Category: Music Hall

Juanjo Mena’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony with CSO vivid, powerful

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Juanjo Mena led the CSO in Shostakovich’s sprawling “Leningrad” Symphony. Photos provided/CSO

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 »

May Festival announces first woman conductor

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Eun Sun Kim will be the first woman to lead the May Festival in its 145-year history. Photo provided/Cincinnati May Festival

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 Days’ to present 12 days of free fun

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Visitors hear an opera performance in the beautifully restored Corbett Tower during a free open house at Music Hall in October

If you missed the free community open house when Music Hall reopened in October, you’ll have another chance during ArtsWave’s upcoming campaign. Music Hall will be open to all on March 24. It’s just one of 12 Saturdays of free fun spanning the entire ArtsWave campaign.

The goal for this year’s 2018 “Make Waves” campaign will be announced early on Thursday.

ArtsWave, the nation’s oldest and largest community arts fund, previously offered an Arts Sampler Weekend of live performances, art and more.

The new concept, ArtsWave Days, will feature events at different venues with different themes on each Saturday between February 3 and April 21. In all you’ll find more than 100 free community performances throughout the campaign.Read More »

Double bass shines in the spotlight at Music Hall

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CSO principal bass Owen Lee gave the orchestra’s first-ever performance of the Koussevitzky Concerto for Double Bass/ photos thanks to Lee Snow

When it comes to concertos with orchestra, most people don’t think of the double bass as a solo instrument.  It’s usually heard at the bottom of the musical spectrum, rather than playing melodies that soar over the orchestra. But bassist Owen Lee, principal bass of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for 22 years, made a strong case for Serge Koussevitzky’s Concerto for Double Bass, given its first-ever performances by the CSO over the weekend at Music Hall.

It was a fascinating piece – partly because Koussevitzky, himself a virtuoso of the bass, wrote it before he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and became one of the most influential music directors in America.  In a neat tie-in, the program’s second half was devoted to Bela Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra,” which Koussevitzky commissioned from Bartok, who was then ill and destitute. Louis Langrée and the orchestra gave the latter a brilliant performance.Read More »

The National wins Grammy for ‘Sleep Well Beast’

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The homegrown band The National has won a Grammy Award for “Best Alternative Music Album” in early awards at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, broadcast Sunday night from New York’s Madison Square Garden. The brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner thanked the Recording Academy via Twitter for the honor.

Hear NPR’s recording of “Sleep Well Beast” here.

Both the CSO and composer Zhou Tian, pictured, were nominated for the Concertos for Orchestra album and Zhou Tian’s composition on that disc. Photo provided/CSO

Among the other nominees with Cincinnati ties, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra did not win its first Grammy with maestro Louis Langrée, although it was nominated for two for its album recorded live in Music Hall, Concertos for Orchestra. The classical awards always trickle out during the day. After learning that the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra won the Grammy for Best Orchestra Performance (Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Barber Adagio) as well as Best Engineered Album: Classical, Langree tweeted his “warm congratulations.”

Neither did Cincinnati-born jazz icon Fred Hersch make a win this year. But all agreed that they were thrilled to receive the recognition.

Joshua Bell, Beethoven’s Ninth to highlight CSO season

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“What I try is to have unity and diversity at the same time.” – CSO music director Louis Langrée

Music Director Louis Langrée
Music Director Louis Langrée

Violin superstar Joshua Bell, a phenomenal Russian pianist named Daniil Trifonov and renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein are just a few of the stars in an exceptional lineup coming to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra next season.

Program highlights of the 2018-19 season are just as attractive. Louis Langrée’s Beethoven cycle will continue with Beethoven’s great Symphony No. 9, Choral. The repertoire includes Stravinsky’s earthy, primitive ballet score “The Rite of Spring,” Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” Mozart’s Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.Read More »

CSO, other locals hope for Grammy win

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The CSO has been nominated for two Grammy Awards

Louis Langrée and The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will be waiting and watching on Sunday (Jan. 28) to see whether they win their first Grammy Award together when the Grammys air live on CBS from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 60th Grammy Awards airs from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on CBS, in the first Grammy telecast from New York in 15 years.

The orchestra is up for two Grammy Awards for the groundbreaking album, “Concertos for Orchestra,” recorded live in Music Hall (before the renovation). It is nominated in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category, as well as for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” for Zhou Tian’s score on the album.Read More »

Q&A: A bass player steps out to center stage

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CSO principal bassist Owen Lee makes his fourth appearance as soloist with the orchestra. Photo provided

Owen Lee came to Cincinnati 22 years ago to take the post of principal bass of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. This weekend, Lee will come out from the bass section that he leads to perform the CSO’s premiere performance of Serge Koussevitzky’s Concerto for Double Bass.

This will be his fourth concerto appearance with the orchestra. He was soloist in Giovanni Bottesini’s Concerto No. 1 in 1998; played Estonian composer Eduard Tubin’s Concerto under then-music director Paavo Järvi, and about 11 years ago, performed a concerto by John Harbison that was co-commissioned by the CSO.

You’ve probably also seen him around town in chamber music performances, or perhaps at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he serves on the faculty. Or maybe you’ve caught him playing keyboard in the Cincinnati rock band Electric Citizen.Read More »

Program for the ‘Violins of Hope’ concert

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Cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn
Mark Lyons, photo

In case you’re wondering what the music might be in tomorrow night’s concert of the Violins of Hope at Music Hall, I’ve asked Evans Mirageas, who is curating the event, to give us a few hints. Here are the musical selections to expect on the program:

Mendelssohn’s Octet (Scherzo) and Gideon Klein’s “Partita for Strings” — The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra under music director Eckart Preu

Saint-Saens’ “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” — Giora Schmidt, violinist and Elena Kholodova, pianist

Weiner, “Yossel der Klezmer” — Simon Barrad, baritone; Giora Schmidt, violin and Ksenia Polstiankina, piano

Traditional, “El Malei Rachamim” — Simon Barrad, baritone; Ksenia Polstiankina, piano

Bruch, “Kol Nidrei” — Ilya Finkelsteyn, cello,  Michael Chertock, piano

Prokofiev, Sonata For Two Violins (excerpts) — Gershon Gerchikov and Alexandra Kazovsky, violins (members of the Ariel Quartet)

J.S. Bach, Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo — Kathryn Woolley and Stefani Collins Matsuo, violins; Members of the CSO, Louis Langrée, conducting

For tickets call 513-621-2787 or visit holocaustandhumanity.org/violins-of-hope

Violins that saved lives, offered hope to be heard again

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The violin with a Jewish Star inlaid on the back was likely played by a Klezmer musician. Jim Nolan, photo

Avshalom “Avshi” Weinstein carefully lifted one of the violins that his family of master violin makers in Tel Aviv, Israel, had lovingly restored. Its varnish was beautiful. Turning it over, he pointed out the ornate, inlaid Star of David on its back.

“Most of these instruments were simple, because those people didn’t have much money,” Weinstein said, noting that this was not a high-quality violin.  “Many played Klezmer (music) in their ghettos. This type of instrument with the Star of David would be played by Klezmers (Jewish folk musicians). They had no money, almost nothing.”

Avshalom “Avshi” Weinstein in his workshop

That violin with the Star of David is one of nine Holocaust-era violins that Weinstein hand-carried to Cincinnati this week. They will be played on Tuesday by some of Cincinnati’s finest musicians in a special concert at Music Hall.Read More »