Category: Chamber music

Post-Covid Fall season in full swing

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Pianist Daniil Trifonov takes bows at last weekend’s MusicNOW Festival at the CSO

After 18 months of virtual and a few outdoor performances, Cincinnati is back to live, in-person performances. Most arts organizations are requiring masking and proof of vaccine or testing to enter theaters. (Here are the rules.) So far, people are flocking back, and the ones I’ve met are happy to be back.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has been performing mini-festivals of new music over the last two weekends.

Here are links to my impressions of the CSO/MusicNOW Festival, founded by Bryce Dessner (who unfortunately was not in town), and an avant-garde program led by creative director Matthias Pintscher.

MusicNOW with Bonny Light Horseman and Daniil Trifonov

Trifonov and Louis Langree/Mark Lyons photo

MusicNOW with So percussion and Daniil Trifonov

Contemporary Colors, hailing the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial.

All were late additions to the calendar, as the CSO won’t launch its subscription season until Oct. 29-30. Watch for a preview about their season later this month in the Business Courier.

The Cincinnati Pops has some “extras,” this fall, as well. John Morris Russell will lead an American program commemorating voting rights for women with singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, Oct. 19 in Music Hall. Info here: cincinnatisymphony.org/pops.

Yesterday, the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame presented an induction ceremony for its sixth class of inductees, at Mount St. Joseph University. Read more here about that organization and how V. Kay Casey came to found it.

Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame sponsors a program for young jazz musicians, who play “Jazz at Dusk” around town — seen here at Caffe Vivace in Walnut HIlls

Also this weekend, the 108th season of Matinee Musicale opened in Memorial Hall. I’ll be writing more about that soon… as well as some of my thoughts about the innovative programs of Chamber Music Cincinnati coming up soon.

 

Q&A with Sujari Britt

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Sujari Britt performs the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations 8 p.m. August 6 at Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. She returns at 4 p.m. Aug. 8, Moonlite Pavilion, Coney Island for “Restorative Strings”

I caught up with rising star cellist Sujari Britt, who has been studying in Finland, via email in time to ask a few questions before she makes her Cincinnati debut with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra next weekend, Aug. 6 and 8.

Question: Please tell us a little bit about your musical journey. Why did you decide to study cello in Finland at the Sibelius Academy?

Answer: I began my cello travels at the age 4 after studying for a bit on piano and violin. At age 20, it is humbling to reflect that for the past decade-and-a-half I have devoted my time to exploring classical cello literature, techniques and approaches.

I believe it is time well-spent! I remain grateful for the incredible support and guidance of my early studies with Professor Marion Feldman (Manhattan School of Music, NYC). I met my current instructor, Professor Martti Rousi  (Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland) when he visited MSM for a master class. We were mutually enthralled, and I am thoroughly enjoying my tenure at Sibelius.

Q: How have you gotten through the pandemic, with your studies and performances? 

A: COVID-19 has rocked our planet. The health crisis has been far-reaching in distance, and its impact likely will reverberate for time to come. Our world has shifted due to this illness. Across the globe we have suffered from loss, grief, fear, change. On one hand, COVID-19 surfaced the swirling of not knowing; distrusting, and feeling unsafe, uncertain, alone. For many, solitude, loneliness, and panic became our sole companions.

On another hand, the health crisis seemed to pummel us with warning of our need for each other; for kindness, truth, and humanity. I am fortunate to have toughed-out this pandemic in the company of friends, and in the presence of strangers who paused to notice our shared want.

When the pandemic began in earnest, I was on tour in the states. Having completed a few community events, a decision was made to postpone the main concert and remaining events to protect the audience and musicians. That was March 2020. I am thrilled for the upcoming concert with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra to once again see eyes and know the ears, hearts, and minds that share the space of sound with me.  I look forward with hope.

Q: The CCO season shines a light on musicians and composers of color, as well as on women. How do you think concert programs and even classical music institutions are changing, or will change in the future?

