Cristian Macelaru conducting Shostakovich/Photo provided by CSO
Besides great performances in Cincinnati, 2024 was a year of anniversaries, historic firsts, farewells and new beginnings. In some instances, there was news-making connected with these performances. In chronological order:
1) Last February, when he led a thrilling and revelatory performance of Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 11 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, we didn’t yet know that Cristian Macelaru would be announced as the 14th CSO music director. The conductor riveted listeners in Music Hall when he led Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, “The Year 1905.” He moved little as he led Shostakovich’s vast symphonic canvas, but the sheer visceral impact of this performance lingered long afterward. The orchestra’s musicians were impressed. For Macelaru, the feeling was mutual, he said in April, when his appointment was announced. Macelaru returns for his only performances with the CSO this season in February. And in other CSO leadership news, the CSO announced that President and CEO Jonathan Martin will retire Feb. 16. Robert McGrath, the CSO’s chief operating officer, will then step in as acting president and CEO.Read More »
Cincinnati Ballet predicts it will shatter attendance records for its annual production of “The Nutcracker,” Dec. 15-24 in Music Hall. The company projects more than 25,000 patrons will see the holiday favorite over the course of the production run. Several performances are nearly sold out, the company said in a release today.
There is lots to enjoy in the sumptuous production staged in 2011 by former Artistic Director Victoria Morgan, featuring dancing cupcakes, a battle of mice and a poodle ensemble dancing the “Dance of the Mirlitons.” Fiona the Hippo continues to appear in the production. This year, audiences should play close attention to the second act for a special nod to her new baby brother, Fritz.
In the charming tale, Clara embarks on a dreamy journey to the Land of Sweets after receiving a nutcracker as a gift on Christmas Eve. The large cast includes dozens of local performers alongside Cincinnati Ballet’s superb professional company.
Part of the joy of this production is hearing the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the pit, performing Tchaikovsky’s score conducted by the legendary Carmon DeLeone. Times vary. Tickets: 513-621-5282; cballet.org.
View of the CSO performing a livestreamed concert in Nov. 2020
I’ll never forget the fear in the eyes of both performers and audience members in the first few live, indoor performances I saw in the early months of the pandemic in 2020. We were masked, spaced vastly apart and there was no intermission to avoid viral spread. Otherwise, many performances were livestreamed online, with musicians masked and separated by space and screens.
Then in 2021, as vaccines became available and theaters began to reopen to full audiences, there was elation and relief by many who were able to finally attend a show in person.
Every concert, play, ballet or art exhibition I attended in 2021 was deeply moving because it showed the perseverance of artists — indeed of all humanity — during this unprecedented time. I feel that we’ve come a long way.
Now, we are buffeted again by the Omicron variant. Just announced, there are at least two museum “pauses” (Cincinnati Art Museum is closed Jan. 3-12 and the Taft Museum of Art is closed Jan. 3-13).
“Hairspray” is postponed to a later date due to Covid in the cast.
There are also a few postponed performances. At the Aronoff Center, “Hairspray” scheduled to play January 4 – 9, 2022 is being rescheduled due to breakthrough positive Covid cases within the company of “Hairspray.” Ticket holders are encouraged to hold onto their tickets while the engagement is being rescheduled.
At Music Hall, the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati is postponing its January 8 and 9 performances of “The Song Among Us” to a later date, to be announced. The release states that the postponement “is prompted by production challenges exacerbated by the recent rise in positive Covid cases across the nation.” Ticket holders may complete this form or call the box office at 513-381-3300 for ticket options, including donations, exchanges, and refunds.
I prefer to see the glass half full. I believe we will get through this, and the arts will persevere.
Singers Michelle DeYoung and Sean Panikkar share bows in Mahler’s “The Song of the Earth” with the CSO. (Photo by Lee Snow)
I wrote a list of some of my favorite performances in 2021 in a column for the Business Courier. My list begins with Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Music Hall last March, and ends with “The Marriage of Figaro” at CCM in November. I’d like to know some of yours, too. (Let me know here, or on Facebook.)
And looking ahead, here is my list of “best bets” in 2022. It’s really just a broad sweep — because there are so many chamber music, vocal concerts, art exhibitions and dance performances that have yet to be announced. I think we have a lot to anticipate.
