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The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with guest conductor Stéphane Denève

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by Mike Telin

Ecstasy:
1) An overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.
2) An emotional or religious frenzy or trance-like state, originally one involving an experience of mystic self-transcendence.

This week at Severance Hall, guest conductor Stéphane Denève will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a musical exploration of the realm of ecstasy. The program includes Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, James MacMillan’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (“The Mysteries of Light”) featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy. Performances take place on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 pm, Friday at 11:00 am (no MacMillan), and Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

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Cleveland Pops with Capathia Jenkins (Mar. 9)

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by David Kulma

A golden age in American popular music began about a century ago. Lasting four decades and pervading musical theater, sound recordings, film, radio, and jazz stylings, it left a body of music that has never gone out of circulation and is regularly trumpeted as one of America’s best collective creations. We now call it “The Great American Songbook.”

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Looking for a Valentine’s Day concert? Perhaps we can help you

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by Daniel Hathaway

It’s Valentine’s Day all week this week, and aside from the obvious gifts — flowers, chocolates, and shiny bling — there are a number of ways to take to heart the new advice of gifting your love interest experiences rather than things.

Our Concert Listings have been providing such a service since the website was launched in 2008. Consider this message from one of our readers way back in 2009:

I’m grateful for ClevelandClassical.com for so many reasons. In fact, I learned about Nathan Gunn’s performance at Oberlin through you, which has now become the central feature of my surprise Valentine’s Day date with my fiancée! I owe you big time now.

Here are some suggestions for your own Valentine.

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A mime speaks: getting to know Magic Circle Mime Co. before they perform with Cleveland Orchestra

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by Jarrett Hoffman

In the music business, we’ve all heard and rolled our eyes at music jokes. Mime jokes might be the breath of fresh air we need.

“I can tell you my favorite one,” Douglas MacIntyre, co-founder of Magic Circle Mime Co., said over the phone. “It was a cartoon in The New Yorker — a drawing of a very high-end suite in a high-rise looking out over Central Park. Right in the center of it is a mime sitting in an imaginary chair. And it just says, ‘Executive Mime.’”

Maybe that kind of thing is common mime banter that makes them roll their eyes (very theatrically, of course). But here’s something that should be fresh for all the mimes, musicians, and fans on either side: mime + orchestra.

That’s what Magic Circle and The Cleveland Orchestra have in store this Friday, February 8 at 7:30 pm at Severance Hall. Vinay Parameswaran will lead the Orchestra in a Family Concert titled “The Mozart Experience,” which brings together the visual theater of Magic Circle with excerpts from Eine kleine Nachtmusik, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, the “Jupiter” Symphony, and other famous works by Mozart.

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Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra play “John Williams: Cinema’s Greatest Music”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

The music of the prolific film composer John Williams was a staple of Carl Topilow’s programming long before he launched the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. “We were doing Star Wars medleys in the late ‘70s with the Denver Symphony — now the Colorado Symphony,” the conductor told us during an interview in January of 2016.

On Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Topilow and the Cleveland Pops will honor Williams “and his incredible contributions to the world of music,” as the conductor told us recently over email. Tickets are available here.

“In the span of six decades, John Williams has composed some of the most popular, inspiring, and recognizable film scores in cinematic history,” Topilow said. “Whether drama, science fiction, patriotism, action, adventure, comedy, or despair, he always finds the perfect mood. It is a great joy to perform his music, and we look forward to a wonderful concert.”

