Il trovatore Archives - Cleveland Classical

Opera Circle Cleveland: Jorge Pita Carreras and Christina Carr talk about their first plunges into opera

June 9, 2016 by Daniel Hathaway

by Mike Telin

“What do I enjoy about singing Verdi? Oh my gosh, everything about it,” tenor Jorge Pita Carreras exclaimed during a recent interview. On Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 pm at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square, Carreras will perform the role of Manrico in Opera Circle Cleveland’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore. Mezzo-soprano Christina Carr, who will perform the role of Azucena, shares Carreras’s feelings about the composer’s music. “There’s just something about the way Verdi approaches the emotional side of his music that brings you along. It’s just wonderful,” she said during a separate interview.

Based on a Spanish play by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez adapted by Verdi’s librettist Salvatore Cammarano, the opera is the middle child in the trio of popular titles Verdi produced in the early 1850s, preceded by Rigoletto and followed by La traviata. Joel Smirnoff will conduct the Opera Circle Orchestra and a cast that will also include baritone Kevin Wetzel as Il Conte di Luna, soprano Dorota Sobieska as Leonora, bass Nathan Resika as Ferrando, tenor Brian Skoog as Ruiz, and soprano Lauren Wright as Inez. [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland: a conversation With Il trovatore conductor Joel Smirnoff

June 7, 2016 by Daniel Hathaway

by Mike Telin

For its season finale, Opera Circle Cleveland will present Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore on Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 pm at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square. Based on a Spanish play by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez adapted by Verdi’s librettist Salvatore Cammarano, the opera is the middle child in the trio of popular titles Verdi produced in the early 1850s, preceded by Rigoletto and followed by La traviata.

Joel Smirnoff will conduct the Opera Circle Orchestra and a cast including tenor Jorge Pita Carreras as Manrico, baritone Kevin Wetzel as Il Conte di Luna, mezzo-soprano Christina Carr as Azucena, soprano Dorota Sobieska as Leonora, bass Nathan Resika as Ferrando, tenor Brian Skoog as Ruiz, and soprano Lauren Wright as Inez. [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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