Hannah Kulawiak Archives - Cleveland Classical

Ring in the New Year
with Cleveland Pops

December 17, 2019 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

For the past 23 years, one of the best New Year’s Eve parties in Cleveland, if not the best, has been hosted by Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. That tradition will continue on Tuesday, December 31 at 9:00 pm at Severance Hall when Topilow and his Orchestra ring in 2020 with music from the past 100 years — 1920 to 2020.

Come in costume and enjoy a Roaring Twenties party after the concert. There will be dancing to The No Name Band and the Pops Jazz ensemble, photo opportunities, cash bars, and the traditional midnight balloon drop. To top it off, a $250 cash prize will be awarded to the person with the best ‘20s costume. Second place will be awarded $100, and third place $75. Tickets are available online. Click here to see a list of hotels offering special room rates to ticket holders.

“Can you believe it? This will be number 24,” Carl Topilow said during a telephone conversation. “We gave the first New Year’s Eve concert the same year we started the orchestra, and I think we knew it would last this long — it was a very popular event from the beginning.”

This year’s special guest artist will be vocalist Connor Bogart O’Brien. “He’s performed with us a lot, and has become a real audience favorite,” Topilow said. [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS: an evening of Gershwin with pianist-raconteur Richard Glazier (April 29)

May 11, 2016 by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

Tasting menus can give diners a good overview of the capabilities of a restaurant. On Friday, April 29 at Severance Hall, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra offered a similar experience, using the music of George Gershwin to give the capacity audience a broad view of that versatile composer’s unique accomplishments — from popular song to Broadway, from jazz to symphonic music — with the delightful assistance in the second half of pianist, raconteur, and social historian Richard Glazier. [Read more…]

Pianist Yuja Wang creates magic with The Cleveland Orchestra (Nov. 28)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Thanksgiving weekend concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra often center around a big-ticket soloist or a popular piece.

This year’s program offers both, thanks to star pianist Yuja Wang and Maurice Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

On Friday November 28, the snow cleared just in time for the crowds to arrive at Severance Music Center for the evening event. Led by conductor Petr Popelka, the resulting concert equally displayed the prowess of Orchestra and soloist over the course of three fascinating works.

György Ligeti’s Piano Concerto stood out in contrast to the lush textures and easy-to-follow melodies of the works that surrounded it. Premiered in 1988, its dissonant and avant-garde music might have come from another world. But both Wang and the Orchestra rose to meet the challenge of its devilishly tricky rhythms with an assured confidence.

[Read on…]

Les Arts Florissants make Vivaldi’s Four Seasons feel fresh and inspired (Nov. 18)

by Stephanie Manning

Performing a work as ubiquitous as Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons requires a delicate balance. At its best, the musicality and intention must be crystal clear, so that the end result feels as fresh as it does familiar. It’s a high bar, but one that Les Arts Florissants cleared with the utmost ease.

On November 18, the renowned French baroque ensemble visited Tuesday Musical to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s famous quartet of violin concertos. Soloist Théotime Langlois de Swarte led the spirited group in the Vivaldi-focused program, which also included works by Marco Uccellini and Claudio Monteverdi. [Read on…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with violinist David McCarroll in Rocky River (Nov. 23)

by Daniel Hathaway

Let’s cut to the chase and simply say that it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect and moving performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto than the one David McCarroll gave with Daniel Meyer and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra on Sunday afternoon, November 23 at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. We’ll come back to that thought.

The straight-through performance preceded the Beethoven with works by Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer and a youngish Aaron Copland.

Brouwer’s engaging and popular The Art of Sailing at Dawn evokes memories of growing up on the Great Lakes. A flute conjures sonic images of gulls, and subtle waves support a lovely oboe solo before the wind kicks up and dark clouds assemble. A storm erupts, but soon passes, leading to a quiet ending. [Read on…]

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