Mary Oliver Archives - Cleveland Classical

Review: Mary Oliver & Han Bennink at Transformer Station (January 22)

January 28, 2014 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

In an interview with this publication prior to her performance with legendary drummer Han Bennink, violinist Mary Oliver said that she was certain about one thing: “[the audience] will have a good time, I’m fairly confident about that.” And on Wednesday, January 22 as part of CMA Concerts at Transformer Station, Oliver and Bennink, delivered on that promise.

Oliver and Bennink, who performed under the name duo ICP (Instant Composers Project) are two of the leading performers in the worlds of new music, free improvisation and avant-garde jazz. Born in Zaandam, Netherlands in 1942, Han Bennink is universally admired for his musical abilities that span the entire spectrum of jazz. In 1967 Bennink co-founded ICP along with Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg. La Jolla, California native Mary Oliver has received acclaim for her premieres of works by composers such as John Cage, Richard Barrett, Brian Ferneyhough, and Iannis Xenakis. [Read more…]

Preview: Mary Oliver and Han Bennink at Transformer Station January 22

January 16, 2014 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

How does an artist describe what audiences can expect to hear during a concert of free improvisations? “They will have a good time, I’m fairly confident about that,” Mary Oliver told us by telephone. On Wednesday, January 22 beginning at 7:30 pm CMA Concerts at Transformer Station presents two leading performers in the worlds of new music, free improvisation and avant-garde jazz: violinist/violist Mary Oliver and drummer/percussionist, Han Bennink.

Born in Zaandam, Netherlands in 1942, Han Bennink is a pioneer in the world of free jazz and free improvisation and is universally admired for his musical abilities that span the entire spectrum of jazz. In 1967 Bennink co-founded the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra (ICP) along with Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg.

Born in La Jolla, California, Mary Oliver has received acclaim for her premieres of works by composers such as John Cage, Richard Barrett, Brian Ferneyhough, and Iannis Xenakis. A gifted improviser, Oliver has been described as “a rarity in the ranks of first-rate classical interpreters.”

“Han and I come from very different worlds. He never learned how to read music but he can swing like the best of jazz drummers. And I come from a tradition that is based on interpreting scores. So there will be a confluence of these different things. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera stages a Cendrillon of professional quality (Nov. 10)

by Daniel Hathaway

Any regional opera company would be popping its buttons with pride to have produced such an impressive performance of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillion (Cinderella) as Oberlin Opera did in Hall Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, November 10.

Imaginative staging by Stephanie Havey, skillful pacing by conductor James Feddeck, beautiful set design and costuming by Laura Carlson-Tarantowski and Chris Flaharty, respectively, plus dramatic and — for the fairies — enchanting lighting by Jeremy K. Benjamin provided a supportive environment for splendid singing by the cast and brilliant playing by the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra.

Literally thousands of versions of the Cinderella tale exist in cultures around the globe, but many of the details of Massenet’s opera date back to Charles Perrault’s 1697 Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre, which adds what have now become essential elements to the tale: a young girl mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, who temporarily attracts the attention of a handsome prince at a royal ball and is eventually reunited with him to become a princess herself. [Read on…]

Seraph Brass dances through musical travels in Rocky River (Nov. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

Before Seraph Brass arrived in Ohio on November 11, the group’s fall touring season had taken them on the road to Missouri, Florida, New York, and even Peru. And at the Rocky River Chamber Music Society, they gave the audience a taste of the traveling life right from the first piece.

The “Prelude” from Edvard Greig’s Holberg Suite whisked listeners away to Norway, with a melody surely familiar to many. It was extra familiar to the brass quintet themselves, who launched into their opening number without sheet music. Playing memorized is part of the group’s trademark, and they smoothly alternated using music and no music throughout the evening. Either way, the wide-ranging program had those at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church spellbound.

Trumpet players Mary Elizabeth Bowden and Raquel Samayoa, horn player Layan Atieh, trombonist Lauren Casey-Clyde, and tuba player Robyn Black sounded equally comfortable in Romantic and contemporary repertoire, flipping between both with practiced ease. [Read on…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s Beethoven Concerto Cycle performance featured pairing of rising star and mentor (Nov. 15)

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

By Daniel Hathaway

CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the third program in The Cleveland Orchestra’s Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle, the pairing of 20-year-old Korean pianist Yunchan Lim with his mentor Minsoo Sohn was an astute programming decision.

Well-established names on the concert circuit — Orion Weiss, Sir Stephen Hough, and Garrick Ohlsson — had already filled the empty solo spots for the composer’s Triple Concerto and solo concertos 2, 3, and 4. But the choice of the youngest pianist ever to win the Van Cliburn Competition to close out the Cleveland series packed Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Friday evening, November 15, with a near-capacity audience teeming with enthusiastic young people.

[Read on…]

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