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The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with Alisa Weilerstein

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by Mike Telin

alisa-weilerstein“I look forward to being back in town,” cellist Alisa Weilerstein said by telephone from Berlin. On Thursday, March 15 at 7:30 pm the Cleveland native will return to the Severance Hall stage for a performance of Barber’s Cello Concerto. Guest conductor Alan Gilbert will also lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Dvořák’s The Watersprite and the Symphony No. 8. The program will be repeated on Friday at 11:00 am, minus Watersprite, Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

The concerts are not only a homecoming for Weilerstein, they are also the rekindling of a partnership with Gilbert that dates back to 1995. “I was thirteen and he was the assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. I played Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and it was my debut with a professional orchestra,” the cellist said.

Although the Tchaikovsky is a staple of the cello concerto repertoire, Weilerstein noted that Barber is underrepresented on the concert stage.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: Beethoven & Elgar with Znaider & Bronfman (Mar. 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

BronfmanConductor Nikolaj Znaider and pianist Yefim Bronfman brought two grand works with them to their guest appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall on Thursday evening, March 1. Beethoven’s well-known Fifth Piano Concerto and Elgar’s lesser-known Second Symphony gave both the soloist and the orchestra ample opportunity to fill the house with magnificent music on a blustery, snowy evening that left an unusual number of seats unoccupied.

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The Cleveland Orchestra to present Scheherazade with Enchantment Theatre Company

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by Mike Telin

Enchantment Co Scherezade“When I think of introducing the classical music that we love to young kids, Scheherazade is one of the first pieces that comes to mind,” Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Conductor Vinay Parameswaran said during a telephone conversation. “Rimsky-Korsakov’s music vividly tells the story and it’s so easy to latch onto its dramatic elements. And if you’re hearing an orchestra for the first time, you get a sense of all the colors and sounds that it can produce.”  

On Sunday, March 11 at 3:00 pm at Severance Hall, Parameswaran will lead a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade in a Cleveland Orchestra Family Concert with Enchantment Theatre Company. The production takes the audience to exotic lands on Sinbad’s ship with the help of costumes, magic, and puppets. Tickets are available online.

Parameswaran said that pairing the music with acting, dancing, and visuals adds a beautiful narrative element that helps to tell the story without any speaking. “The great thing is that the audience will be able to hear Scheherazade without interruption, so they will get a sense of the combined music and drama.” Prior to the performance, the orchestra will play excerpts from what the audience will hear.

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Pianist Marc-André Hamelin
returns to Severance Hall

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by Mike Telin

Hamelin-MarcAndre“This marks a major change in the evolution of his piano concertos,” Marc-André Hamelin said during a telephone conversation from St. Louis. He was referring to Mozart’s Concerto No. 9 (“Jeunehomme”), which he will perform with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Nicholas McGegan on Friday, November 17 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, November 18 at 8:00 pm.

“The concerto is such an incredible departure from what he did before. There’s an explosion of activity from the very beginning, and the way that he inserts a second slow movement in the middle of the rondo — that’s really quite exceptional.”

Hamelin said that he looks forward to working with Nicholas McGegan for the first time. “Nic is amazing, I was with him at the Van Cliburn back in May and June. He conducted all of the Mozart concerti during the competition, and just to see him at work told me a lot about what our rapport will be this weekend. I anticipate nothing but a delightful experience.”

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Cleveland Orchestra: Stravinsky and Beethoven share a program, and Igor muses on Ludwig

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by Jarrett Hoffman

collagestravinskybeethoven

On Thursday, September 28 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, September 30 at 8:00 pm, The Cleveland Orchestra continues its centennial season at Severance Hall under Music Director Franz Welser-Möst with “The Rite of Spring.” The concert will include Stravinsky’s famously provocative work — which Puccini called “the work of a madman” — and a string orchestra adaptation of Beethoven’s Quartet No. 15 in a, Op. 132.

Should Beethoven, from the grave in Vienna, feel snubbed by the title of the concert, TCO and Welser-Möst will make it up to him on the 29th at 11:00 am at Severance. “Friday Morning: All-Beethoven” features the same a-minor Quartet adaptation and Leonore Overture No. 3. Friday bus service will be provided from the South Side, East Side (Beachwood), West Side, and Akron.

Passing the mic to Stravinsky, six feet under on the Isle of San Michele in Venice — how does it feel to share a program with the great German? A 1922 quote suggests, not so good.

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Randall Craig Fleischer leads “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald” at Blossom

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Fleischer-Randall

“It’s a lovely day in Queens, New York,” conductor Randall Craig Fleischer said, answering his phone while walking with his daughter to the Joffrey Dance Center in an industrial part of the city. “No, actually it’s raining and noisy.”

Despite the gloomy weather, Fleischer talked animatedly over the next fifteen minutes about growing up in Northeast Ohio; his work in the genres of jazz, symphonic rock, and world music fusion; and his Cleveland Orchestra debut this Sunday.

On August 27 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, he’ll lead “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald,” featuring vocalists Capathia Jenkins, Harolyn Blackwell, and Aisha de Haas. Also the TCO debut for de Haas, this celebration of Lady Ella’s 100th birthday includes Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Someone to Watch Over Me, The Lady Is a Tramp, and Summertime.

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Blossom: Cristian Măcelaru on conducting, posterity, and socially conscious music

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Macelaru

At seventeen, Cristian Măcelaru wanted to conduct. First he had to wait.

‘Keep studying violin, then we’ll talk’ was the message from conductor Larry Rachleff, who had inspired Măcelaru’s new interest at Interlochen Arts Camp.

The young violinist took the advice to heart. Now, two decades later, he’s Music Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music; has served as Conductor-in-Residence, Associate, and Assistant Conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and has led subscription concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

And on Saturday, August 26 at 8:00 pm, he’ll make his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center with a program of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and Holst’s The Planets. “I’m extremely humbled to conduct this orchestra that I’ve admired for my entire life,” he said in a recent conversation.

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TCO at Blossom: 30 minutes with conductor Fabien Gabel and pianist Juho Pohjonen

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Pohjonen-GabelThis weekend’s schedule at Blossom sports a fresh pair of Cleveland Orchestra debuts. On Saturday, August 19 at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Fabien Gabel, music director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, will lead TCO in Ravel’s Boléro, Debussy’s Ibéria, Florent Schmitt’s La Palais Hanté, and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring Juho Pohjonen. We spoke to the French conductor and the Finnish pianist in separate conversations — Gabel was spending time in New York City with his family, while Pohjonen was in Bridgehampton, NY, for his tenth festival of the summer.

As they get to know Northeast Ohio, the two stars of the program will also be getting to know each other. They’ve never performed together, though Gabel said he had the pleasure to hear Pohjonen play a recital in Paris. “He’s played chamber music with some friends of mine, so I know him through them,” said the conductor. “He’s a fantastic musician, so I’m really looking forward to making music with him.”

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The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center (July 29)

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by Samantha Spaccasi

Fray-David2The lawn and pavilion of Blossom Music Center hosted an immense crowd on the evening of July 29 for The Cleveland Orchestra’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 with pianist David Fray, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, skillfully conducted by Vasily Petrenko. [Read more…]

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