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National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to play at Tri-C Metro on February 23

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by Daniel Hathaway

On Thursday, February 23 at 7pm, the Tri-C Classical Piano Series will deviate from its usual pattern of presenting solo pianists to welcome the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to the stage of its Metropolitan Campus.

The orchestra will be led by Theodore Kuchar and Carl Topilow. Kuchar, a violist and 1982 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, became the Principal Guest Conductor of the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra in 1992, and was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the ensemble in 1994, when it changed its name to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. In 2000, he became Conductor Laureate for Life.

The National Symphony, based in Lviv,  is currently on an extended 40-concert tour aimed at promoting Ukrainian culture that included a stop at Carnegie Hall (read the New York Times article here). Its first-ever concert in Cleveland, which will feature duo-pianists Emanuela Friscioni and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — almost down to the minute.

In a Zoom conversation earlier this week, Kuchar said he had met for coffee with the American Ambassador to Ukraine last February in Lviv following a performance of the Dvořák Requiem. “I went home late on the 23rd and at about 4:20 the next morning, I heard sounds I had never heard before.” Those turned out to be World War II-era Soviet sirens screaming from atop telephone poles, announcing the Russian invasion. [Read more…]

Tri-C Piano: Alexandre Dossin plays George Walker (Oct. 9)

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by Jacob Strauss

It is the composer George Walker’s centennial this year, and on October 9, pianist Alexandre Dossin — performing in Cleveland for the first time — gave a concert featuring the composer’s work through six decades at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium. The performance was part of the Tri-C Classical Piano series.

As a Black musician of the 20th century, Walker experienced a life of firsts. Among many other distinguished accomplishments throughout his career, he was the first Black musician to perform as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the first Black tenured professor at Smith College, and in 1996 became the first Black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize In Music.

[Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano: Tepfer & Bach

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by Jarrett Hoffman

It wasn’t unexpected that Bach and jazz improvisation went back and forth. After all, Dan Tepfer is known for not only playing the Goldbergs, but also using the work’s thirty variations as a jumping-off point into his own spontaneity. In this case, for a pre-recorded recital that debuted on April 18 on the Tri-C Classical Piano Series, he limited himself to the aria and the nine canons.

What was unexpected came after that ninth canon and ninth improvisation. Here Tepfer transitioned into free improv, then tied that off in just such a way to set up a seamless reentry into Bach — specifically that aria that opens and closes the Goldbergs, heard here in an especially heavenly form. The only way I can describe that ingenious maneuver, which brought this special journey full circle, is that it felt like Tepfer had stabbed you in the heart, in a good way.

[Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano Series: Dan Tepfer and the art of playing and improvising on Bach

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by Jarrett Hoffman

J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations have a history of fascinating interpretations, no doubt including that of jazz pianist and composer Dan Tepfer. His 2011 album Goldberg Variations / Variations sees him both performing the work and improvising upon it, responding to each variation along the way in a separate track.

That disc brought Tepfer global acclaim, and the project remains one of his most requested from presenters worldwide. So it should come as no surprise that it’s the main feature of his free, virtual concert on the Tri-C Classical Piano Series this Sunday, April 18 at 2:00 pm. (Click here at start time.) In addition to excerpts from the Bach, and of course the corresponding improvisations, the program also includes three of his original compositions.

I reached the New York City-based musician by email, and we began by discussing a blog post of his that delves into his journey with the Goldberg Variations.

Jarrett Hoffman: You write about how, in order for your improvisations to stand up next to the variations, they needed to be “concise and focused; they needed to get to the point, all while remaining personal.” Is it difficult to balance spontaneity with getting to the point?

Dan Tepfer: Yes, this is one of the most interesting challenges of this project. To remain authentically spontaneous and let things go where they want to go in the moment, all while staying conscious of the overall frame so that we don’t get lost in the weeds.

[Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano: Caroline Oltmanns (Mar. 21)

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by Jarrett Hoffman

When my colleagues and I have the opportunity to both interview and review an artist, it becomes interesting to see whether the ideas behind their program translate to the actual performance. Sometimes, from my perspective, they don’t, but the concert might still flourish in some other, unforeseen way.

