: Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos deliver wonderful interpretation of Beethoven works at Severance Music Center (Feb.1)

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By Peter Feher

Originally published in Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Most performances of Beethoven’s symphonies at Severance Music Center have the full force of The Cleveland Orchestra behind them.

But last night, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma proved that consummate musicianship can power these compositions at any size. The trio played for a sold-out crowd in Mandel Concert Hall on Feb. 1, and between the choice of repertoire and the larger-than-life artistry, it was a chamber recital of symphonic scope.

“Think of us as the Euclid Avenue Philharmonic,” Ax quipped in his introductory remarks from the stage.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Thursday, June 8, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: Piano Cleveland Live outdoor pop-up concert, Re:Sound Festival kicks off, and Apollo’s Fire presents “Fiddlers of Dublin”

•Announcements: spots available for the Girls Electronic Arts Retreat and the Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Camp, CIM alumni join Cleveland Orchestra, and honors for the YSU Wind Ensemble

•Almanac: Albinoni & Ax

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 5:30 pm, a free Piano Cleveland Live outdoor pop-up concert will take place at Crocker Park. Performers include pianists Allison Hillier, Jonathan Hooper, Chengzi Li, Nikolay Pushkarev, and David Thomas joined by violinist Maude Cloutier, bassist Bill Nichols, and vocalist Evelyn Wright.

At 7, the Re:Sound New and Experimental Music Festival kicks off at the Bop Stop. The double bill includes two duos: Leo Chang + Alex Zhang Hungtai, and Persephone & the Phoenix. Read about the artists here, and get tickets here.

And at 7:30 at Avon Lake United Church of Christ, Apollo’s Fire presents a new version of its program “The Fiddlers of Dublin,” created and directed by Jeannette Sorrell. Performances continue at other venues June 9-13. Tickets are available here.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra:
Blomstedt & Ax (Feb. 16)

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by Peter Feher

There are few music directors who know Beethoven better than Herbert Blomstedt. Now 95 years old, the Swedish-American conductor has a lifetime of serious study and performing experience to draw on, but this isn’t to say his interpretations are set in stone.

The mix of curiosity and thoroughness that’s sustained Blomstedt throughout his career was just as apparent in his program with The Cleveland Orchestra on February 16. If he’s slowed down somewhat since his last appearance here — the biggest change is that he now conducts seated at the podium — there was nonetheless a sense of coming full circle as he led Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra:
Ax plays Chopin (Apr. 7) 

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by Peter Feher 

The Cleveland Orchestra could have partnered with the Cleveland Museum of Art for last weekend’s concerts. The give-and-take between composers and visual artists — and the historical movements that emerged in the process — inspired the program on Thursday, April 7 at Severance Music Center.

Actually, some of the Orchestra’s players — along with the week’s soloist, pianist Emanuel Ax — did end up at the museum the following evening, for a benefit concert in support of Ukraine. But before their night off, the performers put the relationship between music and art on dazzling display for the audience at Severance. Alan Gilbert conducted four works that ranged from the 19th century to the 21st and that showed what’s changed in the culture since. [Read more…]

Emanuel Ax to open in-person Tuesday Musical Series March 25

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by Daniel Hathaway

Thanks to COVID-19, the earth has cycled through four seasons since pianist Emanuel Ax has played a solo recital. He’s looking forward to making up for that with an all-Chopin program on the Tuesday Musical Series at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron on Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 pm.

This time around, the annual Margaret Baxtresser Concert will mark the Association’s first in-person event since the pandemic began, and the management has made sure that all performers have had their vaccinations, and that distancing protocols are respected in the seating plan.

Ax has chosen works from Chopin’s later years: the Two Nocturnes, Op. 55, the Polonaise Fantasie, Op. 61, the Three Mazurkas of Op. 56, the Barcarolle, Op. 60, the Nocturne in E, Op. 62, No. 2, and Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54.

I reached “Manny” Ax by telephone at his getaway in the Berkshires to chat about his program, which I found a bit unusual. Lots of pianists program Chopin, but you don’t often see a complete recital dedicated to his works.

“I’ve never done it, but it’s been done,” he said. “This program is meant to feature incredible masterpieces from Chopin’s later years. I learned some of it that I’d never played before during quarantine and I’m excited about trying out the program. Of course, I’m going to be very nervous because I haven’t done a recital for a year. I hope people will forgive me for things, because it’s going to be difficult in that sense.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra “In Focus” 3: Ax plays Haydn, FWM leads Bartók

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by Daniel Hathaway

Full-length symphony orchestra concerts normally feature three works and run nearly two hours including intermission. The pandemic, which has changed so many things, has truncated programs, both to shorten possible exposure time and to avoid the social mixing of a mid-concert interval.

Thus the third “In Focus” performance by The Cleveland Orchestra that debuted on the Adella platform on November 12 lasts only 54 minutes from stem to stern, including a conversation between Emanuel Ax and Orchestra cellist Martha Baldwin, and features only two highly contrasting works led by music director Franz Welser-Möst. The performances continue to be available on the Adella platform until March.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra:
Episode 3 of “In Focus”

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by Mike Telin

“We have Severance Hall and we have Blossom Music Center, and Adella feels like our third home — a digital home for the 21st century,” Cleveland Orchestra chief brand officer Ross Binnie said during a recent telephone conversation.

On Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 pm, The Cleveland Orchestra will present “In Focus: Episode 3.” Recorded at Severance on the 22nd and 23rd of October under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, the program features Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D with Emanuel Ax as soloist, and Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings. Click here to access the Orchestra’s Adella streaming platform (available on demand following the premiere), and here to purchase Adella premium.

Although behind-the-scenes discussions had centered around the creation of digital concerts for some time, Binnie noted that “like our ‘On a Personal Note’ podcasts, creating ‘In Focus’ was accelerated because of the pandemic.”

While acknowledging that they are not the only orchestra to offer their own digital platform, Binnie does see Cleveland’s as being a little different from the others. “We’re all trying to tell our stories, but I think ours is more focused on our music-making than our history, although there is a part of the site that’s devoted to archives.”

Ultimately, when audiences cannot attend in-person performances, Adella provides a way for the Orchestra to stay in touch with their donors, subscribers, and single-ticket buyers. “We typically play to 400,000 people in a year, and Adella helps us transport our story across the world. It helps us keep in touch: it’s great for our audiences in Miami, it’s great for our audiences in Europe and Asia — they can see what we’re doing the rest of the year, which I think is a tremendous asset.” [Read more…]

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