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Welser-Möst, Josefowicz, Struble, Cleveland Orchestra explore Courage in ‘Hero’s Song’ at Severance (May 22)

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by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In 1897, a year before Richard Strauss wrote his shamelessly autobiographical tone poem, Ein Heldenleben, Antonín Dvořák completed his Heldenlied (Hero’s Song), a more generalized ode to Courage that ended and gave its title to The Cleveland Orchestra’s program at the Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival at Severance Music Center on May 22.

The Dvořák work joined Adolphus Hailstork’s Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 4, and the world premiere of Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra on a brilliantly played, fascinating playlist of rarely performed works that invited introspection and earned their performers the kind of wild ovations usually reserved for old warhorses.

Hailstork wrote his Epitaph in 1979 in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights hero who was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. It takes its title from Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech, delivered during the March on Washington in 1963. [Read more…]

Mandel Festival at Severance presents Hero’s Song: a conversation with composer Jüri Reinvere

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by Mike Telin

Jüri Reinvere is more than a celebrated Estonian composer. He has also published essays and poems, worked for Estonian and Finnish Radio, produced and written screenplays for documentary films, and translated and co-written books, as well as written the libretto for his earlier opera, Purge.

All of his artistic abilities have influenced his Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra, which will receive its world premiere on Friday, May 22 by violinist Leila Josefowicz, harpist Trina Struble and The Cleveland Orchestra led by Franz Welser-Möst.

The 7:30 pm performance at Severance Music Center is part of the Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival. The program also includes Adolphus Hailstork’s Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 4, and Antonín Dvořák’s Hero’s Song. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra closes Severance season with glorious performance of Mozart’s Wind Serenade No. 10 (May 23)

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By Daniel Hathaway | Cleveland Classical
This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Most orchestras choose to close out their subscription seasons with a blowout piece of epic proportions. Not Cleveland. Trusting its players to produce something grand and memorable with modest resources, The Cleveland Orchestra sent its strings, brass, and percussion players home early (except for principal bass Maximilian Dimoff) on Thursday, May 23.

After a mammoth stage reset during intermission, music director Franz Welser-Möst and thirteen players filed onstage to serenade the large audience in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center with a glorious performance of Mozart’s Wind Serenade No. 10 (Gran Partita) that wonderfully shared the program with works by Wagner and Berg.

That was no small feat. The evening began with Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde and continued with Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto featuring Leila Josephowicz, works that made lasting impressions due to their sonic magnificence or the successful fusing of disparate musical elements. [Read more…]

Leila Josefowicz to join The Cleveland Orchestra in Berg’s Violin Concerto

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by Mike Telin

Whenever the adventurous violinist Leila Josefowicz and The Cleveland Orchestra join forces, Northeast Ohio audiences are sure to be treated to a captivating performance of a  contemporary masterpiece. Since 2010 Josefowicz and The Orchestra have teamed up for concertos by Thomas Adès, Oliver Knussen, Igor Stravinsky, and two by John Adams.

“It really is an honor to have had so many beautiful opportunities to perform with that incredible orchestra,” Josefowicz said during a Zoom conversation. “There’s a great pride in the quality of what they do and I’m always super excited to be there and play my very best.”

On Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Josefowicz will join Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra in Alban Berg’s haunting Violin Concerto. The program also includes Mozart’s Serenade No. 10, “Gran Partita,” and the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

The program, which will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm, is part of The Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival. Click here to see the full schedule of the Festival. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra with Mälkki & Josefowicz (Feb. 8)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Music is said to be a universal language, but it does speak with different accents. When you’re playing music by Jean Sibelius, it’s helpful to have a Finnish conductor on the podium, which is what made Susanna Mälkki’s pair of Cleveland Orchestra concerts so lucid and communicative earlier this month. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with violinist Leila Josefowicz

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by Mike Telin

Over the past ten years the adventurous violinist Leila Josefowicz and The Cleveland Orchestra have treated Northeast Ohio audiences to captivating performances of contemporary masterpieces. 2010 saw Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto, which was followed by John Adams’ Violin Concerto (2011), Thomas Adès’ Concentric Paths (2016), and Adams’ Scheherazade.2 (2018).

On Thursday, February 8 at 7:30 pm, Josefowicz will return to Severance Hall to join conductor Susanna Mälkki in paying tribute to their mentor and friend Oliver Knussen with a performance of the late composer/conductor’s Violin Concerto. The concert will also include Sibelius’ En Saga and Symphony No. 1. The program will be repeated on Saturday, February 8 at 8:00 pm. [Read more…]

Conductor Susanna Mälkki returns to Severance Hall 

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by Mike Telin 

When Susanna Mälkki made her Cleveland Orchestra debut in April of 2015, the Finnish conductor was well on her way to becoming a star in the international conducting firmament. Since that time Mälkki has clearly established herself as one of the leading conductors of our time.

Mälkki is currently in her fourth season as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and her third season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In December of 2016 she made her debut at The Metropolitan Opera leading the premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin. A recipient of the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2016, the following year she was named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year.

On Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 pm, Mälkki will return to the Severance Hall podium to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Sibelius’ En Saga and Symphony No. 1.

[Read more…]

Essay: When music is “about” something, don’t forget to listen

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Imagine two hypothetical works of music. Piece A has a story behind it — maybe a moment in history, or an issue facing the world, or that time the composer stubbed their toe — while Piece B is just music, period.

For composers, there are some advantages to writing a “Piece A.” They can easily describe it to people who might want to hear, publicize, perform, or present it. And those same people can quickly latch onto something that’s interesting (current event) or relatable (stubbed toe). But just as easily, that concrete description can come to overshadow the actual music in discussions about the piece.

Violinist Leila Josefowicz (above) gave me some gentle sass about this during an interview last fall. She was bringing John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 to The Cleveland Orchestra, and I had asked her a couple conceptual questions about the concerto, which reimagines the character of Scheherazade as a modern, empowered woman. Here’s what she said:

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Cleveland Orchestra with Adams & Josefowicz (Nov. 30)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Violinist Leila Josefowicz had already performed John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 more than 50 times before she and the composer brought the piece to The Cleveland Orchestra for Severance Hall performances last weekend. More than merely having the nearly hour-long concerto under her fingers, Josefowicz has it under her skin, and the work was the highlight of the evening on Friday, November 30. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: Leila Josefowicz to solo in Scheherazade.2 with the composer on the podium

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by Jarrett Hoffman

In some cases, a compelling background or story is at least half the appeal of a piece of music — and John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 certainly tells an interesting tale. But while violinist Leila Josefowicz fully appreciates that side of the concerto, there’s something else she thinks is important to say.

“We can talk endlessly about the narrative of this piece, and what it means, and what it symbolizes,” she said during a recent telephone conversation. “But man, what I really love is that at the end of the day, it’s just a great, great piece of music. Even if it had no narrative, no political agenda, it would still be a total masterwork.”

Josefowicz, for whom Adams wrote Scheherazade.2, will tackle the concerto this week with The Cleveland Orchestra behind her, and Adams himself on the podium to her side. The rest of the program is fascinating too. Adams will take the Orchestra for a Short Ride in a Fast Machine — another of his own works — in addition to leading two pieces by Copland: the Suite from Appalachian Spring (in its 1945 orchestration) and Quiet City, featuring two Cleveland Orchestra members as soloists, principal trumpet Michael Sachs and solo English horn Robert Walters.

[Read more…]

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