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Opera at Severance Hall: Ariadne auf Naxos (Jan. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

“In first impressions,” writes David Wright in his Severance Hall program book notes, Ariadne auf Naxos “can feel like little more than impassioned music filled with an ever-flowing river of non-sequiturs.” But on Sunday afternoon, Richard Strauss’ fervent score — superbly sung and played by a top-notch cast and The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst — paved over the gap between high art and comedy, making the opening performance of Ariadne an event to remember for a long time. [Read more…]

Ring in 2019 with the Cleveland POPS: a conversation with special guest Erich Bergen

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by Mike Telin

For the past 22 years, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra have hosted the best New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland. That tradition will continue on Monday, December 31 beginning at 9:00 pm in Severance Hall with “The Hollywood Songbook: Songs from the Big and Small Screen,” featuring singer Erich Bergen. Then at 11:00 pm you can party and dance into 2019 with the No-Name Band and the Cleveland POPS Jazz Ensemble. Enjoy cash bars, refreshments, and desserts for purchase, and a fabulous balloon drop at midnight. Tickets are available online.

Erich Bergen is a man of many talents. He starred in the Clint Eastwood film Jersey Boys, reprising his role as Bob Gaudio in the Tony Award-winning stage production. He made his Broadway debut starring opposite Katharine McPhee in the hit musical Waitress. He performed the role of Randy Kroll in the 2018 film Humor Me, and currently stars as Blake Moran on the hit CBS television drama Madam Secretary. A critically acclaimed singer/musician, he performs in concert venues around the world.

I got in touch with Erich Bergen by phone and began by asking him if he has worked with Carl Topilow in the past.

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Cleveland Orchestra with Otto & McGegan (Nov. 23)

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by David Kulma

On Friday, November 23, the audience in a packed Severance Hall heard violinist Peter Otto in beautiful performances of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with The Cleveland Orchestra, led from the harpsichord by the jovial Nicholas McGegan. With McGegan on the podium, the second half featured some delightful ballet music by Mozart and a beloved Haydn symphony.

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Cleveland Orchestra: Leila Josefowicz to solo in Scheherazade.2 with the composer on the podium

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by Jarrett Hoffman

In some cases, a compelling background or story is at least half the appeal of a piece of music — and John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 certainly tells an interesting tale. But while violinist Leila Josefowicz fully appreciates that side of the concerto, there’s something else she thinks is important to say.

“We can talk endlessly about the narrative of this piece, and what it means, and what it symbolizes,” she said during a recent telephone conversation. “But man, what I really love is that at the end of the day, it’s just a great, great piece of music. Even if it had no narrative, no political agenda, it would still be a total masterwork.”

Josefowicz, for whom Adams wrote Scheherazade.2, will tackle the concerto this week with The Cleveland Orchestra behind her, and Adams himself on the podium to her side. The rest of the program is fascinating too. Adams will take the Orchestra for a Short Ride in a Fast Machine — another of his own works — in addition to leading two pieces by Copland: the Suite from Appalachian Spring (in its 1945 orchestration) and Quiet City, featuring two Cleveland Orchestra members as soloists, principal trumpet Michael Sachs and solo English horn Robert Walters.

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Nicholas McGegan returns to Severance Hall for a “terrific concert for families”

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by Mike Telin

Whether it’s the sounds of birds, whales, or summer storms, for centuries humans have turned to the natural world for musical inspiration. While there is a seemingly endless list of nature-inspired works, one that stands out as a perennial favorite is Antonio Vivaldi’s set of violin concertos — Le quattro stagioni (“The Four Seasons”).

This weekend at Severance Hall, you can hear the sounds of chirping birds, rippling creeks, barking dogs, buzzing flies, and storms when violinist Peter Otto, guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, and The Cleveland Orchestra reunite for three performances of Vivaldi’s groundbreaking work. The program, which also includes music by Mozart (Chaconne from Idomeneo) and Haydn (Symphony No. 94), will be presented on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

For McGegan, these concerts are extra-special for a number of reasons. “For me, working with The Cleveland Orchestra is like being given a Rolls-Royce and an infinite supply of gas,” the affable conductor said during a telephone conversation. “I think this is my tenth visit to work with them, so I hope we’re good pals by now. And this will be a terrific concert for families who are looking for something to do during the Thanksgiving weekend.”

[Read more…]

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