Tristan and Isolde Archives - Cleveland Classical

McCalmont’s List 9: Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Transfiguration from Tristan and Isolde (1859)

July 18, 2016 by Neil McCalmont

by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series

Genre: Prelude – an introduction to a work, in this case, an opera. (the Transfiguration is the final scene from the opera)
Scoring: Large Orchestra and Soprano soloist
Era: High Romantic
Length: 20 minutes
Will you recognize it? You’ll wish you did
Recommended Recordings: Karl Böhm, Birgit Nilsson, and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra; or Otto Klemperer, Christa Ludwig, and the Philharmonia Orchestra

Composer: Richard Wagner (1813-1883) (pronounced VOG-ner). Wagner was the most important German opera composer of all time (Mozart was Austrian), as well as one of the most controversial figures in Western culture. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

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