Louis Langrée is shown with soloist Inon Barnatan, the May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a 2020 performance of Beethoven’s Akademie 1808 concert in Music Hall/AJ Waltz, photo
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has just announced that music director Louis Langrée has withdrawn from CSO subscription and special programs on May 3 & 4 due to an injury.
CSO Associate Conductor Samuel Lee, recent winner of the 2024 Malko Competition, will conduct the May 3 & 4 CSO subscription concert, Beethoven Symphony No. 7 & Dessner Premieres, which includes the U.S. premiere of Bryce Dessner’s Piano Concerto with Alice Sara Ott.
CSO Assistant Conductor Daniel Wiley will conduct the May 3 CSO special program, WIRES, featuring Bryce Dessner and his Concerto for Two Pianos with internationally acclaimed piano duo and sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque. You may recall that Wiley stepped in on about a day’s notice to lead concerts last weekend. Here is the review.
Langrée is concluding his 11-year tenure this month. He is to lead his final concerts as CSO music director on May 10-11 in Music Hall.
It’s the talk of the music world today. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced on April 2 that Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, 28, will be the next Music Director of the CSO, the 11th in its 133-year history. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the recommendation of the CSOA Music Director Search Committee.
(Our own CSO has said that an announcement will occur this spring…)
Following a term as Zell Music Director Designate effective immediately, Mäkelä will begin an initial five-year tenure in September 2027. In this role, he will conduct the orchestra a minimum of 14 weeks per season: 10 weeks of subscription and other concerts in and around Chicago, plus four weeks of domestic and international tours.
Currently music director of the Orchestre de Paris and chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, Mäkelä is already one of the busiest conductors on the planet. His rise in the classical music industry has been meteoric. Mäkelä will be 31 when he begins his tenure at the start of the 2027-28 season. That will coincide with his inauguration as Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He explained in a statement released today:
“From 2027-28 my main responsibilities will be my partnerships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Until then I remain committed to my ongoing collaborations with the Orchestre de Paris and Oslo Philharmonic. I look forward to all the music-making we have planned for the next three seasons and to returning to both institutions on a regular basis after my official tenures are completed.”
He is leading subscription concerts this week in Chicago, and will return for two concerts next season.
Mäkelä made his debut with the CSO in April 2022, to both critical and audience acclaim. When he returned to the CSO podium in February 2023, Classical Voice North America marveled at “the potent chemistry evident
between Mäkelä and the musicians, not to mention between Mäkelä and the audience, on both occasions.”
The orchestra’s president, Jeff Alexander, who worked in management for the Cincinnati Symphony before going to Chicago, noted Mäkelä’s “exceptional connection” with the musicians and his “ability to deliver extremely moving performances of a wide range of repertoire.”
In a statement, Alexander said, “As we got to know him off the podium and witnessed – in addition to his extraordinary musical talent – his passion for the artform, keen interest in music education and the legacy of the CSO, and innate ability to connect warmly and sincerely with our trustees, volunteers, concert attendees, donors, and administrative staff, it quickly became clear that he was the ideal choice to lead the orchestra into the future. I am delighted with this outcome.”
Throughout its distinguished history, the CSO has counted 10 of the most notable and respected conductors as music director. Theodore Thomas, of course, was founding music director of the Cincinnati May Festival, and Fritz Reiner was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony before going to Chicago:
Theodore Thomas (1891 to 1905)
Frederick Stock (1905 to 1942)
Désiré Defauw (1943 to 1947)
Artur Rodzinski (1947 to 1948)
Rafael Kubelík (1950 to 1953)
Fritz Reiner (1953 to 1962)
Jean Martinon (1963 to 1968)
Sir Georg Solti (1969 to 1991)
Daniel Barenboim (1991 to 2006)
Riccardo Muti (2010 to 2023)
The Ariel Quartet with clarinetist Pavel Vinnitsky on Tuesday at the Skirball Museum in Clifton.
Maybe you’ve seen brief mentions of the Jewish Music Festival, with musical performances, lectures and sometimes art exhibitions taking place throughout the area. The festival is brand new, and organized by Aik Khai Pung, associate professor at CCM, where he is music director of the CCM Concert Orchestra. I noticed in an online listing that the Ariel String Quartet was playing last night at Hebrew Union College, and by luck, I was able to go.
