United States Julian Anderson, Mozart, Brahms: Richard Goode (piano), Cleveland Orchestra / Mikko Franck (conductor) Severance Hall, Cleveland, 7.12.2017. (MSJ)
Mark S Jordan
Elusive New Piano Concerto Precedes Grandiose Bruckner
United States Sciarrino, Bruckner: Jonathan Biss (piano), Cleveland Orchestra / Fabio Luisi (conductor) Severance Hall, Cleveland, 30.11.2017. (MSJ)
Unusual Holiday Journey from Apollo’s Singers and Soloists, Spanning the Atlantic
United States Various composers, Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain: A Celtic-Appalachian Celebration: Amanda Powell (soprano), Ross Hauck (tenor), with Molly Netter (soprano) and Jeffrey Strauss (baritone), and Apollo’s Singers / Jeannette Sorrell (conductor), Apollo’s Fire. St. Peter’s Church, Mansfield, Ohio, 29.11.2017. (MSJ)
A Rare Paulus Organ Concerto, and a Sea of Coughing
United States Copland, Paulus, Tchaikovsky: Paul Jacobs (organ), Cleveland Orchestra / Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor), Severance Hall, Cleveland, 24.11.2017. (MSJ)
A Composer’s Call for Environmental Change
United States Margaret Brouwer: Angela Mitchell (soprano), Merav Eldan (mezzo-soprano), Brian Skoog (tenor), Bryant Bush (bass), Oberlin Musical Union (Gregory Ristow, director), Cleveland Institute of Music Children’s Choir (Jennifer Call, director), Blue Streak Ensemble / Domenico Boyagian (conductor). Breen Center for the Arts, Cleveland, Ohio, 12.11.2017. (MSJ)
(c) Classical Music Communications
‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’: Nicholas Phan’s Tale in Homage to Schubert
United States Thomas Morley, William Lawes, Robert Johnson, John Blow, Nicholas Lanier, Henry Purcell, John Dowland, Alfonso Ferrabosco – A Painted Tale: Members of Apollo’s Fire: Johanna Novom and Evan Few (violins), René Schiffer and Ann Marie Morgan (violas da gamba, cello), William Simms and Charles Weaver (lutes) / Nicholas Phan (tenor and director). First United Methodist Church, Akron, Ohio, 9.11.2017. (MSJ)
Ashkenazy Makes Elgar Easy As ‘Pi’
United States Elgar, Beethoven: Emmanuel Ax (piano), Cleveland Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy (conductor), Severance Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, 3.11.2017. (MSJ)
Composer Speaks Up for the Environment: An Interview with Margaret Brouwer
Mark Sebastian Jordan Encounters Margaret Brouwer
American composer Margaret Brouwer will be premiering an oratorio, Voice of the Lake, on November 12 in Cleveland. Though she grew up in Michigan, the composer now lives near Lake Erie in Ohio, where she served as head of the composition department of the Cleveland Institute of Music until 2008. By her own reckoning, she has a special relationship with nature in general, and water in particular, which is reflected in many of her pieces.
(c) Christian Steiner