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The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has just announced that music director Louis Langrée has withdrawn from CSO subscription and special programs on May 3 & 4 due to an injury.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.
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.
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.
Melissa Gelfin De-Poli and Cervilio Miguel Amador dancing The Nutcracker from a previous Cincinnati Ballet season. Photography: Peter Mueller
Thanks to Covid-19, this has been a terrible time for everyone, including workers and performers in the arts, who have been among the hardest hit in the nation. And the new variants have not made their comeback any easier.
Hamilton County has teamed up with ArtsWave to announce that it will award $2 million in nonprofit arts and cultural grants funded through the County’s allocation of American Rescue Plan (ARP) dollars.
The grants will be awarded to combat the negative economic impact of Covid-19 on the local arts community and to fuel the region’s economic restart. Links to the applications and funding guidelines are available on the County’s Covid relief site – https://513relief.org/ and https://www.artswave.org/apply.
The Covid-19 relief grants will cover costs incurred due to business disruption, in a two-year period in which performing arts venues and museums lost significant box office and admissions revenue. The grants can also cover costs of mitigation expenses for re-opening and adaptations required for digital programming. Total grant amounts will be based on operating revenue from the prior fiscal year.
ArtsWave will host a virtual information session on Wednesday, February 3, 2022, from 12–1 p.m. answering questions and outlining the eligibility and application process. To join the information session, visit artswave.org/apply and click on “Hamilton County ARP Arts and Culture Grants Information Session.”
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
CSO on opening night/photo provided by Hannah Kenney
Since the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra officially opened its subscription season this weekend (here’s the review), I decided to look at the arts calendar to see what musical performances I want to get on my November calendar.
Wow! I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of our performing arts are ramping up. My November calendar looks almost normal, which in Cincinnati means that you can be out every night of the week. So here are some of my picks.
Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. – At CCM, renowned Russian pianist and pedagogue Boris Berman performs a guest recital performance in Robert J. Werner Recital Hall. Admission: FREE.
Nov. 7, 4 p.m. — Linton Music Series “Pure Bach,” featuring violinist Jennifer Koh performing the solo violin works of Bach. First Unitarian Church. For tickets and program, click here.
Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. – Ariel Quartet, CCM String-Quartet-in-Residence, continues its concert series with Lera Auerbach’s “Frozen Dreams,” which premiered in 2020, and Béla Bartók’s penultimate quartet, String Quartet No. 5. Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Tickets: Prices start at $29.50.
Daniil Trifonov in recital
Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov performs a recital at Music Hall, presented by the CSO. His program includes music by Karol Szymanowski, Debussy, Prokofiev and Brahms.
Note: For all CSO events and concerts, click here.
Nov. 11, 8 p.m. —Stephen Hough recital at Xavier. Hough is a longtime visitor to the Xavier Piano Series, and is something of a Renaissance man. This month, he graces the cover of BBC Music magazine. His program includes Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 and Hough’s own “Partitia.” It’s in Xavier’s Gallagher Center Theater on the XU campus. For tickets and info about the entire Xavier Music Series, click here.Read More »
Pianist Daniil Trifonov takes bows at last weekend’s MusicNOW Festival at the CSO
After 18 months of virtual and a few outdoor performances, Cincinnati is back to live, in-person performances. Most arts organizations are requiring masking and proof of vaccine or testing to enter theaters. (Here are the rules.) So far, people are flocking back, and the ones I’ve met are happy to be back.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has been performing mini-festivals of new music over the last two weekends.
Here are links to my impressions of the CSO/MusicNOW Festival, founded by Bryce Dessner (who unfortunately was not in town), and an avant-garde program led by creative director Matthias Pintscher.
All were late additions to the calendar, as the CSO won’t launch its subscription season until Oct. 29-30. Watch for a preview about their season later this month in the Business Courier.
The Cincinnati Pops has some “extras,” this fall, as well. John Morris Russell will lead an American program commemorating voting rights for women with singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, Oct. 19 in Music Hall. Info here: cincinnatisymphony.org/pops.
