Spoleto Festival USA, or how I spent my summer vacation

So, between the end of the May Festival and the opening of the Cincinnati Opera season, I went to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., to take in some of their immense smorgasbord of cultural offerings. I was there for chamber music and opera, but there was also an array of dance, theater, jazz and much more that one could indulge in. Among the Cincinnatians I ran into there were Barry and Judy Evans (chamber music) and the Enquirer's Joy Kraft (jazz).

One of the joys of this festival is that the concerts and events are in different venues throughout the city. Charleston is a gracious old port town with wonderful 300-year-old homes in leafy neighborhoods with cobblestone streets. It's also blessed with a fantastic list of fine restaurants. Since most culture fans are also foodies -- it's the perfect mix.

Which leads to my question: Why can't we have a Spoleto-like festival in Cincinnati?

Ponder that while I tell you what I saw.

I took in three chamber music performances and three operas. First: chamber music.

Charles Wadsworth, artistic director for chamber music and founding artistic director of the chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, brings together remarkable musicians each summer for chamber concerts. They were held in the historic Dock Street Theatre. One doesn't know the program until you arrive, and it's written on a chalkboard, like the day's menu.

Among the highlights: Debussy's "Premiere rapsodie," originally for clarinet and piano, arranged for a small ensemble, with clarinetist Todd Palmer. Soprano Courtenay Budd charmed in a lullaby from Canteloube's "Songs of the Auvergne" and on another day, arias by Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti. Her bell-like soprano was ideal in these florid arias.

Violinist Chee-Yun performed the Schubert B-flat Piano Trio with Wendy Chen, pianist, and Andres Diaz, cello (pictured above). Chen was a bit too much an "accompanist," rather than collaborator, and Chee-Yun had some technical glitches. Nevertheless, it was wonderful to hear this music.

The finest performances happened in a Saturday concert, featuring the CPE Bach Flute Concerto with flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Wadsworth on harpsichord and including violinist Daniel Phillips, O'Connor's husband. She performed spectacularly, but Wadsworth almost derailed it before it began when he said, "you'll realize why she's called the fastest tongue in the west." The afternoon concluded with a wonderfully fresh performance of Brahms Sextet in G Major, that included former Cincinnatian cellist Edward Arron.

Stay tuned to read about the operas.

Photos: Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, and William Struhs (chamber music). For more info about Charleston, visit www.charlestoncvb.com.