The concert, which was co-presented by concert:nova and the Cincinnati Cultural Exchange, was held in Mayerson Auditorium in the Skirball Museum on the HUC campus. Curator Abby Schwartz provided commentary about the art by Jewish artists that surrounded us, and the paintings’ relationships to the music.
The musical artists for this program were sensational. The Ariel Quartet, quartet-in-residence at CCM, opened with Lera Auerbach’s “Frozen Dreams” and “Cetera Desunt” for string quartet. Both works were a revelation. “Frozen Dreams” was haunting and deeply personal. Auerbach’s music is simply astonishing; it is both searing and lyrical. In “Cetera Desunt” Auerbach took her cue from Shostakovich, and the listener could detect the repeating motive signifying Shostakovich’s signature. The superb performers — violinists Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov, Jan Grüning, viola, and Amit-Even-Tov, cello — soared through this treacherous score with exciting precision and passion. In the frenzied passages, they dug into their strings with bows flying. I plan to try to hear more of Auerbach’s music.
Vinnitsky was serenaded with “happy birthday” after the performance.
They joined with clarinetist Pavel Vinnitsky for Osvaldo Golijov’s “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind.” It is named for a blind, mystical rabbi who lived centuries ago, but is also a tribute to Golijov’s great-grandfather. This piece blends liturgical prayers in its outer movements with raucous Klezmer music. There could not have been a better champion for both styles than Vinnitsky, who wailed and almost danced in his seat as he performed Golijov’s riveting music, using three different clarinets.
Vinnitsky joined CCM’s clarinet faculty about two years ago. He and the Ariel Quartet will perform the Brahms Clarinet Quintet on March 26 at CCM, 7:30 p.m. in Werner Recital Hall. It’s not-to-be missed!
The Jewish Foundation is sponsor of the inaugural festival, a total of nine concerts and events. Other participants have included the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, composer Anna Vinnitsky, saxophonist Rick VanMatre and others.
Did you ever consider that the harp could be a jazz instrument? The world’s premiere jazz harpist, Park Stickney, is performing at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Feb. 28, in Werner Recital Hall at CCM.
Stickney lives in Switzerland and is on a six-state tour of the United States. He will be performing with local saxophonist James Bunte and bassist Teddy Mechley. The concert is free and no reservations are needed.
While in town, Stickney is spending time with students at CCM, SCPA and Walnut Hills High School.
“The concert will be a mix of my own compositions and jazz standards,” said Stickney. “I’m especially excited about revisiting my own pieces through this instrumentation. I often play them solo, but playing them in trio allows me to hear them completely differently, adds another dimension — and this in addition to the excitement of playing with Cincinnati jazz artists.”
The harpist divides his time between a farm in Switzerland, and Brooklyn, New York. Besides his concerts, he presents master classes and workshops at music festivals worldwide. His performance venues are as diverse as a performance at a mine in South Tyrol, at a New York Mcdonald’s, the White House and on the QE2 ocean liner.
He currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, France, and the Milan Conservatory. Stickney graduated from the Juilliard School, and later completed a Ph.D. exploring extreme harp pedaling at the Trinity Laban Conservatory, London.
Stickney is a former Juilliard classmate of Gillian Benet Sella, principal harpist of the CSO, who organized the concert. It is co-sponsored by the local chapter of the American Harp Society, CCM Power and the School for Creative and Performing Arts through the Mayerson Foundation.
Bunte is professor of saxophone and Division Head of Performance Studies at CCM. He’s also a regular saxophonist with the Cincinnati Symphony, and has recorded eight discs with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Cincinnati Pops orchestras. Bunte is an experienced saxophonist, having performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Manhattan Transfer, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many more.
Mechley plays both stand-up and electric bass at numerous Cincinnati jazz clubs. He’s currently pursuing a degree in jazz bass at CCM.
For more information, visit ccm.uc.edu/onstage.html, call the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183
Dror Biran and friends delivered a ravishing reading of the Schuman Piano Quartet on Sunday.
I admit I haven’t been to many concerts lately at CCM, so I decided to check the February calendar. What a wonderful wealth of music is in store this month! Off the bat, I jumped in the car and ran down to hear piano faculty member Dror Biran and friends for a lovely 90 minutes or so of some of my favorite music, Feb. 4.