A: I genuinely appreciate CCO’s focus on emerging representatives of our shared joy for the classics. To my mind, the wider we open the door, the braver will be the talent, and the deeper the joy at the shattering of glass ceilings.Read More »

CCM welcomes new performing faculty members

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Kristin Lee; photo by Sophie Zhai

The College-Conservatory of Music at UC has been busy adding faculty members recently. Dean Stanley Romanstein announced these prominent new profs this week:

Kristin Lee has been appointed Assistant Professor of Violin beginning Aug. 15, 2021. She is a recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, as well as a top prizewinner of the 2012 Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists’ 2010 National Auditions.

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Live and in-person shows, finally

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CSO audiences and musicians have been greatly socially distanced for this spring’s in-person shows.

I am one of the lucky people who has been able to see live, in-person concerts at Music Hall as organizations have begun opening up now that Covid appears to be waning.

Cincinnati is one of the first cities in the nation to welcome people back into the concert hall, albeit with plenty of Covid mitigation. I have to admit, for my first visit back to Music Hall — even before the vaccine became available to most people — I had some trepidation. But the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as well CAA, which oversees Music Hall, have taken excellent precautions. With all of the social distancing in a 2200+ seat hall, an audience of 300 seemed pretty sparse. And with 90-minute concerts and no intermission, I barely encountered anyone at all. Just parked the car, donned a mask, saw the concert and left.

I loved this concert featuring Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde.” And how great that the orchestra made it available free for streaming a few weeks later.

Mandy Gaines

Now that the state is allowing 30% of hall capacity to be seated, it is nice to see up to 500 people. It really does make a difference, and I’m sure it does to the musicians, as well. Here’s my review of the Pops last weekend with Cincinnati treasure Mandy Gaines and that terrific singer Darius de Haas.

Melissa White made her subscription debut in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, “Strasbourg.”

And here’s my report of Louis Langrée’s Mozart festival with the CSO, the first time nearly 500 were allowed attend.

Thankfully, we have had our art museums to visit over the pandemic. Now, we can look forward to the May Festival — a slimmed-down version of that massive choral experience, of course. Read about it here.

And Cincinnati Opera will return as well, although not in Music Hall but at Summit Park, on land that was formerly the Blue Ash Airport. (Years ago, I met a relative there, who was delivering us a cello on his private plane… ) Here’s the story.

And yes, theater is returning too. Playhouse in the Park will seat reduced audiences for two productions this spring, and also offers some outdoor events. Here’s the announcement.

Cincinnati Ballet will begin moving into its new, $30.8 million home in Walnut Hills this June. (Click here to read about it.) The company has done an admiral job presenting both outdoor and indoor performances during the pandemic.

All of these organizations have had to toss out their planned seasons and re-imagine them with new productions and concert programs.

I admire CCM for putting together an imaginative performance series online. I have enjoyed myriad virtual shows over the past year. But there is nothing like experiencing a performance live and in person.

We’ve all missed all of it, terribly. I feel grateful to live in a city where arts leaders are creatively and safely reopening to allow in-person experiences.

 

 

Eiji Hashimoto was a virtuoso and scholar of the harpsichord

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Eiji Hashimoto

Eiji Hashimoto is remembered by his students and colleagues as as a brilliant performer, a distinguished scholar of baroque music and a dedicated teacher of the harpsichord.

Mr. Hashimoto died in Cincinnati on Jan. 14 at the age of 89.

“His legacy is great,” said Michael Unger, associate professor of organ and harpsichord at CCM. “He had a strong reputation in the harpsichord world, and he leaves behind a rich legacy among his former colleagues and students at CCM. His name is still remembered well for his long and distinguished work at CCM as a teacher, harpsichordist and director of ensembles dedicated to eighteenth-century music.”

In 1968, while on a concert tour of the United States, Mr. Hashimoto, a native of Japan, was invited by the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music to establish a harpsichord program at the school. He served for 33 years on the faculty until 2001, when he became professor emeritus.

Quiet and unassuming, Mr. Hashimoto built a distinguished academic and performing career over three decades. As a soloist, he dazzled audiences in more than 50 international tours, and made numerous recordings in the U.S. and Japan. His own editions of baroque music for the keyboard are highly regarded.

Between 1968 and 1986, Mr. Hashimoto performed many times with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as a guest artist and soloist. In the ’80s, he was the orchestra’s official harpsichordist under the tenure of music director Michael Gielen, and performed J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with him in Music Hall.