And occasionally, everything comes together brilliantly, almost exactly the way the artist described. That was the case with Caroline Oltmanns’ online recital for the Tri-C Classical Piano Series on March 21, which she pre-recorded at home for the occasion.

[Read more…]

Caroline Oltmanns next up in Tri-C Classical Piano Series 

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by Mike Telin

If there was a day and time made for piano recitals, it might be Sunday afternoon. “I like Horowitz’s idea of 4:00 pm Sunday recitals,” pianist Caroline Oltmanns said during a telephone conversation. “3:00 is great, 2:00 is great — those are like the golden hours.”

On Sunday, March 21 at 2:00 pm, Oltmanns will present a free, pre-recorded online recital as part of the Tri-C Classical Piano Series. The program will include works by Debussy, Gulda, Wilding, and Beethoven. Click here at start time.

When asked about the music, the pianist said she wanted to play pieces that were “festive, colorful, and sunny.” She also wanted the program to have a minimal amount of fuss. “There will be very short introductions before each part of the recital — I don’t want to say a lot unless I actually have something to say.”

Oltmanns will open her program with five of Debussy’s Preludes. “I wanted this set to have a crescendo,” she said. “‘Bruyeres’ is so gentle and one of my favorites.” (View a preview video of Bruyères here.)

In addition to being beautiful pieces, “Le Vent dans la Plaine,” “Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest,” and “Voiles” are part of Oltmanns’ current recording project. “I’m in the final stages of my next album, which is all about wind,” she said. The set will conclude with “Feux d’Artifices” (‘Fireworks’). [Read more…]

Aaron Diehl works his magic in Tri-C Classical Piano Series (Feb. 21)

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by Mike Telin

Aaron Diehl is a magnificent pianist. He possesses an innate sense of rhythm and musical line. Everything he plays has purpose. Every note he plays sparkles. 

On February 21, the Tri-C Classical Piano Series showcased the Columbus, Ohio native during a virtual concert celebrating Black History Month. The performance was pre-recorded in the auditorium at Tri-C Metro Campus.

[Read more…]

Pompa-Baldi & Friscioni open Tri-C Classical Piano Series

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by Daniel Hathaway

The annual quartet of free concerts presented on the Tri-C Classical Piano Series usually happens at the Cleveland Museum of Art, taking profit of the crowds that show up early on Sunday afternoons to entice museumgoers to make a detour into Gartner Auditorium during their visit.

Although the Museum had just opened again earlier in the week, in-person concerts were not on the agenda. Instead, Classical Piano Series director Emanuela Friscioni and her husband Antonio Pompa-Baldi invited a virtual audience into their handsome, sun-dappled music room for an intimate, exquisitely-played program of four-hand piano works by Schubert and Debussy topped off with the premiere of a new work by their fellow Italian, Luca Moscardi. [Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano Series: Pierre Réach at CMA (Feb. 9)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Musicians love a good metaphor: take, for instance, that of summiting a mountain. When a violinist speaks this way after playing all of Bach’s partitas, or a soprano recalls preparations for a Wagner opera, the image of the artist mounting some hostile peak offers implications of persistence, struggle, and of course triumph. Pianists might describe Beethoven’s sonatas this way. But how many have actually played at the top of a mountain? Archival video confirms that French pianist Pierre Réach literalized this image of the soloist at the summit over twenty years ago. A recent concert in Cleveland confirmed that the figurative Everest of Beethoven’s piano music still bears his banner as well. [Read more…]

Tri-C Classical Piano Series: Soyeon Kate Lee at CMA (Nov. 24)

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by Nicholas Stevens

On Sunday, November 24 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the audience in Gartner Auditorium clustered to the left, embracing the asymmetry typical of a piano recital. Yet if one shape came to mind repeatedly during the program, it was the ultimate figure of symmetry: the circle. Soloist Soyeon Kate Lee would come full circle that day, playing Mozart sixteen years after winning the Mozart Prize at the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition. [Read more…]

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