Masters of Bandoneon Archives - Cleveland Classical

Azica’s Masters of Bandoneon nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards

November 13, 2012 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mike Telin

When the 13th Annual Latin Grammy Awards are held on November 15 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Alan Bise and Bruce Egre of Cleveland’s Azica records will be anxiously awaiting the results of their nomination in two categories for their recent release, Masters of Bandoneon. The disc itself has been nominated for Best Tango Album, and one of its tracks, Stringago by Carlos Franzetti, played by the Cuartetango String Quartet, has been nominated for Best Classical Contemporary Composition (listen to two of the tracks here). These nominations bring a relationship that began as a chance meeting between violinist and Cuartetango founder Leonardo Suarez Paz and Alan Bise to a fitting conclusion — at least for this recording project.

“I first met Leonardo after the performance of Romance de Tango that he created for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s VIVA! & Gala series in 2009,” Bise told me over coffee. That performance featured Paz’s award-winning string quartet Cuartetango, as well as eight dancers. Bise said that he struck up a conversation with Paz, one thing led to another, and soon they were working together on the recording project. The project also took Bise on his first visit to Buenos Aires, a trip that he calls life-changing. “First, the musical life in the city is intoxicating, and Tango is the national soundtrack of Argentina that plays 24/7.” [Read more…]

Les Délices welcomes the festive season with “Noel, Noel” (Dec. 7)

by Stephanie Manning

Once December kicks in, an almost overwhelming number of holiday programs pop up around Northeast Ohio. But Les ›Délices’ offering should draw your attention.

While other festive concerts may create the atmosphere of a bustling party by the fireplace, “Noel, Noel” is like observing a snowy evening from the warmth of the indoors. This is music best enjoyed in quiet contentment, and especially live — so it’s no surprise that the early music ensemble brought back this signature program for three performances this month.

On December 7 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the six-member group presented a lovely ninety-minute program, which is also available on CD and via streaming until the end of the year.

[Read on…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: In Four Voices (Dec. 3)

by Kevin McLaughlin

Renaissance polyphony can bloom in resonant spaces, but the Donna and James Reid Gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art presents particular challenges: hard surfaces and a long reverb tend to blur consonants into watercolor. The Cleveland Chamber Choir’s four-voice ensemble met those conditions head-on during its “In Four Voices” program on December 3. What emerged was an evening of consistently beautiful vocal timbre shaped by a group navigating the sonic characteristics of the room.

The concert, to be followed in January and March by appearances of various-sized ensembles, is part of a new development for the Cleveland Chamber Choir, called the Camerata Series — more information here.

To improve their chances of hearing one another, the quartet — soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr, tenor Joel Kincannon, and bass Dominic Aragon — stood in a traditional “part book” formation, like a diamond, facing inward. This meant that their sound was directed toward each other, rather than outward to the listeners around them.

[Read on…]

Labadie leads fresh-sounding performance of Messiah with Cleveland Orchestra, Chorus and solo quartet (Dec. 4)

By Daniel Hathaway|Cleveland Classical

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – On Thursday evening at Severance Music Center, guest conductor Bernard Labadie did far more than just hold the performance of Messiah by the Cleveland Orchestra, Chorus and solo quartet together, he led a surgically clean account of George Frideric Handel’s 1741 oratorio.

Like a London cabbie, Labadie knew all the available highways and byways for the two-hour musical journey and pointed out interesting sights we might otherwise have missed.

And to change metaphors, like a skilled restorer he gently removed layers of interpretive grime that has accumulated over the years from Handel’s score, allowing us to hear it with fresh ears. He also tucked in some surprises of his own for those of us who thought we knew the piece and how it should go.

[Read on…]

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