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Summers@Severance: Osmo Vänskä leads The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 16)

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by David Kulma

As classical concerts have become more reverential in the past century or so, the seasoned concertgoer has been trained to applaud only at the end of a multi-movement work, usually accompanied by a hearty standing ovation and hollers of “Bravo!” Based on the applause that followed each movement of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony on the Cleveland Orchestra’s intermissionless program with guest conductor Osmo Vänskä on Friday, August 16, the Summers@Severance series is definitely bringing new listeners in to hear The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom with Jung-Min Amy Lee (Aug. 10)

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by David Kulma

The Cleveland Orchestra is joined by dozens of international soloists each year, but it’s always a wonderful experience to hear a member of the Orchestra step forward into the spotlight. On Saturday, August 10 at Blossom Music Center with guest conductor Asher Fisch, associate concertmaster Jung-Min Amy Lee showed off her amazing skill and musicality in Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto in a program that also included works by Liszt and Brahms. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom with Parameswaran & Cano (Aug. 17)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Literal and metaphorical miles from the cool luxury of the concert hall, outdoor concerts can imply a looseness that extends beyond attire, seating options, and environmental sound. With crickets singing and picnic blankets unrolling, it seems only natural that musicians might relax as well, either in repertoire or level of performance. Not so for The Cleveland Orchestra, who were spot-on as ever in a recent Blossom program that avoided fizz and fanfare in favor of sober, engrossing American classics. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom: a conversation with Barrick Stees and Frank Rosenwein

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by Rory O’Donoghue

“We don’t discuss much when we’re playing in orchestra,” Cleveland Orchestra principal oboe Frank Rosenwein said in an interview this week. “It’s funny, there’s opportunity to point something out if anything is amiss — you can say, ‘Oh, can we go over this or that’ — but essentially, it’s a silent collaboration. In chamber music, however, we have the luxury of getting together and discussing things, and teasing out people’s individual personalities and musical concepts.”

Rosenwein will showcase the fruits of that process this week as part of the Kent Blossom Music Festival Faculty Concert Series. He’ll join his fellow Cleveland Orchestra members, assistant principal bassoon Barrick Stees and principal clarinet Afendi Yusuf, for an evening of woodwind repertoire this Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30 pm in Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall.

The evening will begin with Shapes for Bassoon and Piano, a new work by assistant principal oboe Jeffrey Rathbun. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom celebrates 51st season

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by Rory O’Donoghue

The Kent Blossom Music Festival returns this weekend, marking the 51st season of Kent State University’s collaboration with The Cleveland Orchestra. From June 30 to August 4, the Festival boasts a five-concert Faculty Series and a ten-concert Young Artist Series, including its annual side-by-side performance between students and The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. 

“Our faculty concert series will feature fantastic artists from The Cleveland Orchestra, Kent State’s revered faculty, the Miami String Quartet, pianist Spencer Myer and other guest artists,” Festival director Ricardo Sepúlveda said in his letter introducing this year’s season. For these musicians, their tenure at Kent Blossom is more than just performance based — they’ll be working closely with the 43 visiting students accepted this year.  [Read more…]

Music from The Western Reserve enters a new era under Bognár

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by Mike Telin

For 36 seasons, Music from The Western Reserve has presented chamber music concerts of a variety of genres performed by Northeast Ohio’s brightest talent. The organization is now entering a new era as it embarks on season number 37 with a new general manager, and a new lineup of performances.

After Elisabeth Hugh made the decision to retire following over a decade of leadership, Music from The Western Reserve and its board of directors recently announced that Zsolt Bognár, pianist and host of the award-winning film series Living the Classical Life, would succeed Hugh as Artistic Director and General Manager.

In a press release, Chair of the search committee Linda McDonald said that “Zsolt brings energy and passion to his work. We interviewed so many talented people for the position, but Zsolt’s skills and experience were the best fit as the organization moves to its next stage.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra with Denève & Thibaudet (Apr. 27)

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by Daniel Hathaway

If their recent three-week Asian tour left The Cleveland Orchestra with any residual fatigue or jet lag, the musicians ignored all that in last weekend’s concerts with French guest conductor Stéphane Denève. Building on the theme of ecstasy, he set a demanding program of works by Jennifer Higdon, James MacMillan, Debussy, and Scriabin in front of the players, and they rose to the occasion brilliantly. [Read more…]

Herbert Blomstedt leads two symphonies at Severance (Feb. 20)

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by Daniel Hathaway

A favorite phrase musicians use to trim conductors down to size is to remind them that “the stick makes no sound.” Neither do the bare hands for that matter, but on Thursday, February 20 at Severance Hall, veteran conductor Herbert Blomstedt expertly shaped symphonies by Beethoven and Mendelssohn using minimal but meaningful gestures that provided Cleveland Orchestra musicians with clear architectural plans, but left them plenty of room to work their magic. [Read more…]

Opera at Severance Hall: Ariadne auf Naxos (Jan. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

“In first impressions,” writes David Wright in his Severance Hall program book notes, Ariadne auf Naxos “can feel like little more than impassioned music filled with an ever-flowing river of non-sequiturs.” But on Sunday afternoon, Richard Strauss’ fervent score — superbly sung and played by a top-notch cast and The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst — paved over the gap between high art and comedy, making the opening performance of Ariadne an event to remember for a long time. [Read more…]

CityMusic Cleveland with Willich & Rosenwein (Dec. 13)

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by David Kulma

The peripatetic CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra resumed its roving this past week from Wednesday, December 12 through Sunday, December 16 in a sprightly program led by principal guest conductor Stefan Willich with Cleveland Orchestra principal oboe Frank Rosenwein as soloist. I caught the second evening on Thursday, December 13 at Temple Tifereth-Israel in Beachwood. [Read more…]

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