Mr. Hashimoto also performed under maestros Max Rudolf and Thomas Schippers, as well as at the Cincinnati May Festival under the legendary Robert Shaw. He recalled to me in an interview that Schippers loved 18th-century music and “needed me all the time” for Handel and Bach oratorios and concerti grossi. He also performed a contemporary harpsichord work by Ned Rorem during that time.Read More »

CCM’s Moveable Feast is virtual this year

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Students of CCM’s Musical Theatre Class of 2022 and alumni guest artists Noah J. Ricketts, John Riddle, Nikki René Daniels, Leslie Kritzer and Stephanie Jae Park. (Screen grab provided by CCM)

If you’ve ever attended a Moveable Feast, the imaginative fundraising event at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, you’ve probably never forgotten it. The idea is to stroll from theater to theater, classroom to classroom, and sample the amazing talent of students in every discipline — from ballet to jazz to scenic design and media arts. You do this while also sampling “dinner by the bite” in wonderful food stations throughout the building.

This year, with Covid, Moveable Feast is re-imagined as a virtual event on Jan. 22. Although there won’t be the thrill of rushing down hallways with dozens of other people to make it in time to a see some Broadway hits before you dash away to catch ballet students in a scene from “Swan Lake” — the event will be able to involve viewers around the country.

It’s presented by CCM Power, a volunteer group of friends, advocates and alumni. The event provides essential support for student scholarships, projects and travel opportunities.  This year, COVID-19 cancelled paid work that students rely on and drastically changed students’ family financial circumstances. Scholarship and emergency funds are needed now more than ever.

CCM has produced major stars of stage and screen — from Broadway and Carnegie Hall to Hollywood. Alumni guest artists for the show will include stars of Hamilton, Frozen, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Netflix’s Dead to Me and much more.

Edward Nelson Highlight Screen – This image features CCM alumnus Edward Nelson performing “Someone to Watch Over Me” for CCM’s virtual Moveable Feast. He is Accompanied by San Francisco Opera guest artist Ronny Michael Greenberg, piano. (Screen grab provided by CCM)

Opera alumnus Edward Nelson (BM, ’11; MM, ‘13) wanted to participate because, he says, “At every step further into my career, I have found myself drawing on my experiences and education from CCM. When the opportunity arose this year to give back to the institution that has given me so much, I jumped on board without hesitation.”Read More »

Vienna Boys Choir on a virtual Christmas tour

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Vienna Boys Choir, photo by Lukas Beck

One of the favorite memories of my music journalism career was visiting the Vienna Boys Choir in their school in the lovely Augarten Palace in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. At the time, the famed boy choir had some Cincinnati Boychoir members.

The legendary choir is prized worldwide for the pure tone of its young singers, who, pre-pandemic, carried on a busy world tour schedule. They have appeared in Cincinnati multiple times. This holiday season, with 300 concerts canceled for the ensemble, they have created a beautiful online program: “Vienna Boys Choir: Silent Night.”

Their “World Online Tour” can be followed on idagio, where you can register free, and then purchase concerts. This one, which is about an hour long, costs $9.90, and is available until 5:59 p.m. Dec. 31. Click here to book. 

Their selections are lovely — including Es ist ein Ros´entsprungen (Lo, how a rose e’er blooming), Max Reger’s serene lullaby Maria Wiegenlied (Mary’s lullaby) and of course Still Nacht (Silent Night).

Because of stay-at-home orders, the concert is streamed from the palace’s state rooms, which have baroque architectural features, and there are also some outdoor scenes. All four of the tour choirs perform. The sound is exceptional.

The choir’s dramaturg, Dr. Tina Breckwoldt, writes from Vienna: “Our holiday offering is a traditional German/Austrian selection, for that feeling of warmth and gemütlichkeit. The boys are singing around a Christmas tree, decorated with real candles, apples, and gingerbread (some gingerbread choristers as well).”

Don’t miss the snowball fight in the gardens at the end as the credits roll.

The year in review in the arts

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The CSO’s first digital experiment last spring in Music Hall was music for four musicians.

What a year! If you’re a musician or a music fan, you probably remember the last live concert you attended or performed before Covid-19 shut down the country in March. Mine was on March 10: My granddaughter’s middle school orchestra concert.

