Yvonne Kalman Archives - Cleveland Classical

Ohio Light Opera: Yvonne Kálmán, A Link to the Silver Age of Operetta

July 26, 2023 by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

After the Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas, the most frequently performed titles by Ohio Light Opera in the last four decades have been those of the Viennese composer Emmerich Kálmán. This summer, Arizona Lady marks the 14th Kálmán operetta OLO has produced, and the composer’s daughter Yvonne, who now lives in Mexico, is in town to see it. I caught up with her by telephone for a chat that covered a lot of ground in half an hour.

Daniel Hathaway: Are you enjoying your visit to Wooster?

Yvonne Kálmán: Very much. I love it here. I’ve been here many times. They’ve done 14 of my father’s operettas. I haven’t been to all, but I’ve been to several, and I’ve enjoyed it very much. I’ve made some wonderful friends here and love coming back.

DH: OLO’s a great company, isn’t it?

YK: It’s the best. The works are performed with complete devotion, and they bring out the best of the author’s intentions.

DH: And I think they’ve done more of your father’s operettas than those of any other composer.

YK: Well, I’m very happy about that, but we’re not over yet. They have three more to do, and then I want them to start back at number one. [Read more…]

Singers’ Club of Cleveland: To Dwell in Harmony (Dec. 9)

by Kevin McLaughlin

The Singers’ Club of Cleveland brought the joy of the season to Trinity Cathedral on Tuesday evening with a program titled To Dwell in Harmony, a holiday offering both polished and good-humored. The venerable all-male chorus — whose lineage stretches back to 1891 and includes collaborations with conductors from Beryl Rubinstein to Robert Shaw — now finds itself under new leadership.

Christopher Clark, appointed in August as Artistic Director (while serving concurrently as Director of Choirs at Case Western Reserve University), led his first Singers’ Club concert with easy command. The chorus appeared to trust him from the first downbeat, and the audience received him just as warmly.

Trinity Cathedral, whose acoustics can flatter or expose a chorus in equal measure, proved an asset. The evening opened with one of its most effective moments: Veni, Veni Emmanuel in John Englert’s arrangement. Clark placed the choir on three sides of the audience, creating a surround-sound of chant that was silky and assured — a confident beginning. [Read on…]

Les Délices welcomes the festive season with “Noel, Noel” (Dec. 7)

by Stephanie Manning

Once December kicks in, an almost overwhelming number of holiday programs pop up around Northeast Ohio. But Les Délices’ offering should draw your attention.

While other festive concerts may create the atmosphere of a bustling party by the fireplace, “Noel, Noel” is like observing a snowy evening from the warmth of the indoors. This is music best enjoyed in quiet contentment, and especially live — so it’s no surprise that the early music ensemble brought back this signature program for three performances this month.

On December 7 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the six-member group presented a lovely ninety-minute program, which is also available on CD and via streaming until the end of the year. [Read on…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: In Four Voices (Dec. 3)

by Kevin McLaughlin

Renaissance polyphony can bloom in resonant spaces, but the Donna and James Reid Gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art presents particular challenges: hard surfaces and a long reverb tend to blur consonants into watercolor. The Cleveland Chamber Choir’s four-voice ensemble met those conditions head-on during its “In Four Voices” program on December 3. What emerged was an evening of consistently beautiful vocal timbre shaped by a group navigating the sonic characteristics of the room.

The concert, to be followed in January and March by appearances of various-sized ensembles, is part of a new development for the Cleveland Chamber Choir, called the Camerata Series — more information here.

To improve their chances of hearing one another, the quartet — soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr, tenor Joel Kincannon, and bass Dominic Aragon — stood in a traditional “part book” formation, like a diamond, facing inward. This meant that their sound was directed toward each other, rather than outward to the listeners around them. [Read on…]

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