Oberlin Records Archives - Cleveland Classical

CD Review —
Mozart Among Friends: James Howsmon, piano, Marilyn McDonald, violin

June 17, 2017 by Jeremy Reynolds

by Jeremy Reynolds

There’s something special about a musical collaboration that has spanned many years — a level of comfort in each other’s styles coupled with a delightful joie de vivre that produces some tight, sparkling ensemble. There’s a solid hour of this nuanced joy in pianist James Howsmon and violinist Marilyn McDonald new album, Mozart Among Friends, a collection of sonatas released on May 26 on the Oberlin Music label. [Read more…]

Great Lakes Theater goes Into the Woods (Sept. 28)

by Peter Feher

This season, Great Lakes Theater is uniquely positioned to put on a near-perfect production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

The regional company, in residence at the Hanna Theatre, has time and again mounted some of the most appealing shows at Playhouse Square — more intimate than the Broadway tours that stop just down the street but no less lavishly performed.

You could say it was all for the best that the recent New York revival of Into the Woods — with its rotating celebrity cast paying larger-than-life tribute to Sondheim, who died in 2021 — never made it to Cleveland. [Read on…]

Recording review: Poiesis Quartet fearlessly forges something new (Bright Shiny Things)

by Stephanie Manning

Creating something new can come with a lot of expectations. Founding an ensemble. Releasing a debut album. Recording a world premiere, or two. But whatever you might expect from the Poiesis Quartet, they want you to take them exactly as they are.

It might sound like quite the proclamation for the young string quartet, founded two years ago at Oberlin Conservatory by violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby. But their debut recording, as we are — to be released on October 18 — sees the four players completely confident in themselves and the music they’re performing.

The name “Poiesis,” from the ancient Greek ποιεῖν, refers to this act of making what has never been made before. Accordingly, the two pieces on the album are each world premiere recordings (though each have had multiple live performances). Both works also have strong ties to Northeast Ohio, with one by Baldwin Wallace composer-in-residence Clint Needham and the other by Cleveland Orchestra trombonist Richard Stout. [Read on…]

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