Looking back, I realized that my annual “best of the year” in performances could only apply to the 10 weeks before we were locked down. So I wrote my Year in Review column for the Business Courier in two parts, as BC — Before Covid — and after.

Soprano Angel Blue wowed in Barber in a CSO livestream.

There were some unforgettable shows during both periods. In the second half — a season of screens — I am still enthralled by the Sept. 26 CSO digital program streamed from Music Hall, conducted by Louis Langrée. Gorgeous-voiced soprano Angel Blue gave an emotional performance of Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” a piece rarely heard. And what a treat it was to hear Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” as originally scored for 13 instruments.

And in a rare live performance by Cincinnati Ballet outdoors at Sawyer Point, I loved a new work for four dancers, choreographed (and danced) to Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat (fourth movement) by soloist David

Cincinnati Ballet danced at Sawyer Point

Morse. It was thrilling to see the exuberance and strength, the lifts and turns of the entire company. The program was enhanced by performances by a CSO quartet and Cincinnati Opera singers Victoria Okafor and Maria Miller.

You can read that column here (it’s free).

Earlier this year, local critic and retired opera singer Rafael de Acha asked people in the arts to answer the question, “What have you been during during the pandemic?” for his blog, rafaelmusicnotes.com.

I thank him for that, because it made me look back at how I had the opportunity to document the impact of the pandemic on our arts community in the pages of the Business Courier. Here is some of that column:Read More »

Join the Ariel Quartet for Hanukkah special — food and music

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The Ariel Quartet
Photo by Marco Borggreve

Who doesn’t love Viennese apple strudel and chocolate babka? The Ariel Quartet—violinist Alexandra “Sasha” Kazovsky; violinist Gershon Gerchikov; cellist Amit Even-Tov, and violist Jan Grüning—invites you to celebrate Hanukkah with an afternoon of music and holiday baking today, December 13 at 4 pm ET. The delicious and musical interactive livestream event is free to those who sign up at https://ourconcerts.live/shows/hanukkah and will be produced by OurConcerts.live.

The Ariel Quartet — Quartet in Residence at CCM — will perform Schulhoff’s String Quartet No. 1; Beethoven: Quartet in G major, Op. 18, No. 2, and Steve Cohen’s “A Klezmer Nutcracker,” live from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

They’ll also share their family recipes for making Viennese Apple Strudel and Chocolate Babka, and there will even be a bake-off matching up Lebkuchen and Hanukkah doughnuts.

Friends since their early teenage years in Israel, Kazovsky, Gerchikov, and Even-Tov formed the ensemble two decades ago as young students at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance. Violist Jan Grüning joined in 2011. Today, the Ariel Quartet is distinguished by its virtuosity, probing musical insight, and impassioned, fiery performances, and has earned praise and fans worldwide.

The bake-off promises to show a “much sillier side of our friendship,” says Even-Tov.

“Hanukkah encourages each of us to find a way to radiate light into the world, and it’s in that same spirit that inspires that openness with which we try to approach our music-making and our relationships with each other, our audience, and the world beyond us. In our sound you can hear that we have been friends for a very long time,” she said.

The livestream is free.

Three Halloween shows — from virtual to in-person

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KSO musicians

J.R. Cassidy, music director of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, wins the prize for most creativity during Covid in finding an indoor venue big enough for a live orchestra concert with social distancing.

The KSO will be opening its 29th season on Halloween night in an industrial warehouse in Hebron, KY.

“Keeping musicians employed and playing during the Covid crisis requires following safety guidelines that are nearly impossible to enact within traditional auditorium settings,” says Cassidy, in his release.

A warehouse is the concert hall this weekend for the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

So the resourceful conductor looked for an unconventional space. Verst Group Logistics generously offered the Symphony the use of its Hebron warehouse. It has the square footage of a football field and 40-foot high ceilings to address adequate distancing and circulation concerns.

But that’s not all. An orchestra needs rehearsals. The City of Bellevue helped out for a single rehearsal at the former Joe’s Crab Shak.

The program, “Strings Noir,” is a Halloween mix of string classics that should provide a good scare for musicians and audience alike, Cassidy says. The music includes Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No.3; Arnold Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1943 revised); Bernard Hermann’s Suite from Pyscho; and Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge.Read More »