Jukka-Pekka Saraste Archives - Cleveland Classical

Cleveland Orchestra, guest conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste earn three curtain calls for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony: Review (Feb. 9)

February 14, 2024 by Mike Telin

by Kevin McLaughlin | Cleveland Classical

Originally posted on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — That crackle you may have heard around 9 o’clock on Friday evening may not have been an atmospheric event or even static coming from the dryer. More likely it was The Cleveland Orchestra playing the jubilant fourth movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

The program, in addition to Beethoven’s Fifth and the infrequently performed Schubert Sixth, was intended to be led by Herbert Blomstedt, the eminent 96-year-old Swedish maestro. But Blomstedt took a fall last December, and while he recovers, his engagements in Cleveland and other American cities have been canceled. Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor and artistic director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, came heroically to the rescue, making his first appearance in Cleveland since October of 1995.

[Read more…]

Jukka-Pekka Saraste returns to Cleveland with “Beethoven’s Fateful Fifth”

February 7, 2024 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

After presenting two concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall on the 20th and 21st of January, The Cleveland Orchestra then headed south for their Florida residency. And on Friday, February 9 at 7:30 pm, they will return to their home base of Severance Music Center to present the first of three performances of Schubert’s Symphony No. 6 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online. [ALL PERFORMANCES ARE SOLD OUT]

This week also marks the long-awaited return of Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste. “It’s a pleasure to come back to Cleveland. It’s been a while — my last time was when I was in Toronto [as music director of the Toronto Symphony] — so it must have been about 20 years ago,” he said during a Zoom conversation from his home in Helsinki.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

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