Biran anchored the FREE concert with the Schumann Piano Quartet, joined by three members of the CSO, Gabe Napoli, viola; Charles Morey, violin; and Dan Culnan, cello. The other selection was Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos. This was a reading that was lush and romantic, but also bold, even muscular at times. At the other Steinway was another wonderful pianist, Timothy Lovelace, a CCM graduate, who holds the chair in collaborative piano and coaching at the University of Minnesota.
Dror Biran, CCM piano faculty member, and Timothy Lovelace, faculty member at University of Minnesota, were duo pianists.
Some concerts are ticketed, but much of it is free. You won’t be sorry! Here’s a link to the offerings by month — ccm.uc.edu/onstage.
See some of my suggestions coming soon, below.
Tonight: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6
• Faculty Artist Series •
Kurt Sassmannshaus, violin
Featuring faculty artists Jan Grüning, viola; and Dror Biran, piano
Sassmannshaus performs the beautiful G-major violin and viola duo by W.A. Mozart with Grüning. He also performs two violin and piano masterworks with CCM pianist Dror Biran: Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata and the Debussy Sonata. Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall. FREE.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13
•CCM String Quartet-in-Residence Series• CETERA DESUNT: THE REST IS MISSING
Ariel Quartet
Featuring guest artist Lera Auerbach, piano; and Rafael DeStella, double bass A renaissance artist for modern times, Lera Auerbach is a widely recognized conductor, pianist and composer. She is also an award-winning poet and an exhibited visual artist. This performance features Auerbach’s String Quartet No. 10, “Frozen Dreams” and String Quartet No. 3, “Cetera Desunt.” Auerbach and DeStella will also join the Ariel Quartet on piano for Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet. Estimated run time: 90 minutes Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall Tickets: $29.50 adult, $15 student, $19.75 UC faculty/staff, $10 UC student, $5 CCM student; group discounts available.
8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17
• Undergraduate Opera Series • THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Amy Johnson, stage director
Brett Scott, music director and conductor
Cory Battey, assistant conductor
Kenneth Shaw, producer and set designer
Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater Tickets: $15 adult, $15 student, $15 UC faculty/staff, $10 UC student, $5 CCM student; group discounts available.
Cincinnati Pops is streaming two of their popular holiday shows — 7:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 9 and 2 p.m. Sunday Dec. 10. You’ll find them here, or on the CSO/Pops YouTube channel.
Led by John Morris Russell, Holiday Pops is always an entertaining potpourri of festive music performed by a host of choruses, vocalists, dancers and handbell ringers. This year, vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Rafael Moras are headliners. They’re joined by the May Festival Chorus, SCPA Chorale, Sycamore High School Select Ensemble, Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble, Q-Kidz Dance Team, Studio for Dance, and handbell ringers from the Cincinnati Collaborative Ringing Project.
‘Tis the season for lots of music. I hope you are all taking advantage of the wealth of holiday concerts and shows happening right now. Here are a few of my picks.
The CCM Brass Choir is planning a tribute to Betty Glover (1923-2022), who was the first female bass trombonist of a major orchestra in America. The concert will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday Nov. 12, at St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington.
She died Sept. 27, 2022 at the age of 99.
Quoting from the CCM tribute of her life, “Betty Glover’s 40 years of service to CCM helped shape the school’s widely acclaimed Brass Choir and inspired generations of young artists — especially women who sought to follow her example in shattering the glass ceiling to find success in the orchestral industry.”
Glover earned two degrees at CCM and taught at the college for 40 years from 1952-92. She served as principal bass trombone at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1952-1985. During her time at CCM, Glover led the CCM Brass Choir and inspired generations of young artists.
Julian Schwarz and Marika Bournaki. photo by Gayna Bassin
The married duo of cellist Julian Schwarz and pianist Marika Bournaki performed an excellent program for Matinee Musicale on Sunday, Oct. 29 in Memorial Hall. Schwarz is now one of my favorite cellists. He communicated with a big, warm tone and a romantic vibrato in Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, a work originally scored for French horn. He smiled as he played the phrases of Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in E Minor — and notably, he performed his entire program from memory. (Schwarz performs on Neapolitan cello by Gennaro Gagliano of 1743.)
But mainly, it was a joy to hear both of these virtuoso performers. Bournaki has previously appeared on the Xavier Piano Series, and is also a stunning collaborator. There was seamless communication between the two.Read More »
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