Jewish Music Festival: Ariel Quartet soars in Auerbach and Golijov

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.

Read the program notes for this program here.

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.

Several more events are coming up:

Cello/piano duo makes radiant Cincinnati debut

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.

CCM professor makes unexpected Cincinnati recital debut

Baritone Elliot Madore performing at Memorial Hall on Sunday/ Photos provided by Gayna Bassin

When soprano Valerie Eickhoff canceled her debut with Matinée Musicale on about three days notice last week due to illness, it was sheer luck that another singer was available to step in. And conveniently, he lives in Cincinnati. Baritone Elliot Madore wowed the audience on Sunday evening in Memorial Hall with a wide-ranging program that opened with the Liederkreis Op. 39 by Schumann and ended with Rogers and Hammerstein’s “My Boy Bill.”

Madore is a star who is busy singing in opera houses around the world while he is also teaching the stars of the future at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His collaborative pianist was CCM professor Donna Loewy, who had never played with him before. Madore joined the faculty in August of 2021, and we learned later that this was his Cincinnati recital debut.

Recommended: Tchaikovsky winner to play for Matinée Musicale

Alexandre Kantorow; photo by Sasha Gusov

He’s being called “Liszt reincarnated.” In 2019, pianist Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, where he also won the Grand Prix, which has only been awarded three times before in the competition’s history. He was 22.

This month, Kantorow will make his Cincinnati debut in recital for Matinée Musicale, 3 p.m. Sunday Feb. 19 in Memorial Hall.

Kantorow made his debut at age 16, and since then has performed with many of the world’s major orchestras and festivals.

His program includes Brahms’ Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major; several Schubert lieder arranged by Liszt; and Schubert’s “Wanderer Fantasy.”

He recently told BBC Music magazine that Brahms was the first composer he connected to. Brahms, he said, “has a lot of dignity in how he shows his emotions, but there are moments where he lets go.”

And speaking of Brahms, here’s his performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, which won the Grand Prix of the Tchaikovsky Competition:

Kantorow records on the BIS label. His most recent recording of solo works by Brahms received the 2022 Diapason d’Or. His two previous recordings (Saint-Saëns concerti 3-5 and solo works by Brahms, Bartok and Liszt) each received both the Diapason d’Or and Choc Classica of the Year (for Classica magazine) in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The solo disc was Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s Choice, his performance described as “a further remarkable example of his virtuosity and artistry, showing both skill and sensitivity throughout.”

Purchase tickets online on the Memorial Hall website or call the Box Office at 513-977-8838.
The Memorial Hall Box Office is open Tuesday – Friday 1 PM – 6 PM.

Hamilton County Commissioners and ArtsWave Announce COVID Relief Grants for Hard-hit Arts and Cultural Nonprofits

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.”

What a year! Looking back and ahead in the arts

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

My November picks in classical music

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.

Note: Find all CCM events and the calendar here.

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.

Post-Covid Fall season in full swing

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.

MusicNOW with Bonny Light Horseman and Daniil Trifonov

Trifonov and Louis Langree/Mark Lyons photo

MusicNOW with So percussion and Daniil Trifonov

Contemporary Colors, hailing the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial.

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.

 

Star tenor Pene Pati to reopen Matinée Musicale in June

 

Pene Pati performing as Romeo in San Francisco Opera’s production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. Cory Weaver/provided by Matinée Musicale.

Matinée Musicale has announced that the renowned Samoan tenor Pene Pati is returning to the Memorial Hall stage, with pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg, for not one, but two, long-awaited live performances:  7:30 p.m. Friday, June 4 and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6.

Local fans are still talking about his Cincinnati debut in March of 2019. His trip from his home in Auckland, New Zealand, to Cincinnati took two full days, and was complicated by last-minute visa problems and a spring snowstorm in Cincinnati. Pati’s impressive performance resulted in standing ovations, encore after encore, and an outcry for his rapid return.

However, due to Covid, his return engagement had to be postponed.

Pati will be performing the same program for both performances (to be announced). If his last recital is any indication, audiences are in for a rare treat. Here’s the review from that concert.

After recent debuts as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at San Francisco Opera — with Cincinnati favorite Nadine Sierra as Juliet — and Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata at Moscow’s historic Bolshoi Theatre, Pati has been hailed ​“the most exceptional tenor discovery of the last decade” (Opéra-Online). In the upcoming seasons, Pati will make debuts at Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and Opéra National de Paris.

Here’s what I wrote after I was privileged to hear Pati and Nadine Sierra in San Francisco:

“Pati’s singing was the picture of elegance, and he remained fresh until his dying breath in Act V. Romeo’s famous cavatina, “Ah! Lève-toi, soleil” (“Arise, oh sun”) was deeply felt, a feat that combined both beauty of line and ardent, exciting top notes.”

See the full review here on my blog.

This marks the return of live recitals presented by Matinée Musicale after more than a year. The 107-year-old music series is one of the first small performing arts organizations in our city to return to live, in-person performances.

Covid safety measures at Memorial Hall include wearing of masks and social distancing.

For more information, including purchasing tickets, visit matineemusicalecincinnati.org.

Hamilton, Matinee Musicale postponed due to Covid

The race has heated up for a Covid vaccine. But that hasn’t stopped the postponement and cancellation of cultural offerings this season, one after another.

The latest is the much-anticipated return of “Hamilton” to the Aronoff Center this March. Today, I received this statement from Broadway in Cincinnati:

Broadway in Cincinnati has announced that due to the challenges of scheduling touring Broadway shows across the country during this unprecedented time, an additional change must be made to the upcoming season.

The Cincinnati engagement of HAMILTON, originally scheduled for March 2 – 28, 2021, has been postponed. New dates will be announced at a later time.

Season Ticketholders for this show will retain their same seats for the rescheduled engagements and will be notified when those dates have been set.

Nicole Cabell

And my inbox also had this update about Matinee Musicale. Due to ongoing concerns around the COVID-19 health crisis, Matinée Musicale has rescheduled the remaining recitals for their 2019-2020 season in Memorial Hall.

• Nicole Cabell postponed from January 2021 to early 2022, exact date to be announced.
• Christina Nam postponed to 2022-2023 season, exact date to be announced

Matinee hopes that Pene Pati’s recital will go on as planned June 6, 2021 but will notify ticket holders of any change.

If you are a ticket holder for Nicole Cabell and/or Christina Nam, please call the Memorial Hall box office (513-977-8838) before December 15, to either donate the cost of your tickets to Matinée Musicale or to receive a refund. Box office hours are Tuesday – Friday, 1:00-6:00 pm.