Yesterday, the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame presented an induction ceremony for its sixth class of inductees, at Mount St. Joseph University. Read more here about that organization and how V. Kay Casey came to found it.
Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame sponsors a program for young jazz musicians, who play “Jazz at Dusk” around town — seen here at Caffe Vivace in Walnut HIlls
Also this weekend, the 108th season of Matinee Musicale opened in Memorial Hall. I’ll be writing more about that soon… as well as some of my thoughts about the innovative programs of Chamber Music Cincinnati coming up soon.
The gifted Cincinnati pianist Kasey Shao, 17, received an artist grant of $5,000 from the Cincinnati MacDowell Society earlier this summer. For 108 years, the local chapter of the MacDowell Society has awarded artist grants in various disciplines.
The 2021 Presidential Scholar and Young Steinway Artist began piano at the age of 6 and is currently studying with Ran Dank, faculty member at CCM. When she was 12, she made her concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nezet Seguin as the first place winner of the Albert M. Greenfield Concerto Competition.
Kasey has won numerous awards, and this year was a finalist in the prestigious Gina Bachauer Piano Competition. She has performed with the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra under Michael Chertok and the Louisville Orchestra under Teddy Abrams. Kasey has appeared in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Whitney Hall of the Kentucky Center.
Locally, she was also a 2021 and 2020 Matinee Musicale Nancy F. Walker Memorial Scholarship winner. A cum laude graduate from Walnut Hills High School, Kasey will attend Princeton University in the fall. She plans to study composition and piano.
The Cincinnati MacDowell Society was founded in 1913. It had significant ties with the MacDowell Colony, an artist residency in New Hampshire founded by American composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, Marian MacDowell. It was Marian’s friendship with Cincinnati philanthropist Mary Emery as well as Clara Baur and her niece Bertha Baur, — the founders of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music — that resulted in the society being formed here. For more about the society’s history and current activities, click here.
The historic Austin Pipe Organ at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church
Covenant-First Presbyterian Church downtown is hosting its third annual organ festival this Sunday and Monday, March 7 and 8.
Todd Wilson, organist at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, and head of the organ department at Cleveland Institute of Music, will be presenting a free recital at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 7. His program will include J.S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor, Three Cincinnati Impressions by Gerre Hancock, Soliloquy by David Conte; and Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke (1834-58).
Todd Wilson/photo by Sam Hubish
Wilson will conclude with his own “Improvisations on a submitted theme,” always a showstopper.
The church hasn’t been able to hold its series since exactly one year ago, when Alan Morrison was the guest artist one week before the nation shut down due to Covid-19.
I’m told they are ready with all the Covid safety protocols—masks, fresh air flowing, social distancing. The historic and beautiful sanctuary is very large, so it works for live music at a safe distance.
On Monday, Wilson will stay in town for a master class at the church, and some of Michael Unger’s CCM students will be participating.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Details: Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
In what is the strangest year any of us can remember, one musical tribute to the incoming president and vice president will also be unusual.
In an effort to promote some badly needed “hope and harmony,” conductor Marin Alsop and Classical Movements, a concert tour company for classical orchestras and choirs, have come together to honor the inauguration next week of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They will present a livestream performance by the Hope & Harmony Ensemble comprised of 14 musicians from 14 American orchestras. Principal hornist Elizabeth Freimuth will represent the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The livestream over social media and orchestra websites will be at noon EST on Jan. 19 — the day before the inauguration. The music will feature Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man (which Copland wrote for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as a wartime fanfare) and Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, composed by American composer Joan Tower, the first woman to win the Grawemeyer Award in music. Tower’s Fanfare is often viewed as a response to Copland.
Marin Alsop/photo by Grant Leighton
The works to be conducted by Alsop will honor Joe Biden with Copland’s Fanfare. Tower’s Fanfare honors Kamala Harris as the nation’s first female vice-president.
There is unifying symbolism in the coming together of 14 musicians from across the nation, from sea to shining sea.Read More »
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