Lukas Vondracek Archives - Cleveland Classical

The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: Rachmaninoff & Adams (Aug. 13)

August 31, 2022 by Peter Feher

by Peter Feher

The August 13 program at Blossom Music Center was a grand finale in all but name. The Cleveland Orchestra played the last classical concert of its summer season there (the group would save a couple of preview performances for Severance later in the month, ahead of setting out on its 2022 European tour), and the repertoire was exceptional and expansive to match the occasion.

Now, both pieces on Saturday might be called one thing, but they really sound like another. “Symphony” is a title that would fit Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as John Adams’ modern masterpiece for orchestra, Harmonielehre. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend of August 12-14, 2022

August 12, 2022 by Stephanie Manning

by Stephanie Manning

IN THIS EDITION:

•Lots of pianos on stage this weekend at Lakeside, Blossom, and The Madison

•How climate change is affecting summer venues

•Almanac: remembering Janáček, Massanet, and Persichetti

CONCERTS AND EVENTS:

This weekend of piano features will kick off with the Lakeside Symphony, which will close out its 59th summer residency in Lakeside Chautauqua tonight at 7:30 pm. Due to a soloist change, pianist David Allen Wehr will now perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in A, and conductor Daniel Meyer will also lead the ensemble in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel). Click here to purchase pass and parking.

[Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition to welcome 35 contestants in August 2016

May 3, 2016 by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

It’s the time of year when lots of young people have been eagerly watching their mailboxes — or inboxes — to see whether they’ve been admitted to the college of their choice.

This year, the same has been true for the nearly 330 pianists, ages 18-30, who applied to compete in the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition, to be held from July 24 through August 7. Of those hopefuls, 35 recently received the “fat” letter inviting them to Cleveland — an acceptance rate of 10.6%, which is roughly equivalent to that of last year’s admissions to Dartmouth, Duke, or Vanderbilt.

The successful candidates emerged a few weeks ago after a marathon, three-day session of video viewing by a selection jury made up of Kathryn Brown and Paul Schenly (Cleveland Institute of Music), Lei Weng (University of Colorado), Caroline Oltmanns (Youngstown State University), and CIPC president and CEO Pierre van der Westhuizen. The 35 who were invited have now formally accepted. [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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