by Daniel Hathaway
Shortest month? In terms of days, sure, but February can be psychologically endless. Here are just a handful of events to enjoy and take our minds off the fact that winter has dug in and the pandemic is still a daily concern.
New this month: fans of silent films from the era that required the services of live musicians will be delighted with the debut of the Cleveland Silent Film Festival, which launches from the Hermit Club on Sunday, February 13. Violinist Isabel Trautwein and other members of The Cleveland Orchestra will join Rodney Sauer, music director of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, in presenting a concert of chamber works by Cleveland native and film music pioneer John Stepan Zamecnik (1872–1953) and his mentor, a fellow named Antonín Dvořák.
The Festival continues with the results of an Oberlin Winter Term class on the art of locating, choosing, arranging, and performing historic silent movie music. Several films will be screened at the Cleveland Cinematheque later in February with accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
Opera fans can look forward to February student productions at Kent State (Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appetit (1989) that sets music to Julia Child’s own words from The French Chef television series, and Jacques Offenbach’s A Musical Evening at the Choufleuris) and the premiere of Matthew Recio & Royce Vavrek’s The Puppy Episode at Oberlin, directed by Christopher Mirto.
Operas in Place will feature nine newly commissioned Micro Operas, a co-production between Baldwin Wallace Voice Performance, Cleveland Opera Theater, and On Site Opera, all delivered online on three adjacent evenings.
Apollo’s Fire will revive Jeannette Sorrell’s 2017 version of Handel’s Israel in Egypt, which condenses its graphic depictions of the plagues sent down on Egypt to under two hours. Ironically postponed due to more recent outbreaks of pestilence the show opens next week for four area performances.
The 2022 edition of the Cleveland Cello Society’s i Cellisti will feature Khari Joyner, recently-arrived cello professor at Baldwin Wallace University, and cello ensemble performances by studios of Bryan Dumm and Ida Mercer at Case Western Reserve University, Brian Snow at Bowling Green State University, Khari Joyner at Baldwin Wallace University, and Mingyao Zhao at Wooster College. The evening will culminate in a performance by a “side-by-side” ensemble of 24 area cellists — members of The Cleveland Orchestra, teachers, students, and amateurs, performing Suite by Baroque composer David Funck, and DMO, a jazz-influenced work by Shirl Jae Atwell.
Visitors to Severance Music Center include conductors John Adams, Herbert Blomstedt, Sefane Deneve, conductor-pianist Mitsuko Uchida, pianist Jeremy Denk, and soprano Fatma Said (with The Cleveland Orchestra), and pianist Yaron Kohlberg and vocalists Evelyn Wright and Michael Preacely (with Cleveland Pops).
Other visiting artists include violinist Joshua Bell and soprano Larisa Martinez with pianist Peter Dugan on Akron’s Tuesday Musical Series, and pianist Michelle Cann with the Cavani Quartet (opening the Arts Renaissance Tremont series at St. Wendelin Church.
String quartets on tour include Cuarteto Latinoamericano (at Youngstown State) and Cuarteto Casals (Cleveland Chamber Music Society series).
And Les Délices returns to Live Performances with Gods & Heroes, offering tales of Trojan heroes, Greek gods and goddesses, and King Arthur’s Knights of the Roundtable through medieval song. Watch the Concert Listings for details.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com January 19, 2022.
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