The Music Man Archives - Cleveland Classical

Ohio Light Opera: The Music Man (June 21)

June 28, 2017 by Samantha Spaccasi

by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

It’s common for productions of lyric theatre works to be placed in countries other than their original setting. But The Music Man is so American it’s hard to envision it taking place anywhere other than River City, Iowa. From the first whistle of the unseen drum major leading the ‘band’ during the overture, feet began to tap on the Freedlander Theatre floor — mine included. (Once a band member, always a band member.) [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: cheerful collaboration and “Virtuoso Brilliance” (Feb. 9)

by Stephanie Manning

On Super Bowl Sunday — a day that brings out plenty of competitive spirit — spending the afternoon with Apollo’s Fire felt like the perfect balance. In the few hours before “The Big Game” on February 9, those of us listening to the music in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights were all rooting for the same team.

The Baroque chamber orchestra performs in a way that values collaboration over competition, especially in a conductorless outing like this one. “Virtuoso Brilliance,” a program heard in Akron, Rocky River, and Cleveland Heights, united both musicians and audience in concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philipp Telemann. [Read on…]

Cleveland Orchestra explores humanity’s evolution in Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (Feb. 7)

by Peter Feher

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Richard Strauss must have suspected that he would always be mistaken for another composer. How else do you explain Also Sprach Zarathustra— the piece that contains his most famous minute-and-a-half of music, plus an extended homage to Johann Strauss Jr.?

The Cleveland Orchestra is playing up the Strauss connection this weekend with an extravagant concert program that borrows a bit from the style of the Waltz King. Although nothing by Johann Strauss Jr. is officially on the bill, his presence and flair are felt in Also Sprach Zarathustra and in the intoxicating sweep of Maurice Ravel’s La Valse.

The Orchestra’s performance on Friday, February 7, at Severance Music Center started strong and ended with real panache. Guest conductor Thomas Guggeis, the 31-year-old general music director of Oper Frankfurt — here making his U.S. orchestral debut — led sharp, highly stylized interpretations that would be equally at home on the continent or in Cleveland.

[Read on…]

Piano Cleveland Live: piano, violin, and an Ohio City pub (Feb. 5)

by Stephanie Manning

“How do we bring in people who are interested in piano music, but might be intimidated by their first experience being in a concert hall?”

That’s the question Marissa Moore said she and the Piano Cleveland team were considering when they started a series of free performances held in local bars.

As the host of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Piano Cleveland puts on plenty of events in Severance Music Center — “which is the most beautiful but probably the most intimidating space you can imagine,” said Moore, the organization’s executive director. “We thought it was really important to pair that with places that have more accessibility.”

Since 2022, these small, relaxed concerts in neighborhood pubs have been going strong, and are now part of the series “Piano Cleveland Live.” Last week’s event on Wednesday, February 5 brought folks to Forest City Brewery to sip drinks, eat food, and listen to the music-making of pianist Arseniy Gusev and violinist Shannon Lee. [Read on…]

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