Submit Content  |  Subscribe  |  Customer Service  |  Place An Ad 
* Weather * Events * Visitor's Guide * Classifieds * Jobs * Cars * Homes * Apartments * Shopping * Dating
*
Cincinnati.Com
Blogs

*
*
*

Cincinnati.Com

NKY.com
Enquirer
CiN Weekly
Community Press & Recorder
cincyMOMS.com
CincinnatiUSA
Data Center
*
*
*
*
*

*
Classical Music
Janelle Gelfand on the classical music scene


Janelle's pen has taken her to Japan, China, Carnegie Hall, Europe (twice), East and West Coasts, and Florida. In fact, Janelle was the first Enquirer reporter to report from Europe via e-mail -- in 1995.

Janelle began writing for the Cincinnati Enquirer as a stringer in 1991 while writing a Ph.D. dissertation in musicology at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She joined the Enquirer staff in 1993.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she graduated from Stanford University, Janelle has lived in Cincinnati for more than 30 years. In her free time, this pianist plays chamber music with her circle of musical friends in Cincinnati.

She covers the Cincinnati Symphony, May Festival and Cincinnati Opera, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, chamber music ensembles, and as many recitals and events at CCM and NKU as possible.

Powered by Blogger

Thursday, March 29, 2007

About this Sunday, or I wish I could clone myself



Who says there's nothing to do? This Sunday alone there are about four places I'd like to be at once. Here's a list:
1. Jon Nakamatsu, the Gold Medal winner of the famous Van Cliburn Competition, returns to the Xavier Piano Series, 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Gallagher Student Center Theatre. He's playing Schubert Impromptus, Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme by Corelli, A Chopin Nocturne and Scherzo, "Danses fantastiques" by L. Tjeknavorian, and two pieces by Liszt. Should be nice! Tickets: 513-745-3161.

2. American composer Stephen Paulus visits the Knox Music Series of Knox Presbyterian Church in Hyde Park, for the premiere of his Concerto for Organ, Chorus and Orchestra, 4 p.m. Sunday, Knox Church. There's also a rare performance in English of portions of Haydn's "The Seasons" (Spring and Autumn). It's in conjunction with the Knox Art Show, and there's a freewill offering, so it's bound to be packed. The composer talks about his music, 3:30 p.m. 513-321-2573 or visit www.knox.org.

3. Pianopalooza, bigger, faster, more zany: Those crazy CCM piano profs put on a show at 4 p.m. Sunday in Corbett Auditorium. They'll be playing multiple amazing pieces including a 12-hand grand finale. Tix: 513-556-4183, or www.ccm.uc.edu.
Click here to watch Michael Chertock talk about the music on CET connect.

4. NKU piano faculty member Sergei Polusmiak is launching a new chamber music series, New Beginnings, 3 p.m. Sunday in Greaves Concert Hall at NKU. He'll perform Mozart's Piano Quintet with the Miami Wind Quartet, a Brahms Clarinet Trio (with Ron Aufmann and Dan Culnan of the CSO. the program includes William Grant Still's Vignettes for piano, oboe and bassoon and mezzo-soprano Maria Markina will wrap it all up with a set of Russian songs. Click here for info about tickets.


A new theater for the Playhouse?

Did you see today's news? What do you think about the Playhouse moving downtown? Also, any thoughts on building a new concert hall for the symphony? (See the "rumor" I posted yesterday)


Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Music Hall rumblings


A little bird tells me that arts patrons are concerned about planned renovations to Music Hall's Springer Auditorium, that would attempt to satisfy all the needs of symphony and opera -- while maintaining the integrity of the hall's historic status. Rumor is there is talk that the only answer is to BUILD A NEW CONCERT HALL just for the orchestra, between Music Hall and Memorial Hall.


Jazz grads hit the road




In case you missed the online sidebar to the story about CCM's jazz ladies that ran Sunday, here's the link to meet CCM graduates Janelle Reichman, Misty Boyce and Jennifer Grantham, pictured. By the way, in the main story, Tina Raymond is the first prize winner this year of the Sisters in Jazz Award.

Also, be sure to look at the timeline, posted with the jazz grads sidebar. I'm not sure this history has ever been published anywhere. John DeFoor, who now runs the jazz program at Xavier University, gave me a call and said he was one of those students playing jazz under Nippert Stadium back in the 60s.

"Before CCM merged with UC, I was connected with the band program. We began doing jazz. I was a grad student at the time, jamming under Nippert Stadium," he says. His group blossomed into five jazz bands, including a concert band.

So that's the pre-history behind the founding of CCM's jazz department!


