Conductor Robert Cronquist, who led the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra for 28 years until his recent retirement, died on September 11. He also served as conductor of the Mansfield Symphony for 22 seasons, and the Lakeside Symphony for 47. A service will be held on Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00 am at Rocky River Methodist Church. Read a Cleveland Plain Dealer obituary here.
The Cleveland Opera presents three performances of La traviata
by Mike Telin
In their upcoming production of Verdi’s masterpiece La traviata or “The Fallen Woman,” The Cleveland Opera celebrates the city’s Golden Age with sets and costuming inspired by Art Deco from the Great Gatsby Era of the Roaring Twenties. “Cleveland made such a big statement in the arts during that time period,” the company’s executive artistic director Dorota Sobieska said by telephone. “When you think about the momentum that the city had at that time, it’s phenomenal.”
Sobieska said that the venues they have selected also reflect Cleveland circa 1920s. Performances will take place on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:00 pm at the Polish-American Cultural Center, Friday, March 16 at 7:30 pm at First Baptist Church, and Sunday, March 18 at 3:30 pm at The Tudor Arms Hotel Grand Ballroom. The cast includes Dorota Sobieska as the courtesan Violetta Valéry, Timothy Culver as Alfredo Germont, and Brian Keith Johnson as Giorgio Germont. [Read more…]
Cleveland Women’s Orchestra to feature pianist Nada at Severance Hall April 9
by Daniel Hathaway
When Robert Cronquist conducts the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra in its 82nd anniversary concert in Severance Hall on Sunday, April 9 at 3:30 pm, the performance will feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Louisville-based pianist “Nada” as soloist.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Nada Loufti fled into the mountains to escape civil war and terrorism, which claimed her mother’s life in a mortar explosion. Her seven years in exile nevertheless prepared her to enter the Paris Conservatory, where she was the first woman of Middle Eastern descent to win a first prize.
“I loved it. The Conservatory was still in its old building on the Rue de Madrid — such a historic place,” the pianist said in a telephone conversation. [Read more…]
Cleveland Women’s Orchestra with Jinjoo Cho at Severance Hall (April 23)
by Daniel Hathaway
Violinist Jinjoo Cho had barely achieved teenager status when she first appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra. She’s been back several times since that debut, meanwhile walking off with top prizes in the Buenos Aires and Indianapolis competitions. Cho returned to help CWO celebrate its 81st-anniversary concert in Severance Hall on Sunday, April 23, this time with a delightful traversal of Henri Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in d led by Robert Cronquist. [Read more…]
Cleveland Women’s Orchestra: catching up with Jinjoo Cho
by Daniel Hathaway
On Sunday, May 1 at 3:30 pm, Robert Cronquist will lead the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra in its 81st anniversary concert at Severance Hall. The program will include Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Zoltán Kodály’s “Intermezzo” from Háry Janós, Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G, and Henri Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in d.
Not for the first time, the concert will feature violinist Jinjoo Cho, who first performed with CWO when she was in her teens. We caught up with the busy violinist on her cell phone while she was enjoying “a wonderful and rare morning off” walking her dog. We began by asking her how many times she’s appeared with the Women’s Orchestra. [Read more…]
Opera Circle Cleveland: Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Westlake PAC (March 13)
by Mike Telin
Is there a more fun-filled, accessible opera than Mozart’s The Magic Flute? Its classic fairy tale plot — good versus evil combined with a search for enlightenment and love — is timeless. Its characters are sympathetic, and it’s filled with beautiful arias and catchy tunes that are certain to cause earworms long after you have left the theater [Read more…]
Violins of Hope: Cleveland Women’s Orchestra commemorates Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz (December 6)
by Robert Rollin
Last Sunday afternoon, December 6, The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, under its Music Director and Conductor Robert Cronquist, presented “A Commemorative Program in Memory of the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz” at Kangesser Hall at The Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights. The event received support from Violins of Hope Cleveland and The Cleveland Jewish Federation. Robert Conrad, President of WCLV, acted as host and introduced each work. It was a lively and interesting concert. [Read more…]
Cleveland Women’s Orchestra to commemorate Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz on December 6
by Daniel Hathaway
When Hedy Milgrom’s mother and relatives emerged from a cattle car at the Auschwitz concentration camp, the first thing they saw and heard was an orchestra playing on the train platform. “My mom turned to her sister and said, ‘See, there’s an orchestra here. There’s music. They’re playing violin. How bad could it be?’ Very bad, as they found out within minutes.”
That orchestra was the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, to be commemorated by the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra in a free concert on Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 pm in Kangesser Hall at The Park Synagogue. Robert Cronquist will conduct music by Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Erich Korngold, and Frédéric Chopin in a performance narrated by WCLV president Robert Conrad. Hedy Milgrom, who is vice-president for endowments and development at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, will share some personal reflections. [Read more…]
Opera Circle Cleveland, Voices of Canton, Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, and Sokol Greater Cleveland present Bartered Bride at Bohemian National Hall (Oct. 25)
by Daniel Hathaway
There was no need for Opera Circle Cleveland’s collaborative production of The Bartered Bride to try to break down the “fourth wall” between performers and audience at Cleveland’s Bohemian National Hall on Sunday afternoon, October 25: the wall never went up in the first place. As the audience arrived, cast members were already milling about in the auditorium and its corridors, brightly attired in Czech folk costumes, and greeting friends and family. Carrying their instrument cases, members of the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra threaded their way through the throng, and the young acrobats who would appear in the third act were enjoying pastries in the snack bar. It felt like a big family reunion. [Read more…]
Cleveland Women’s Orchestra: 80th Anniversary concert at Severance Hall with violinist Michael Ferri (April 26)
by Daniel Hathaway
Violinist Michael Ferri, who played the Bruch concerto with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra in 2012, returned to help celebrate the 80th anniversary of that ensemble with the Tchaikovsky concerto on Sunday, April 26 in Severance Hall. Under the direction of Robert Cronquist, Ferri, only one-quarter as old as the CWO, gave a fresh and invigorating reading of the concerto that peeled layers of accrued varnish off the work, making it sound like the musical equivalent of a newly-cleaned painting. [Read more…]