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CIPC Finalists share their thoughts on the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

“I’m so happy. It’s very nice that all the work has been recognized and appreciated.” — Giuseppe Guarrera (32, Italy), fourth prize.

“It’s amazing. Honestly, when I came to the competition I had zero expectations for what was going to happen.” — Maxim Lando (21, USA), third prize.

“It feels really great.” — Evren Ozel (25, USA), second prize.

“It’s a dream come true.” — James (Zijian) Wei (25, China), first prize.

On Sunday afternoon following the concerto round with The Cleveland Orchestra on Friday and Saturday, we had the opportunity to meet with the four finalists in the atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art to get their impressions about the innovations in this year’s Cleveland International Piano Competition, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and how it felt to be a prizewinner.

In an interview with this publication, Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg said that “A lot has changed in the classical music world during the past 50 years,” and that this year’s competition is all about creating more and better ways for it to serve the contestants, and the audience. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: Summers at Severance with Petr Popelka & James Ehnes (July 25)

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by Peter Feher

Movie music has been cropping up on more and more Cleveland Orchestra programs in recent seasons — even when it’s not advertised.

This was all to the good at Severance Music Center on Thursday, July 25. The Orchestra sounded very much its polished self in the second concert of this year’s Summers at Severance series, the set of strictly classical offerings that the ensemble has brought back to balance out this summer’s lighter programming at Blossom Music Center.

All the same, summer was in full swing on Euclid Avenue. The front terrace outside Severance was strung with lights and set up with white tents serving refreshments. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra delights with Mendelssohn, Berlioz and Beethoven at Blossom Music Center (July 20)

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This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

by Kevin McLaughlin | ClevelandClassical.com

CUYAHOGA  FALLS, Ohio — There were plenty of midsummer smiles at The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Center concert on Saturday July 20, as Mendelssohn’s fairies cavorted, Veronique Gens’s lovely voice wafted forth, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony danced everyone to their feet.

To begin, guest conductor Antonello Manacorda led a glittering performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream — so vivid and atmospheric you could swear that you spotted elves prancing on the lawn.

The opening woodwind chords that ushered us into Shakespeare’s magical world were well balanced and pure, largely thanks to the flute and clarinet playing of Jessica Sindell and Daniel McKelway. Violins scurrying at a fast but prudent tempo — and an impossibly soft but effective dynamic — summoned the fairies. Throughout, Manacorda’s gestures were expressive and economical.

[Read more…]

Leslie Odom Jr. blends jazz, R&B, and Broadway with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom (July 21)

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This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

by Stephanie Manning | ClevelandClassical.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — When Leslie Odom Jr. emerged at Blossom Music Center midway through “Fly Me To The Moon,” which he had started offstage, the ensuing medley immediately set the tone for the evening. Preferring to let his vocals do all the talking, on Sunday, July 21, the singer’s concert with The Cleveland Orchestra was two almost-nonstop hours of musical delight.

Odom may be best-known for his Broadway pursuits, particularly for originating the role of Aaron Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit Hamilton. But he’s a true, multi-hyphenated artist who has made forays into Hollywood, television, and solo recordings. His Blossom setlist attested to his versatility, bringing together arrangements of jazz standards, pop hits, and his original material.

[Read more…]

James Ehnes courts jet lag to play Korngold Concerto at Severance

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by Mike Telin

When Canadian violinist James Ehnes got a call from his management telling him that The Cleveland Orchestra was interested in inviting him to play a concerto in July, his first reaction was “That’s impossible. I’m in Seattle in July.”

Then he thought again. “The Cleveland Orchestra is, for me, one of the most inspiring orchestras in the world, and any chance to work with them is something I’m going to jump at.”

On Thursday, July 25 at 7 pm, Ehnes will join the Cleveland Orchestra for a Summers at Severance concert led by Petr Popelka.

The violinist will be featured in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Concerto, on a program that includes César Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6. Tickets are available online.

Korngold, born in 1897, was an Austrian composer and conductor who fled Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted U.S. nationality. A noted pianist and composer of classical music, he was the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood film scores.

I reached James Ehnes by telephone to ask about his scheduling dilemma and his choice of the Korngold.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom: a conversation with Edwin Outwater

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by Mike Telin

“When you stand in front of a great orchestra like Cleveland as a conductor, you kind of pinch yourself,” Edwin Outwater said in a recent Zoom conversation. “To be that close and to see how they do what they do is a great honor —  and a lot of fun.”

On Sunday, July 21 at 7:00 p.m., Outwater will return to the Blossom Music Center podium to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in “An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr.,” featuring the Tony and Grammy award-winning vocalist, songwriter, author, and actor who created the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton. Tickets are available online.

I began our conversation by asking Outwater what the audience should expect to hear on Sunday. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra provides fireworks of the non-pyrotechnic kind (July 13)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — It was a night of fireworks at The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Center concert on Saturday, July 13, even if there were no after-concert skyrockets. The Orchestra’s principal trumpet Michael Sachs deserves primary credit, supplying as he did a whole summer’s worth of pyrotechnics in a single trumpet concerto.

Also impressive was the young Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, who in his Cleveland Orchestra debut, showed both flair and craft.

In Alexander Borodin’s exotic Polovtsian Dances, extracted from his opera Prince Igor (1887), Hindoyan also displayed a mastery of combining orchestral and choral forces. [Read more…]

Soprano Véronique Gens brings love of French music to Cleveland debut

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by Stephanie Manning

Véronique Gens feels a special connection to Hector Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, a piece she’s performed for decades all around the world. But the 30-minute song cycle isn’t an easy one, both in length and in character.

“It’s a difficult cycle for your mind and for your soul, because the text is so sad and so depressive,” the soprano said in a recent interview. “But it’s a beautiful cycle.”

I reached Gens by phone in France, while she was preparing for her final performance at this year’s Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. While the piece may not be very upbeat, Gens sounded very excited to make her debut with The Cleveland Orchestra. She will join them at Blossom Music Center on Saturday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Summers at Severance makes triumphant return (July 11)

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by Stephanie Manning

In between their already-packed schedule at Blossom Music Center, the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra appeared at their usual venue — Severance Music Center — for an exciting offering on July 11. Returning after a five-year absence, the Summers at Severance series kicked off with a high-quality evening of Mandel Concert Hall debuts.

Conductor Oksana Lyniv, joining the Orchestra for the first time, brought a graceful precision and strong sense of tempo to the podium. The synergy between conductor and orchestra was evident from the opening piece, Leoš Janáček’s Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen, [Read more…]

Conductor Oksana Lyniv to make Cleveland Orchestra debut

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by Mike Telin

Conductor Oksana Lyniv has been riding a wave of firsts during the past few years. In July 2021, she became the first woman to lead a performance at the Bayreuth Festival. In 2022, she became music director of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Italy, the first woman to serve in that position. And this past February, she became the first Ukrainian to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera.

This week, Lyniv will continue her string of firsts when she makes her Cleveland Orchestra debut on Thursday, July 11 at 7:00 pm at Severance Music Center. The program, which is part of the Summers at Severance series, includes Leoš Janáček’s Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Inon Barnatan as soloist, Borys Lyatoshynsky’s Grazhyna, and Igor Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

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