by Daniel Hathaway
As Scandinavians, Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä and Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich should be well-accustomed to the intentional high temperatures and humidity of saunas, though they probably don’t expect to encounter those while plying their craft on the concert stage. On Saturday, July 20, they rose above miserable weather conditions to make impressive joint debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom. [Read more…]
by Rory O’Donoghue
As the lights dimmed and conductor Roderick Cox readied his baton, the boisterous crowd at Blossom hushed in anticipation of pianist Aaron Diehl’s take on Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on Saturday, July 6. Everyone knows the opening clarinet lick — the low velvet trill, the raucous rise — but this time, a surprise! A bird rose from somewhere behind the percussion section and dive-bombed the first violins. A few players scattered amidst the kerfuffle, shouting, before a valiant audience member somehow snatched the bird out of the air and marched it out of the pavilion to great applause. Cox restored order and clarinetist Afendi Yusuf’s solo bloomed from the back of the orchestra. [Read more…]
by Nicholas Stevens
The sun is shining, the leaves regenerating — and something wonderfully alive is stirring in Severance Hall. The Cleveland Orchestra billed its programs on April 12 and 13 as “sneak previews” of the concert cycles that close its 100th season: windows into the ensemble’s preparations for The Ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde and The Prometheus Project. [Read more…]
by Samantha Spaccasi
It was hot and humid on the evening of July 22, but that didn’t stop concertgoers from flocking to Blossom Music Center to hear the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Two rarely-heard works, a duo-piano team making a reappearance after a long hiatus, and a guest conductor who stepped in for an ailing maestro at the last minute to save the scheduled program — all these elements promised more than a little suspense last Thursday evening, February 16 in The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert at Severance Hall. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
While half of The Cleveland Orchestra was busy downtown providing incidental music for The Good Peaches at the Cleveland Play House on Thursday evening, April 14, the rest of the ensemble played a scintillating concert of music by Haydn and Mozart uptown at Severance Hall under guest conductor Jane Glover, featuring principal flute Joshua Smith and harpist Yolanda Kondonassis. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The Cleveland Orchestra’s new concert series, Summers@Severance, offers a one-hour-or-so performance by the orchestra on three Friday evenings at 7:00 pm, bracketed by a party with drinks and small plates served on the Front Terrace. The concept seems to have caught on quickly, and judging from the number of audience members snapping cell phone pictures of the Severance Hall interior, brought many first-time listeners to hear the Orchestra on opening night, August 1. [Read more…]