A Celebration of English Opera in Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik, 03 March 2014

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Reviewed at Cleveland Institute of Music: Kulas Hall, Cleveland on 27 February 2014

Vaughan Williams, Riders to the Sea

Purcell, Dido and Aeneas

Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra

David Bamberger, Director

Harry Davidson, Conductor

Erika Rodden, Mezzo-soprano

Kate Kostopoulos, Soprano

Zoë Schumann, Soprano

Elizabeth Frey, Mezzo-soprano

Brian Skoog, Tenor

Jessica Hollick, Soprano

Beethoven's Ninth at Cleveland's Severance Hall

Frank Kuznik, 28th March

There are many ways to experience a piece of music. Hearing the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with a mammoth chorus of amateur singers drawn from the community offered a reminder that a masterwork need not be perfectly rendered to be aesthetically satisfying.

****1

Poetry and Precision: Seong-Jin Cho returns to Carnegie Hall

Susan Stempleski, 12th April

A little over a year after his marathon all-Ravel recital at the Hall, the Korean pianist returns with an exquisitely performed program of Bach, Schoenberg, Robert Schumann, and Chopin.

*****

Marianne Crebassa: potent and versatile at Leeds Song

Richard Wilcocks, 12th April

Accompanied by Joseph Middleton, Marianne Crebassa performs an exquisite recital of Debussy, Mahler, Mompou and Ravel.

*****

Eroica: Riccardo Minasi and the WASO

Sandra Bowdler, 11th April

Guest conductor Riccardo Minasi leads the West Australian Symphony Orchestra with a program of old favourites, with outstanding contribution from trumpeter Jenna Smith

***11

A superb Salzburg sojourn: Philadelphia Orchestra plays Mozart

Cameron Kelsall, 11th April

Guest conductor Harry Bicket brings a sense of urgency to Mozart's Requiem and pulse-quickening energy to Symphony no. 40.

****1

Artistry at full throttle: Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony

Sam Jacobson, 10th April

Can one be artful and musical while playing at maximum volume? In a program of López, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony answer a resounding yes.

*****

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.