by Peter Feher
Before the sound of armed conflict came to dominate classical music in the 20th century — think of the skittering strings or machine-gun rattle of snare drums in Dmitri Shostakovich’s symphonies — combat didn’t always mean life or death.
Among the aristocracy of 18th-century Europe, the clinking of swords was a cultivated pastime, an art on par with, say, practicing an instrument.
And that’s the spirit with which Apollo’s Fire took the stage at Case Western Reserve University’s Harkness Chapel on Aug. 9 for “Fencing Match: Round One.” The ensemble plans to reprise the program on tour next year, with this summer’s series of concerts serving to sharpen the players’ skills.
Only a few moments during Saturday afternoon’s performance needed that extra bit of fine-tuning. Much of the repertoire was right in the sweet spot for Cleveland’s Baroque orchestra, centering on well-known classics as well as a couple of signature pieces from the Apollo’s Fire canon. [Read more…]
Navigating dementia — a common, yet devastating part of aging — requires confronting all sorts of complex emotions. People with memory loss, their caregivers, and the medical teams who interact with them all understand this well. So when Les Délices commissioned a piece tackling this difficult topic, they made a special effort to bring the music to those who would resonate with it the most.
“How wretched to forget,” sings the son in A Moment’s Oblivion — a character whose father now struggles to recognize members of his own family. “For all we were forms who we are.”