Midway through her recital in Memorial Hall in OTR on Sunday afternoon, Ashley Hall asked for a show of hands: How many trumpeters were there in the audience? Surprisingly, there was quite a large number, of all ages. Obviously, the word had gotten out.Read More »
Beethoven wrote 32 Piano Sonatas spanning his lifetime. It’s possible to view his musical evolution through these sonatas, from the early classical ones to the late, more revolutionary pieces.
Many of you have heard, or perhaps even played some of the most famous ones: The Moonlight Sonata, the Appassionata, the Waldstein, the Pathetique and the Hammerklavier. But few pianists have attempted to perform them all together, in a daylong marathon from beginning to end.
Pianist Stewart Goodyear opens Chamber Music Cincinnati with a Beethoven “Sonatathon” next Saturday, Sept. 7, in Memorial Hall.
He’ll begin at 10 a.m. and finish at 11 p.m., with breaks for lunch and dinner.Read More »
He’s being called “a young Pavarotti.” Rising star tenor Pene Pati, who turned heads at San Francisco Opera when he sang the Duke in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” while still an Adler Fellow in the 2016-17 season, will make his Cincinnati debut in a recital this Sunday.
His concert takes place at 3 p.m. March 3 in Memorial Hall, Over-the-Rhine.
Pati’s program includes “Après un rêve” and “Poème d’un jour” by Gabriel Fauré, “Oh quand je dors” by Franz Liszt and songs by Richard Strauss and Francesco Paolo Tosti.
Ronny Michael Greenberg, who is on the staff at San Francisco Opera, collaborates at the piano.
Pati, who was born in Samoa and raised in New Zealand, has won a fistful of major prizes: Second and Audience Prize at Operalia (2015), Second Prize at Neue Stimmen (2015), First Prize at the Montserrat Caballé International Aria Competition (2014), as well as the prestigious Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge ‘Bel Canto’ Award (2012).
In the words of Richard Bonygne at the Sydney Opera House: “This young man has the voice from God.”
Pati is being presented by Matinee Musicale Cincinnati. Tickets: $25; $10 students with ID. Memorial Hall Box Office: 513-977-8838, or visit matineemusicalecincinnati.org.
Summer concert series are starting to be announced. The freshly-renovated Memorial Hall is a great place to hear jazz:
Award winning saxophonist Azar Lawrence will kick off Clarion Jazz’s second annual Open Door Series on Saturday, May 26, at Memorial Hall, OTR.Read More »
“Being able to do a brilliant piece by a female composer written in my own language — it feels very much like home,” said mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.
Barton, a young American opera singer whose sumptuous voice is being compared to that of legends such as Kirsten Flagstad, was discussing the recital program that she will sing for Matinée Musicale next week. Cincinnati is a stop in her five-concert tour that began in December at Carnegie Hall.
Notably, half of her selections are by women: Elinor Remick Warren, Lili and Nadia Boulanger, Amy Beach and Libby Larsen. Even though women are gaining more recognition in classical music than perhaps ever before in history, it’s still remarkable to find concert programs that include very much, if any, music by women.
The time was right, Barton felt, to put women in the spotlight.Read More »
Baby it’s cold outside – but Winter is the season when the arts heat up. In the coming weeks, there are many tempting concerts and events to warm you up. So, bundle up, because there are a few that you won’t want to miss.
Jan. 11-12: Canticle. The Vocal Arts Ensemble reprises Kile Smith’s gorgeous “Canticle,” a setting of the biblical Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11 and 12 in Memorial Hall. Tickets start at $25. 513-381-3300, vaecinci.org.
Jan. 12-13: Conlon returns. James Conlon, music director laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival, returns to conduct the CSO in Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Violinist Jennifer Frautschi is soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Music Hall. Tickets: 513-381-3300, cincinnatisymphony.org.
Jan. 19: Star soloist at Moveable Feast. CCM’s biggest fundraiser, this year on Friday, Jan. 19, will feature a performance by alumnus and star trumpeter Brian Newman, who will solo with the CCM Jazz Orchestra as the “opening course” in the CCM Village. Read More »
The year 2017 was a year of big change for Cincinnati’s arts organizations. The most significant story – one that garnered a large piece in the New York Times — was about Music Hall, home to the city’s major performing arts groups, which finished up a massive, ambitious renovation costing at least $143 million.
Music Hall reopened with fanfare on Oct. 6 and 7. The weekend included a community open house that drew thousands. Opening night revelers basked in the elegant new decor and patron-friendly amenities, which include cup holders for the first time on wider seats, more bars and more restrooms.
There are now more than 1,000 fewer seats and Springer Auditorium is physically smaller. The musicians sit on risers on a new “thrust” stage, 12 feet closer to the audience than before. All of that – including new materials such as concrete floors – means that the acousticians are still in the “tuning” phase of what is really a new hall-within-a-hall.
The renovation was just one sign of the importance of Cincinnati’s growing arts district surrounding Washington Park. Read More »
The Memorial Hall Society’s Longworth-Anderson Series was such a hit last winter, it’s coming back for a second season. The winter lineup is impressive: Grammy Award-winning band Los Lobos (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance), the all-girl folk band I’m With Her and country star Marty Stuart.
Longworth-Anderson has found a niche. Its concept is both diverse and non-traditional, presenting artists from multiple genres, including rock, pop, folk, bluegrass and jazz. Last year, the series – held in Memorial Hall’s intimate jewel box of a theater — sold out four out of six events, held winter and spring.
Even though Rosanne Cash was a headliner, it wasn’t guaranteed that the fledgling series would take off. Read More »
Daniel Catán’s last opera, “Meet John Doe,” was his homage to America. So, from the first notes, one is thrust into the Swing Era, with hot drumming — Louis Prima style — and finger-snapping in the chorus. This is one jazzy newsroom.
On Saturday night, I heard the first reading of excerpts from Act I of Catán’s opera, based on the 1941 film that starred Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. Read More »
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am grateful for my family and friends and for living in a city with so much to do. In the midst of the rush to get that turkey cooked (sage butter) and stuffed (cornbread chorizo), I also attended some impressive performances. Before we plunge into holiday concert season, here are a few observations from last week:
On Tuesday, I was in an audience of opera lovers, patrons, critics and teachers in Memorial Hall for a reading of excerpts from Jake Heggie’s latest opera, “Great Scott.” He and the creative team– including librettist Terrence McNally, director Jack O’Brien and conductor Evan Rogister (shown in this photo)– were in town for a workshop through Opera Fusion:New Works. The excellent singers assembled for the reading were all CCM students and alumni. A fine pianist named Grant Loehnig came down from “Porgy and Bess” at Chicago Lyric Opera to collaborate at the piano.
