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DIARY: Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: organist Florence Mustric at Trinity Lutheran, a “Pop Symphonic” program with the Youngstown Symphony, and the duo CelloGayageum (pictured) at CMA

•Announcements: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s Board of Trustees meets tomorrow

•Interesting reads: a music educator honored at the Grammys for her orchestra devoted to accessibility, and the nation’s first in-house wellness program at an opera company

•Almanac: Steven Mackey, Steven Stucky, Renée Fleming, and some sci-fi romance for your Valentine’s Day

HAPPENING TODAY:

One option in the afternoon.

At 12:15 pm, Trinity Lutheran Church presents its Wednesday Noon Organ Concert by Florence Mustric. “Two liturgical years” will feature excerpts from J.S. Bach’s Little Organ Book and from Jeanne Demessieux’s pieces based on Gregorian chant. A freewill offering will be taken up.

And two in the evening, both at 7:30.

The Youngstown Symphony will put on a program titled “Pop Symphonic with Guest Conductor David Perrico” at Powers Auditorium. On the menu are jazz, classic rock, pop, disco, and Beethoven, as well as Perrico’s Youngstown Steeltown, a tribute to his hometown. Tickets are available here.

And in Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of Art will play host to CelloGayageum, the duo of cellist Sol Daniel Kim and gayageum (traditional Korean zither) player Dayoung Yoon. Inspired by Berlin’s Pavilion of Unity and the hope for a peaceful reunification of Korea, the duo’s all-original music blends musical styles including classical, traditional Korean, pop, and minimalism. Read a preview article here, and get tickets here.

[Read more…]

Renée Fleming & Friends at Severance (Oct. 15) 

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  by Peter Feher

“Farewell” was the final word that the audience heard at Severance Music Center on Sunday, October 15. The evening couldn’t have ended in a more fitting fashion, considering the talent that made this performance in Mandel Concert Hall one for the history books.

In 2017, soprano Renée Fleming disputed The New York Times’ intimation that she was retiring from the operatic stage, but the no-nonsense diva has closed a certain chapter in her singing career in order to embark on another. Since turning 60, Fleming has focused almost exclusively on projects to which she has a personal connection, evangelizing on behalf of the composer-friends who have written pieces for her.

Penelope, by the late musical polymath André Previn, is one such work and something of an all-star chamber production. [Read more…]

Renée Fleming and friends join in special Severance concert

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by Mike Telin

On Sunday, October 15 at 7:00 pm, the celebrated soprano Renée Fleming will host a gathering of friends in a Severance Music Center concert featuring the late André Previn’s unfinished — but now completed — final work. Penelope celebrates Homer’s heroine in The Odyssey, who faithfully waited 20 years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from the Trojan War while fending off more than a hundred suitors.

She’ll be joined by actress Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us), the Emerson String Quartet — Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer (violins), Lawrence Dutton (viola), and Paul Watkins (cello) —  and pianist Simone Dinnerstein. In addition to Penelope, musical selections include Philip Glass’s Etude No. 6 and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14. Tickets are available online.

Although the score was left unfinished at the time of Previn’s death on February 28, 2019, it was completed by David Fetherolf, Previn’s longtime editor. The monodrama received its world premiere at Tanglewood on July 24, 2019.

Fleming graciously agreed to answer questions by email.

Mike Telin: Who originally had the idea for this project?

Renée Fleming: The Emerson Quartet and I shared a friendship with André Previn. (André had composed the opera of A Streetcar Named Desire, which I premiered, as well as some concert works and song cycles.) We decided to try to commission him to compose something for us. I knew that one of André’s good friends was playwright Tom Stoppard, of whom I am also a great fan. I thought, ‘Well you never know, why not ask them?’ It turned out that they both liked the idea, and they had already discussed writing something for my voice. I believe it was Tom who suggested Penelope, the classical heroine, as a subject.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, February 14, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: organist Abraham Ross at noon, and “A Romantic German Valentine” at 7:30

•News: Julia de Burgos Cultural Center announces a call for artists, while Cleveland Orchestra announces upcoming releases

•Almanac: Steven Mackey, Steven Stucky, Renée Fleming, and an amphibious Valentine’s Day

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12 pm, the Church of the Covenant presents organist Abraham Ross (pictured) on the Tuesday Noon Organ Plus series — check out the program here. A freewill offering will be taken up.

And to celebrate the holiday, at 7:30 pm you can enjoy “A Romantic German Valentine,” a chamber program that includes music by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann as well as world premieres by Margi Griebling-Haigh. A freewill donation of $20 is suggested. Read a preview article here, and see our Concert Listings for details.

[Read more…]

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