Read the review on the new Cincinnati Business Courier Arts Front, which made its debut yesterday. (See the previous post.)
And here’s the review to Audra McDonald’s concert with the Pops on Sunday night.
Several times per month, I will be reviewing for their new arts page, which is free online.
I’m happy to announce that I will have a weekly column in the Cincinnati Business Courier, which has made an unprecedented commitment to cover the arts. One of my first articles explains why Cincinnati is suddenly getting noticed as a destination.
And here’s my introduction. You can read the new arts page today in print, or online, a new feature called “Arts Front.” There you’ll also find ArtsWave’s calendar and much more. A few times a month, I will be reviewing classical music events there, too.
The new arts page will be FREE to read online.
I’m also happy to say that I’ll continue my relationship with Cincinnati Public Radio, and my blog will remain right here, at WGUC.org.
Thanks for reading!
Perhaps you saw the news this week that Chinese officials are angered that someone has vandalized a Chinese terracotta warrior currently on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Although the incident occurred in December, museum officials didn’t become aware of it until January.
It is not the same exhibition that will travel to Cincinnati Art Museum, “Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China” (April 20-Aug. 12).
According to reports, a 24-year-old Delaware man was attending an after-hours “Ugly Sweater” Christmas party at the Philadelphia museum, when he managed to take a “selfie” and allegedly also break off and steal the thumb of one of the statues. The FBI tracked him down and charged him with theft. That particular warrior is estimated to be worth $4.5 million.Read More »
Women in music will be celebrated in — at last count — three local events in March, Women’s History Month.
Salon 21 is a series of intimate recitals, often held in people’s living rooms or other small venues, in the style of the 19th-century salon. For International Women’s Day, March 8 – an observance that goes back to 1911 in America — Salon 21 will host a concert with pianist Brianna Matzke playing a program of music written by female composers with a Cincinnati connection.Read More »
Pianist Jeffrey Kahane wowed in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. But it was his surprising encore that left the evening’s most indelible impression.
He made no announcement. But his somber, reflective improvisation on “America the Beautiful” felt like a memorial to the victims of the horrible events that had unfolded two days earlier in a Florida high school. The tune rested briefly in the minor mode before ending quietly. It was heartfelt and moving, and listeners stood in appreciation.Read More »
My musical experiences last weekend ranged from hearing Early Baroque music played on the theorbo to attending Cincinnati Ballet’s groundbreaking “Carmina Burana” in Music Hall.Read More »
You may not know it, but Cincinnati has a thriving early music scene. With the Cincinnati Early Music Celebration in full swing, there’s no better time to sample it than this month.
Early music can be described as music written before 1750 from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Practitioners try to perform it as authentically as possible on period instruments, such as lute, viola da gamba, recorder and harpsichord.
“We are spotlighting groups that do this,” said Christopher Wilke, organizer of this year’s Cincinnati Early Music Celebration. “We are not served by the mainstream classical community. It just falls between the cracks of what we know in America as classical music.”Read More »
It’s hard to fathom how Dmitri Shostakovich managed to write his Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad,” during wartime, even as the Nazis advanced and people were starving to death in his besieged city. In its first Leningrad performance, the players were given extra rations just to get through the 70-minute work.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the sprawling, grandiose Seventh Symphony under Juanjo Mena would have made a powerful impact even without knowing that story. Its war-like imagery — incessant drumming, trumpet fanfares, explosive outbursts in the brass and cynical themes in the winds — was brought vividly to life in Friday’s performance in Music Hall.Read More »
Korea-born conductor Eun Sun Kim will make her Cincinnati May Festival debut on May 18, replacing James Levine, who was previously announced to open the season. The Cincinnati May Festival made the announcement on Thursday.
She will be the first woman to lead the festival in its 145-year history. The program is unchanged. Kim will lead the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Music Hall. Read More »
ArtsWave has set a goal of $12,250,000 for its annual campaign to be raised between now and April 26.
The goal is on par with last year and, if met, will continue to be the largest united appeal for the arts campaign in the nation.Read More »