Monday, March 26, 2007

When a tempest in a teapot hits CNN


During my vacation last week, it seems the Cincinnati Pops got into a heap 'o trouble with them good ol' boys down south. A not-so-friendly dispute is being aired, courtesy of former one-term Georgia Congressman Ben "Cooter" Jones, from coast-to-coast on TV, radio, the Associated Press and throughout the blogosphere, that contends (take your pick):

a) The Cincinnati Pops contracted a "Dukes of Hazzard"-themed show with actor/crooners John Schneider and Tom Wopat, scheduled for a summer pops concert, then canceled it.
b) No such show was ever contracted or scheduled.
c) The show would/would not feature the famous (or infamous) General Lee with a Confederate flag enblazoned on the roof.
d) Jessica Simpson would make a guest appearance as Daisy Duke.

Okay, I made up the last one. But already, the Pops version of "Messopotamia" has become fodder for CNN, Bill O'Reilly, this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly, Playbill, bloggers, op ed page editorials and today a guest column by Cooter himself.

I'm confused about a lot of things, including why did Mr. Jones choose to wage his campaign in the national media?

It got me thinking about all of the true works of art regularly seen on stages that one might deem offensive today -- to African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Jews, Moslems, women, the disabled, and others --and I came up with a whole lot of standard operatic and symphonic fare.

But whoa-- is "Dukes of Hazzard" art? Granted the Pops has strayed afar from its origins as "lite classics" ... Putting aside all charges about political correctness, why is this ilk suitable for symphonic treatment??


Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Chicago weekend: Cosi fan tutte


Saturday morning, after the Friday night CSO concert, I jumped in the car and drove to Chicago to take in the Lyric Opera's production of Mozart's comic opera, "Cosi fan tutte." It's been a while since I've been to the Lyric, and my first impression of the seats in this glorious old building was -- my, how small and cramped they are. One does get accustomed to comfort in the glittering new palaces of music that seem to be proliferating everywhere.

But what a production! This "Cosi fan tutte" was perfection, from beginning to end. And imagine my delight at discovering that one of the stars (Dorabella) was Cincinnati's own Lauren McNeese -- that is, she earned her master's degree at CCM in 2000, performed the title role in "The Rape of Lucretia" and has sung several times with the CSO.

The production, updated to 1914 at "a hotel at a Mediterranean resort," came from San Francisco. The concept, designed by Robert Perdziola and directed by John Cox, worked beautifully and captured that elusive quality of light and dark -- really, of human nature -- that gives "Cosi" its true character.

The magical painted backdrop of the deep-blue Mediterranean reminded one of Cannes or Nice, and the hotel, with its sweeping sheer draperies, striped awnings and high-class clientele, might have been the set of a Merchant Ivory film. When the boys went off to "war," it was, of course, World War I, and the hotel was transformed to a kind of military hospital, where the girls, as Red Cross nurses, performed their volunteer duties.

A sparkling overture conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, the Lyric's music director, set the tone. The orchestra performed superbly all evening, in one of the most seamless collaborations between stage and pit I've heard outside of James Levine at the Met.

This was a cast to treasure, too, evenly matched in Mozart's glorious ensembles and with assured individual characterizations. Erin Wall as Fiordiligi was the standout, singing her coloratura showstopper, "Come scoglio," with dazzling effortlessness and believable ardor. As her sister Dorabella, McNeese was a vivacious contrast, and brought freshness and charm to her role.

The men, Eric Cutler (Ferrando) and Nathan Gunn (Guglielmo), were also well-matched, and managed to convey the comic side of this Mozart/da Ponte masterpiece with unexaggerated characterizations. Sir Thomas Allen made an ideal Don Alfonso, as he wavered between pompousness and wisdom.

Then there was Despina, the red-headed maid. Sicilian soprano Nuccia Focile must have studied Lucile Ball for this role. She was, you could say, a pistol -- but a delightful one. (You'll see her antics this summer in Cincinnati Opera's production of "Cosi." I can't wait.)

In the end, the lovers didn't return sadder-but-wiser to their original lovers, but the director kept the element of ambiguity that the creators intended. The production closed on a sobering note, as the lovers kissed each other good-bye, and the boys went off to war, this time for real.

(L to R)Lauren McNeese as Dorabella Nuccia Focile as Despina and Erin Wall as Fiordiligi, in Così fan tutte for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2006-07 season. Photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The opera closes March 16. 312-332-2244.


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The symphony announces 2007-08 season



Here's the news about the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's programming and guest soloists for next year. What do you think about the lineup? Let me know!


Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Truth or consequences

At the end of his life, the pianist Arthur Rubinstein played a lot of wrong notes -- but what beautiful notes they were. I doubt any of those wrong notes would have made it into a recording today.

Recently, I reviewed the CSO playing Tchaikovsky's Fifth. A reader commented on the review, why didn't I mention that the famous horn solo went sharp? Frankly, if the solo went sharp for a note or two, the beauty of the phrasing more than made up for it. Perhaps that, too, never would have made a recording.

