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Chagrin Concert Series to feature Lara Nie in German-Yiddish cantata by Iván Fischer

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by Daniel Hathaway

NIE-LaraHungarian conductor Iván Fischer’s Eine Deutsch-Jiddische Kantate: Die Stimmen der Geister is on the next program of the Chagrin Concert Series on Sunday, March 19 at 3:00 pm in Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls. Mezzo-soprano Lara Nie and trumpeter Richard Fields will be featured in the rarely-performed work.

“Marlon Daniel, who will conduct works on Sunday’s program, has worked with Fischer and is a great admirer,” Nie said in a telephone conversation from her home in New York. “Marlon and I were students at the Manhattan School of Music twenty years ago, and when he heard this piece, he thought of me. I finally got hold of the music, and it’s absolutely stunning.”

Nie described the work as a combination of cultural and folk poetry set to music that ranges in style from Bach to modal Jewish folk song to Yiddish theater music. [Read more…]

Chagrin Concert Series: “The Poet Speaks” — reflections by artistic director Hristo Popov

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by Daniel Hathaway

POPOVOn Sunday, April 10 at 3:00 pm, the Chagrin Concert Series will present its final concert of the season at Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls. We emailed artistic director Hristo Popov some questions about the series and Sunday’s program.

Daniel Hathaway: What’s in store for the audience this Sunday afternoon in Chagrin Falls?

Hristo Popov: The last concert of the our season features Johannes Brahms’s Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91, performed by mezzo-soprano Lara Nie, cellist Kent Collier, and pianist Sungeun Kim; Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas performed by myself, Lara and Sungeun; and ends with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet performed by the previously mentioned instrumentalists plus Barton Samuel Rotberg on violin and Wanda Sobieska on viola. [Read more…]

Chagrin Concert Series: a chat with mezzo-soprano Lara Nie

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by Daniel Hathaway

NIE-LaraNew York-based mezzo-soprano Lara Nie and her long-time keyboard collaborator, Brandt Fredricksen, will join violinist Hristo Popov for the final concert in this year’s Chagrin Concert Series at Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls on Sunday, April 26 at 3:00 pm. The concert is free, but donations are welcome.

“I wanted to sing pieces that move me, but are also related to one another,” Nie said in a telephone conversation. The title of the program, “Songs of Spring — Love and Life,” could embrace a vast range of music, but Nie has carefully chosen her repertoire and had some insightful remarks to share.

“I don’t often sing in English,” Nie said, who has been praised for her performances of Lieder and operatic roles. “But since I’m singing for an English-speaking audience, I thought I’d give them an all-English program.” [Read more…]

Review: Stopping in at two Sunday afternoon concerts — Lara Nie with Cleveland Virtuosi in Chagrin Falls, Buck McDaniel at Trinity Cathedral

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by Daniel Hathaway

NIE-LaraArea concertgoers had their choice of at least seventeen concerts to attend on Sunday, December 15. I took the opportunity to stop in for two events which were of particular interest.

New York-based mezzo-soprano Lara Nie was featured with the Cleveland Virtuosi Orchestra in an afternoon holiday concert presented by Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Series at Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls. I caught the first half of the performance, which departed from holiday music in the direction of singer’s choice. Nie had always wanted to perform the aria, Erbarme dich from J.S. Bach’s Matthew-Passion — and a pair of Handel’s opera arias — with violinist and artistic director Hristo Popov, and this occasion was the perfect opportunity.

The Virtuosi, an eleven-member string ensemble with harpsichord conducted by Michael Gelfand, opened with a lush reading of Bach’s chorale from Cantata BWV 147, known in English as Jesu, joy of Man’s desiring. [Read more…]

Preview: Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Holiday Concert — something different, something to please everybody

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by Daniel Hathaway

NIE-LaraWhen cellist and conductor Michael Gelfand first saw the proposed program for the Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Series Holiday Concert on December 15, he said to himself, “Woo — what have we got here?” After all, most holiday concerts follow a predictable pattern (CVCM, for example, normally performs Handel’s Messiah). This one opens its arms wide enough to embrace both an aria from Bach’s Matthew Passion and Frosty the Snow Man.

Credit that variety to the series’s artistic director, violinist Hristo Popov, and the contacts he’s made during his travels. “The whole thing comes about because of Hristo,” Gelfand said. “He’s a terrific impresario who pulls together friends from all over the world and this series is pretty amazing. It’s a delight in this case to have Lara Nie come from New York to sing.”

That explains the choice of Erbarme dich, the Bach aria, which Nie will sing on Sunday along with two opera arias by Handel from Ariodante and Alcina. [Read more…]

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