Verdi’s opulent “Aida” will be presented at Cincinnati Opera in summer 2022. Photo courtesy of Opéra de Montréal, Yves Renaud
Watch CSO music director laureate Paavo Järvi lead the Berlin Philharmonic — free
I just finished watching Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” along with an international “watch group” on Facebook, a production streamed from Teatro Carlo Felice, the opera house in Genoa, Italy.
Watch parties are popping up, as are myriad other options for watching opera (see the Met Opera‘s Live in HD post below), dance — I caught Cincinnati Ballet’s Victoria Morgan leading a stretching class on my Instagram feed — and concerts.
Check out Paavo Järvi’ s latest concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic on Digital Concert Hall. It’s free.
Know Theatre says it will be stepping up its streaming capabilities by the end of this week. It’s called Know-to-Go: The Stream Team. In case you missed “Alabaster,” by Audrey Cefaly, the company has received permission to stream it for a limited time. Those who already have tickets may watch free; others will be charged $15 for access to the digital recording.
And, thanks to the Know’s ethos of experimentation, it has a video library. They’ll be rolling out some titles from 2015 and 2016, Andy’s House of [blank’ and Darkest Night at the Gnarly Stump. AND they are working with local playwrights as we speak to create new audio works, for purchase through the website. Information and streaming passes at knowtheatre.com.
I have to admit, I was a little confused about what to expect in the CSO’s community project called “CSO Look Around” last weekend in Washington Park.
I talked to Shara Nova, one of the co-creators (with Mark DeChiazza and Siri Imani) to ask her about it, and she described it as “like, the biggest pop-up ever.”
Scot Woolley at the keyboard with his brother, CSO violinist Stacey Woolley
Scot Woolley will be remembered as one of Cincinnati’s brightest stars and an indispensable member of the region’s arts community from Northern Kentucky to Dayton.
He was a gifted pianist, singer, conductor, arranger, dancer and composer who worked around the world. He was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a faculty member at Wright State University, where he was music director and voice instructor.
Mr. Woolley died on Jan. 26 after suffering a medical emergency while driving to his Westwood home. He was 60.
“A terrible void has been left and nobody can fill it,” said his brother, Stacey Woolley, a violinist in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. “Scot really revered the Great American Songbook and the old Broadway. He loved Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. He revered the lyrics of Johnny Mercer and the high bar that was set by the MGM Studio. That’s what he tried to pass along to the generation that followed, that you must look back and understand that you’re all standing on the shoulders of giants.”Read More »
The arts and e-media school — College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati — offers an embarrassment of riches (the most performances in the state, I’m told) and much of it is free. The season starts Aug. 29. See the whole digital calendar here. (My list is just the tip of the iceberg.) For ticketed events, call the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183.
Here are 10 picks that you won’t regret.Read More »
A reader asked me recently if there’s an easy way to find things to do — events such as concerts or plays. It’s an ongoing dilemma. Everyone seems to have their own calendar. I cobbled together a few ideas for him, but I wonder if there are other ways. Let me know!
The Enquirer’s calendar will send you a weekly “things to do” newsletter if you sign up here: https://account.cincinnati.com/newsletters. Also check cincinnati.com/thingstodo for daily ideas.
The glossy free magazine Movers & Makers has a very good monthly arts calendar, online and in free copies: moversmakers.org/
On Friday, a visitor from New York asked me why there is such passion for the symphony, opera, ballet, museums and theater in such a small market? And why do people care enough to give and keep giving?
I said I think it goes back to those German immigrants of the 19th century– it’s in the DNA.
What do you think?
CSO officials annouce $26 million in gifts on Thursday in Music Halljoshua Bell signs autographsA fan takes a selfie
A few of the stories covering a big weekI can’t pick my favorite story that week!
What an amazing week it was to be in New York in May for “Cincy in NYC,” when Cincinnati’s arts, culture and cuisine paraded before discriminating audiences and critics in some of New York’s finest venues. At the time, I was too busy to savor it all; I covered an average of two activities per day all over Manhattan — Ballet, Carnegie Hall, CCM Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Ariel Quartet, a play reading, a personal guided tour of the Taft’s Rembrandt at the Met, gala parties… even a pressure-cooker prep session for a very special dinner at the fabulous James Beard House.