Once, while sitting in on a Cincinnati Pops recording session, Erich Kunzel boomed, "This is very spliceable music. We can splice anything!"

Recently, one William Barrington-Coupe pirated famous recordings by other artists and passed them off as belonging to his wife, an obscure British pianist named Joyce Hatto. It's the fraud of the century. But it brings up an important question about how we in the public have come to expect perfection in recordings -- and hence, performance. And, how truthful are recordings, after all??


Monday, March 05, 2007

Coming Attractions


I am just so impressed at what Peter Gelb is doing at the Met, such as reaching out to the public with high-definition simulcasts to movie theaters. Apparently, they are such a raving success, nearly every opera simulcast is being repeated in "Encore" showings.

"The First Emperor," composed by Tan Dun (of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame) and starring Placido Domingo, will be rebroadcast in two shows: 7 p.m. Wednesday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Regal Hollwood Stadium 20, 2651 Fairfield Commons, in Beavercreek, Ohio 45431.

Although the opera was soundly panned by the New York Times and others, it has enjoyed the largest viewing audience (33,000) of all the simulcasts so far.

The Met has also just announced it hopes to bring the opera to China on its first China tour, timed to coincide with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The director, Zhang Yimou, is also directing the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Games.

Oh, and it looks like an Encore of "Barber of Seville" has just been added, for March 24.

Go to the Met's Web page and follow this link to buy movie tickets.


Panuccio sightings, and more


Cincy's Mark Panuccio performs Tuesday night (that's tomorrow!) with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, in Mischa Santora's "British Invasion" concert, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Hall, OTR. Panuccio will perform Britten's "Nocturne," which should be just the ticket for his lyric tenor voice. Tickets: 513-723-1182.

In more Chamber Orchestra news, the orchestra celebrates the contributions of longtime arts supporter Norma Peterson, with the presentation of the first Pinnacle award. Norma will be feted during the orchestra's "Broadway Bound" gala Saturday night (March 10) at the Westin.

She has spent 45 years working in the arts and education (lately with Erich Kunzel's new School for Performing Arts). In 1987, she became executive director of the Chamber Orchestra, an unpaid post she held until 1994.

The show stars a couple of Broadway up-and-comers, Kristy Cates (yes, of CCM fame) and Brandon Cutrell, son of an Indiana preacher.

Tickets include cocktails, dinner, performance acompanied by Terry LaBolt, and much more. $150; $200 patron. Call 513-723-1182 or visit their Web site.

Oh, and Panuccio turns up again on March 30, with a recital for Cincinnati Opera, 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall. He'll do songs by Strauss, Britten, Liszt, and some well-known Italian songs, too, all accompanied by that extraordinary pianist and CCM faculty member Kenneth Griffiths. $22-$45, $10 students. 513-241-2742.


Saturday, March 03, 2007

Scenes from Peter (Frampton) and the Wolf





Peter Frampton helped christen the new William Durr branch of the Kenton County Library Saturday, by narrating "Peter and the Wolf" with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, James R. Cassidy conducting. A few quotes from the overflow crowd:

"Seeing Peter Frampton, with me being in my 40s – it's pretty cool." – Colleen Lyke, 42, with daughter Maureen, 9, of Independence.

"We love the story of 'Peter and the Wolf,' and the library is Ashwin's favorite place." – Anita Menon, 37, with husband Rajiv, 40 and son Ashwin, 4, of Independence.

"We've had 'Peter and the Wolf' on video, and this is live instruments. To have Peter Frampton was a double bonus." – Mark Turgeon, 47, with wife Gina, 40 and son Gary, 5, of Florence.

"We came because (Taylor) loves music. It's wonderful to hear the characters personified in music." – Mary Givhan, 57, of Newport, with daughter McKenzie Givhan, 25, of Sharonville, and granddaughter Taylor Mason, 15 months.



Blogs
Jim Borgman
Today at the Forum
Paul Daugherty
Politics Extra
N. Ky. Politics
Pop culture review
Cincytainment
Who's News
Television
Roller Derby Diva
Art
CinStages Buzz....
The Foodie Report
cincyMOMS
Classical music
John Fay's Reds Insider
Bengals
High school sports
NCAA
UC Sports
CiN Weekly staff
Soundcheck


Site Map:   Cincinnati.Com |  NKY.com |  Enquirer |  CiN Weekly |  CincinnatiUSA
Customer Service:   Search |  Subscribe Now |  Customer Service |  Place An Ad |  Contact Us
Classified Partners:   Jobs: CareerBuilder.com |  Cars: cars.com |  Homes: HOMEfinder |  Apartments: apartments.com |  Shopping: ShopLocal.com
Copyright © 1996-2005:   Use of this site signifies agreement to terms of service and privacy policy updated 10/05/2005